Michelin welcome tyre rule changes

The French tyre manufacturer had a difficult season in 2007 as it struggled to adapt to the new rules which limited the number of tyres that could be used during a weekend, and forced teams to choose their tyres on the Thursday before the race.

However, teams will be allowed to use more tyres next year, and they will have more opportunities to test with riders who are not racing in the championship.

"This year it was difficult for us to adapt to the 2007 rules but the new rules are better," said Michelin's director of motorcycle racing Jean-Philippe Weber.

"Next year there will be the opportunity to test at new tracks and fully resurfaced tracks with test riders.

"That will be useful to everyone, and we will already have experience of all the tracks with the 800 (cc bikes)."

Weber also expressed his delight with Dani Pedrosa's victory in the final race of the year, and he believes that Michelin can be happy with the way they finished the season.

"This result shows that we are improving the performance of our tyres," said Weber. "This win is very positive for us and very motivating for winter testing and next season.

"We had some good results in recent tests, getting good feedback from our riders, and this result shows that we are going in the right direction."