Oct 10 : MotoGP champ Bridgestone is the official tire of IRGP

IRGP News No. 9

Phillippine Allied Enterprises, the official distributor of Bridgestone Tires, has confirmed its support for the The first InsideRACING Grand Prix Presented by Motolite Motorcycle Batteries, a special annual GP-style race event organized by IR and sanctioned by NAMSSA for underbone motorcycle road racing that will take place on November 24-25 at the Carmona Circuit in Cavite.
 

Bridgestone will be the Official Tire Supplier and the BATTLAX BT-39SS will be the official tire. Like in World Superbike racing, the one tire rule will ensure equality among competitors as they will be on the same tires. More importantly, IRGP will be able to bring down the cost to race for the IRGP participants. Each entry will be given a 65% subsidy on their first set of tires (price reduced to only P2,000 per set).

The tire sizes per class will be as follows:

Class Front Rear
Castrol Juniors Trophy 80/90 R 17 90/80 R 17
Shell Advance Masters Trophy 90/80 R 17 90/90 R 17
Castrol 115 GP 90/80 R 17 90/80 R 17
Shell Advance130 GP 90/80 R 17 90/90 R 17


The Bridgestone BATTLAX BT-39SS tire was developed for production racing in the 50cc to 150cc class. It uses a newly developed compound which provides exceptional dry grip and durable grip throughout the race. By securing the large contact area, the aggressive BT-39SS pattern is designed to maximize the tires' magnetic grip. The arrow slant grooves of front and rear tires offer improved tread life, water dispelling effect, and durability of grip. The straight groove of front tire offers good stability in straightway and also reduces shimmy vibration while the open grooves reduce chattering. The front tire is designed with double crown radius for better handling and solid grip feel in corner while the rear tire is a single crown radius for linear cornering performance.

Casey Stoner is the 2007 MotoGP world champion after clinching the crown aboard his Bridgestone-shod Ducati in Japan. For Bridgestone, it is the first MotoGP world championship title. Bridgestone has been in MotoGP since 2002, taking its first podium result in 2003. The debut win on Bridgestone tires was one year later in 2004 in Rio and at Motegi. The following year, 2005, Ducati took two victories in Malaysia and Motegi, while in 2006 Ducati took the top step of the podium three times. Casey Stoner has scored 8 of the ten wins on Bridgestone tires this season on his way to the 2007 title in just his first year with Ducati and on Bridgestone tires. To date, riders on Bridgestone tires have taken 18 victories, 51 podiums and 20 pole positions in 97 GPs.

The prestigious IRGP is an annual event which will feature a variety of different motorcycle brands including PMR, Yamaha, Suzuki, Kawasaki, Motorstar, and Tiger will test the reliability of both the riders and machines for more than twenty laps around the demanding Carmona Circuit Philippines.

For more IRGP info log on to www.insideracing.com.ph .