Burgess: tyre rule ten years late

Burgess has been Rossi's crew chief since 2000, and he feels that the restrictions on the number of tyres that can be used during a weekend is a positive move.

"The current regulations should have come in 10 years ago in my opinion," he said.

"It should be like it was in the older days when you arrived at the track and you knew what your allocation of tyres was, and that was what you had to work with."

The restrictions were put in place for 2007 after Michelin were sometimes bringing new tyres to circuits on each morning of a weekend, and Japanese tyre manufacturer Bridgestone felt disadvantaged at the European rounds.

Burgess added: "When new tyres were arriving overnight, you couldn't change too many settings on the bike (for fear of changing too much)."

Reigning world champion Nicky Hayden believes that the premier class should not have a limit on tyres, and he compared the new rule to those used in club racing in America.

But Burgess does feel that it is necessary to have limited tyres during a grand prix weekend.

He added: "If some people are asking for more tyres and saying that the class should have a free reign in tyres and technology, then why don't we start practice on Tuesday with nine hours testing a day before the race?"

The consensus among the teams seems to be that riders will not be hindered by the choice of 31 tyres, but they will not be able to try tyres simply out of curiosity.