ROUND 16/OCTOBER 20, 2013
PHILLIP ISLAND CIRCUIT/PHILLIP ISLAND, AUSTRALIA
MOTOGP
P62
MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
tire rule for MotoGP in 2008.
What has manifestly resulted this
year is a level of complacency by
the tire suppliers, leaving them
open to a growing chorus of criticism from riders. For example,
Bridgestone's hard-option tire
has been all but unusable all this
year, leaving the riders Hobson's
Choice. But response has been
slow and minimal… a much-improved variation tested after the
Misano race only in mid-Septem-
ber, and still not available for use.
And why did Dorna themselves
not think of running a tire test at
an all-new surface. Phillip Island
was always a tough track for tires,
and the Pirellis used at the World
Superbike race at the start of the
season faced similar issues. Dorna now runs World Superbikes
as well as GP. This failure of communication does the company no
credit.
If there is any credit, it is that
Race Direction managed to find
and impose and ultimately to get
away with unprecedented solutions: half distance but full points
for Moto2; and a dry-weather
compulsory pit-stop flag-to-flag
race, twice-shortened to suit the
blistering tires, for MotoGP.
It meant fine entertainment for
a crowd of 31,500 – a drop of almost 40 percent compared with
last year's Casey Stoner-fest.
Their loyalty was rewarded with
