Bridgestone looks back on a successful 2012 MotoGP™ season

The 2012 MotoGP™ World Championship was one of the most exciting and closely-contested campaigns in recent years in which Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo emerged as the worthy champion.

This season was also a major success for Bridgestone in its fourth year as Official Tyre Supplier to MotoGP™, with the Japanese tyre manufacturer receiving widespread acclaim for its 2012 specification tyres, while also reaching the milestone of 100 MotoGP™ victories at the San Marino and Rimini Grand Prix in September.

Following an intensive tyre development programme over last year’s winter break, for the 2012 season Bridgestone introduced a new family of MotoGP™ tyres with new developments in construction and rubber compound technology. The technical objective was to provide unsurpassed warm-up performance and rider feel in all conditions, as well as the ability to harness the power of the fire-breathing 1000cc machines that made a return to the premier class this season.

Although the development focus switched from outright performance to improving rider safety, Bridgestone’s 2012 specification tyres still allowed riders to efficiently utilise the extra power on offer from the new generation of 1000cc MotoGP™ machinery, with six pole position and nine race lap records being set this season.