Q & A with Bridgestone's Hiroshi Yamada

Hiroshi Yamada, head of Bridgestone's motorcycle tyre division, made his first visit to a Formula One Grand Prix in Spain last weekend, where he spoke to autosport.com about the MotoGP season so far.

Q: Did you expect such a good start to the season?

Hiroshi Yamada: We have already had four races and we won three - which is much better than expected. The results are very good, although at Jerez we could not get a podium. But even at that race our tyre worked very well, we just could not get a good position in the race. Until now we are very happy with the performance of our tyre over the race, and our riders are very happy at the moment.

Q: When did you become aware of the Ducati situation and their straightline speed advantage?

HY: Already during the winter tests. We did four or five tests, two times at Sepang, then Phillip Island and Qatar. During those tests we knew we had an advantage with top speed.

Q: Valentino Rossi has talked about the psychological advantage that Casey Stoner has knowing about the top speed advantage. Does that extend to tyre choices too? Does it change your approach?

HY: No, it doesn't change our tyre choice. Our other teams, Gresini, Kawasaki, Suzuki and D'Antin also have similar choices and the same process of tyre choice.

Q: But over a weekend, can you be more conservative knowing that you can get past other riders on the straights?

HY: No. In the case of China and Qatar there is a big straight, so that is why the Ducatis had the big advantage. It is also why Rossi could not repass Casey in China. He knew that he had no chance and he tried 120 percent. But from a tyre point of view, I don't think it makes such a big a difference from the other teams.

Q: Bridgestone are obviously very happy with their race tyre work this year, how do you feel about your qualifying performance?

HY: One of the issues at the moment for us is our qualifying tyre. When we went to the IRTA test at Jerez, our qualifying tyre did not work so well compared to Michelin. And many of our partners complained about our tyre - they would like to have more grip of course. As always!

At that time, we could also see from the lap time that there was a big difference compared to the Michelin riders.   Some riders said that our front was not good enough compared to our rear. Michelin were using the front qualifying tyre at the time.

We thought that we needed to improve our grip level at the front, but always the grip level balance between the front and the rear is very important. When we increase the rear grip balance, then the front starts pushing.

We tried to make a new front qualifying tyre, but during the tests after Qatar and Turkey, and I don't know why, our riders did not complain so much about the front. Maybe this comes from the characteristics of the circuits, or the weather of the Jerez IRTA test - I am not sure.

Now we still have a little bit of a disadvantage in this area. The last time in China we got second, fourth and sixth (on the grid), which was very even from the result.

But if we consider the lap time from the race tyre to the qualifying, maybe the race tyre was a little bit better but the difference between it and the qualifying tyre was more than Michelin. We would like to improve more for qualifying, but we think we need to improve more for the rear. Now, no one complains about the front.

Q: There was a lot of talk earlier this season about a new qualifying front tyre that you were planning. Did it ever get used?

HY: Finally, I think nobody used it.

Q: Is the qualifying issue a worry though, knowing how easy it is for Stoner to overtake other riders in the race?

HY: No, not too much. Just, of course, from the rider's point of view they need a good position on the grid!

Q: How do you now view the championship battle?

HY: So, at the moment our results are very good and in the four races, our tyres worked better for sure. But now we are going to the European rounds we are expecting the situation to be a little bit different.

Q: Why?

HY: Of course, in China and Turkey we never tested there before the season. These conditions were the same for Michelin and Bridgestone. But of course Michelin have plenty of data from the European tracks.

Q: What has Stoner been like this season?

HY: We knew already that Casey Stoner was one of the top riders from last year. But he did not have such good results because he crashed so much last season. Then when he changed the bike and tyre, he didn't crash so much. One factor is that now he has a lot of confidence with the front.

Last year he crashed so many times - I don't know if it was the tyre or the combination of the Honda bike and his riding. Anyway, he didn't have so much confidence.

But now he has confidence he can show his performance 100 percent. He likes very much this package of bike and tyres. In the first race at Qatar we saw he had a good race, and honestly speaking I didn't expect that he could win. After that, he had much more confidence himself and now he is very strong I think.

Q: It is a fascinating championship isn't it, with Ducati's rivals going to have to find some way to compensate for the top speed situation?

HY: Obviously Ducati have a big advantage on the straight with their top speed, but from now I don't think it will be so easy. In France, Rossi is normally very strong and the Yamaha is very strong - and there is not such a long straight. It will be hard, but I still think they can do it.

Q: Suzuki scored their first podium in China. Can you see them moving onwards and upwards?

HY: Yes. They are getting better and better with their bike performance. And that is in combination with the riding style of John Hopkins. From the beginning of the winter season, he already showed a good performance. In the IRTA tests he sometimes had a good lap time and we knew already that he could ride very fast. The problem was that last year he could not keep such good conditions until the end of the race, but on this point they have improved their performance. Now they are very good.

Q: Do you think the step forward that Bridgestone have made has helped both Casey and John get the necessary confidence to show what they can do?

HY: We are working very closely with each rider. Sometimes riders have special requests for their riding style. Now, Toni (Elias) has a different tyre compared to the other riders because of his riding style. And in the case of John, his riding is very aggressive and he has a very deep lean angle, but what he has requested is not so different from his teammate Chris Vermeulen. Now the tyres that they used in China are not so big different from the Ducati.

Q: You visited a Formula One race for the first time in Spain last weekend. What did you make of it?

HY: It is a very different culture compared to Formula One. I was surprised when I arrived on Friday afternoon and there were so many people - and outside there was a traffic jam. It is a big difference compared to MotoGP. There is obviously a big Fernando Alonso affect. Ten years ago F1 was not so popular in Spain, and MotoGP was much more popular.

But anyway, everything in F1 is big - the motorhomes and the organisation. Technically on the tyre front it is not so interesting without competition though. The development and technology is the same, but there are no rivals.