Dre Talk
While high-horsepower motors and ground-gobbling
suspension are necessIties at the top level of AMA
motocross and supercross. those aren't usually the first
places a rider or team will (Urn when looking to
improve his lap times when he is already at the races.
The tire truck is, and tire companies such as Dunlop.
Bridgestone and Michelin spend millions each year to
support the factones and privateers alike at each
AMA round
Dunlop IS the largest {Ire supplier at the racetrack
in terms of percentage of riders on the track. supply-
ing roughly 60 percent of the 2S0cc class and 70 percent of the 12Scc class. The Dunlop transporter Will
carry about 600 tires to any given round of the THQ
AMA Supercross Senes. and Dunlop technicians can
expect to change as many as 250 tires per weekend
for the racers.
"You're always looking for any sort of advantage that
you can have, and tires are important," Broc Glover,
Dunlop's senior manager of off-road and supermoto
racing, said. "Do they win races? Do you think that if
Ricky Carmichael was on a stock motorcycle, would he
st,11 finish in the top five? Of course he would. The most
important thing in motocross IS the rider, and then there
are several elements that go into it, such as your motor
and your suspension, and tires are an important part of
that. The tires are the only thing to touch the ground."
And as far as the top-level riders are concerned,
Glover said that making the wrong tire choice could
cost a rider posItions In a race. like its competition,
Dunlop's experts constantly communicate wIth the riders they support and mal
