Bridgestone is a name associated with motorsport for a very long time, in both two and four wheeled racing. The Japanese marquee has been a part of the sport for a lot of years and has been the spec tire supplier from 2009 to 2015. Though Bridgestone was keen to withdraw from the sport in 2014 itself, they were kind enough to supply the grid for another year in order to allow the successor to do their research and be race ready in 2016.
![](https://www.bikesmedia.in/uploads/image/reviews/2016/feb/bridgestone-motorsport-logo.jpg)
![](https://www.bikesmedia.in/uploads/image/reviews/2016/feb/michelin-logo.jpg)
Michelin has worked through the winter improving and testing out new tire carcasses and compounds with test riders like Michele Pirro (Ducati) and Mike Di Meglio (Aprilia) and has improved the front end stability considerably. The less front grip means the bikes will be more biased towards the rear and the riding styles will be less punishing on the front end.
![](https://www.bikesmedia.in/uploads/image/reviews/2016/feb/2016-valentino-rossi-michelin-yamaha.jpg)
*** Valentino Rossi back on Michelins, the first time after 2007 (Pic source: Facebook)
But Safety of the French rubber became uncertain, as a rear tire exploded at a very high speed. Loris Baz's Avintia Ducati GP14.2's rear tire gave away forcing him to crash and walk away miraculously. The Ducati Desmosedici had a new set of tires when the incident happened and that happened at a speed of 290 Km/h at the end of the main straight of Sepang. Thus Michelin withdrew the soft option rear from the allocation for safety purposes.
Has Michelin done their homework? or were they in a rush to complete the project within the deadline? will this be the last time we'd get to see a blown tire in MotoGP? Time will tell.
By: Suraj