Burgess: Control tyres won't slow Rossi

In an interview with Italian magazine Motosprint, Burgess said he believed the series' commercial boss Carmelo Ezpeleta had promoted control tyres as a method of improving the racing because the Michelin runners had been significantly slower than the Bridgestone riders at some Grands Prix in recent years.

But Burgess reckons Rossi's rivals would be better off trying to beat him with different equipment.

"Carmelo is trying to orchestrate everything, including the spectacle, but the problem is that Valentino is better and always will be," the Yamaha engineer said.

"Casey (Stoner) and Dani (Pedrosa) are not at his level, so making regulations to even out the playing field is useless. Valentino remains always the number one."

Bridgestone will supply the whole MotoGP field next year after Michelin decided not to tender for the single tyre contract.

Rossi had previously switched from Michelin to Bridgestone at the end of 2007, with Pedrosa following suit for the final races this season.

Burgess said he normally agreed with all Rossi's decisions but felt his enthusiasm for control tyres was misguided.

"Usually I do (agree), but there are times when I don't: the things Ezpeleta has got into many people's heads, Valentino's too, I don't agree with," he said.

"The single-tyre rule is a big mistake.

"This is a sport for prototypes where technology gets developed, so we need the confrontation between the highest possible number of technical partners. Not the other way around.

"We must not force the teams to make certain technical choices, also because the teams usually make the right choices on their own.

"You only need to look at this tyre case: Ducati, Yamaha and Honda have all gone for Bridgestone autonomously. No need to be forced by a rule book."