Spanish GP - Bridgestone preview - 9th May 18:11pm GMT

After consecutive wins at the San Marino and European Grands Prix for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro’s Michael Schumacher, Bridgestone is hoping to make it a hat trick at this coming weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix. It won’t be easy as the Circuit de Catalunya is regularly frequented for testing by Formula One’s teams, giving them all a greater depth of knowledge of this track than of most others. The 4.627km circuit is also a high-speed, and therefore hard- wearing track on the tyres, so Bridgestone and its teams have paid particular attention to ensuring tyres have been chosen with as much grip and as much durability as possible. After competitive performances from several of the Bridgestone runners at the Nurburgring last weekend, hopes are high of more podiums and points for the Bridgestone teams this weekend.

Hiroshi Yasukawa, Director of Motorsport:
“The huge crowd numbers and the facilities provided by the Circuit de Catalunya have made the Spanish Grand Prix one of the best races on the Formula One circuit. There is also a fantastic atmosphere. Spain is an important market for Bridgestone and we will have many guests and supporters at this race so we are very much hoping that the recent competitiveness of our teams will continue this weekend so our supporters can enjoy a thrilling weekend of racing.”

Tyres for Spain – 4.627km
The 2006 tyre regulations permit each driver seven sets of dry tyres, four sets of wet weather tyres and three sets of extreme wet weather tyres. Combined with the increased number of teams running with Bridgestone in 2006, approximately 1,200 Bridgestone Potenza Formula One tyres have been sent from the Technical Centre in Kodaira City, Tokyo, to Spain’s Circuit de Catalunya.

Hisao Suganuma Bridgestone Motorsport Technical Manager:
“The Barcelona track was resurfaced prior to last season but nevertheless, the track remains one of the toughest on the calendar from a tyre perspective. It has several long, high-speed corners which means that our tyres must be strong from both a compound and construction point of view. Looking at our compound selection, the Barcelona circuit has a relatively smooth track surface which would normally mean choosing compounds from the softer side of the range. However, the nature of the track is not kind to tyre compounds so our choice of a medium compound range is a compromise between getting high grip and the necessary toughness. These tyres are from the same series of constructions and compounds that have performed so well in recent races. Having tested a lot with our teams at this circuit we are confident that they can be competitive this weekend, although Barcelona is a regular test track for most of the teams so no doubt the competition will be tough this weekend.”