Bridgestone relaxed over qualifying form

Several Bridgestone runners have expressed concerns about the single-lap pace of the Japanese manufacturer's rubber - and those feelings were compounded when Michelin riders took the top slots in Sunday's televised 40-minute qualifying session at Jerez.

But Bridgestone's head of motorcycle sport Hiroshi Yamada insists that there is more to good results than pure qualifying pace.

"Even if front row starts are a major help, good qualifying results alone do not win races," he said. "So the priority will always be on race tyres."

Yamada is sure, however, that Bridgestone do need to do some work to improve its qualifying form judging by what happened in Jerez.

"Based on the results we have witnessed, it would appear that we have lost some of the qualifying advantage that we enjoyed last season," he explained.

"Although there were some strong performances from Randy (de Puniet), Chris (Vermeulen), Casey (Stoner) and Loris (Capirossi), the leading two riders, (Valentino) Rossi and (Dani) Pedrosa, both set exceptionally quick times.

"It is not evident how much of their advantage is down to the machine, the tyre, or the rider, but tyres play an integral role in the overall package, so clearly we have a lot of work to do in this area."

Yamada added that the results of the Jerez test were likely to lead to a small change in the specification choices for Qatar.

"We have finalised most tyres for Qatar, but some information has been gathered from Jerez that will be used to finalise the remaining specifications.

"I expect production of all Qatar tyres to be completed by the middle of next week at the latest before being packed and flown to Doha."