Bridgestone
Motorsport has set its sights on continuing the streak of success
that its teams have enjoyed so far this season. After testing with
Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro and Sauber Petronas last week at Barcelona
and with Jordan Ford at Vairano, Bridgestone is confident its teams
will rise to the challenge in the latter half of the season. The
next battle ground is the forthcoming French Grand Prix and there
are high hopes of returning a Bridgestone equipped driver to the
top step of the podium.
Hiroshi
Yasukawa, Director of Motorsport:
“The French Grand Prix marks the second half of what
has already been an incredibly rewarding season for all our teams.
Scuderia Ferrari has once again proven the dominant force and Sauber
Petronas has gone from strength to strength, constantly snapping
at the heels of the front runners. Jordan Ford and Wilux Minardi
Cosworth, too, have worked diligently this season to pick up some
all important points. However, there is still much work to be done
and we shall keep pushing as hard as we can to ensure our teams
achieve their goals this year. Magny-Cours will provide them with
as tough a challenge as any so where better to go head-to-head with
our rival to start the second half showdown?!”
2004
Tyres for Magny-Cours
The French circuit of Magny-Cours is a combination of high
and low speed corners with a
relatively smooth surface. To meet the challenges of this 4.411-km
track, Bridgestone
Motorsport has sent dry weather tyres using compounds from the middle
of its range. In total, a sum of 1,400 Bridgestone Potenza Formula
One tyres, including dry, wet and extreme weather tyres has been
sent to France.
Hisao
Suganuma, Technical Manager:
“From a tyre point of view, Magny-Cours is a very
tough circuit on rear tyres because of the hard acceleration out
of the low speed corners. It is important that drivers are mindful
of the stresses placed on the rear tyres at Magny-Cours. Furthermore,
while the surface is quite smooth, temperatures can be high so our
final choice of three different specifications of dry tyre for this
weekend is from the middle of our compound range. With regards to
getting a quick lap time in France, teams and drivers will need
to work closely on the second sector. It is crucial to be quick
through there but as always, Bridgestone’s engineers will
work very closely with its teams to ensure they get the most out
of their tyres. We expect to be competitive and after missing out
in 2003, we are determined to resume our winning ways in France
this weekend!” |
