Rossi to ride on Bridgestones in 2008?

[JustSomeDude]

Interesting...

http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/sp.../?&R=EPI-96051

[pauliep]

isn't it? I've made me decision already to leave bridge stone for the 2008 season, hehe

[dillinger09]

whiny little girl. michelin has gotten him 7 championships and he is jumping ship after one season. they dominated motogp for how many seasons? doohan era?

[mayhem]

battlax is where its at......................stoner and now rossi is comin to his sense's..........i love the bt002's......stick like glue..........

[BlueDevil]

Love my Bridgies.. now trickle down some of that technology to the club race tires and woooweeeee

[lth]

An update:

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/191020...ne-switch.html

16th fastest? And way behind other Michelin riders. What has happened to the great Vale?

[rybo]

I'm sure it's a combination of problems. The M1 has struggled this year with it's straightaway speeds at the first few races being significantly slower that the WSBK bikes on the same track. They've completely revamped the engine this year, going to pneumatic valves and really haven't seemed to get a solid platform to develop from. The only team that seems to be worse off from a development perspective is team KR, who are on their 4th or 5th frame design for the season.

What happened to the great Vale....well let's make no doubt about that he's still great, but the field has figured out how he's done it and they are closing the gap all the time. Jerry Burgess and Rossi along with Michellin have been a pretty unbeatable combination over the years. This year Ducati, Stoner and Bridgestone emulated the equation and got a total package that worked better. I have no doubt that before he retires Rossi will win another championship, I believe he's still the best rider on the grid and just needs to continue what they started years ago with development of the whole package. Now having him on Bridgestones and Lorenzo on Michellins really hampers the cross team development effort, but I think we all know which bike will take priority.

s

[CYCLE_MONKEY]

I'm sure it's a combination of problems. The M1 has struggled this year with it's straightaway speeds at the first few races being significantly slower that the WSBK bikes on the same track. They've completely revamped the engine this year, going to pneumatic valves and really haven't seemed to get a solid platform to develop from. The only team that seems to be worse off from a development perspective is team KR, who are on their 4th or 5th frame design for the season.

What happened to the great Vale....well let's make no doubt about that he's still great, but the field has figured out how he's done it and they are closing the gap all the time. Jerry Burgess and Rossi along with Michellin have been a pretty unbeatable combination over the years. This year Ducati, Stoner and Bridgestone emulated the equation and got a total package that worked better. I have no doubt that before he retires Rossi will win another championship, I believe he's still the best rider on the grid and just needs to continue what they started years ago with development of the whole package. Now having him on Bridgestones and Lorenzo on Michellins really hampers the cross team development effort, but I think we all know which bike will take priority.

s

+1
Burgess also had his way with the rest of the MotoGP field from his Doohan/Michelin days. I also think this total BS "fuel economy" racing has been more difficult for the other teams than Ducati. This is one area where a desmo system (which Mercedes invented) makes sense. With a typical valve spring strong enough to stand the high revs, you're still pushing against that force at ALL engine speeds. With the Desmo, the force and fuel cionsumption goes down as the RPM goes down, thus saving fuel to be able to use at high RPM and load. That's one reason why they've been switching to pneumatic systems. There was a great article about this in one of the M/C mags, written by Joe Minton I think it was. Now, if they were using variable-lift valvetrain geometry, then the springs would take less abuse at all but max lift, they'd have a broader/smoother powerband, AND they'd save fuel. Things that make you go Hmmmmmmm.......

[Drift]

...michelin has gotten him 7 championships...

Remember, he did not run Michelin's when he won his 125 & 250 championships...it was only his 2001-2005 championships that were on Michelin's.

[VFR]

I hope he losses next year with a new bike and tires just so he can see that it's not the tires, it's that he does have a little competition this year and they (just like he did) will get better. Last years excuse..The bike, This years excuse...The bike and tires....Next years excuse ???????????