Dunlop, the IRTA, and Dorna inked a deal this weekend that sees the British tire manufacturer as the sole-supplier of tires for the upcoming Moto3 Championship, which will replace the 125GP series in 2012. With the deal good through the 2014 season, Moto3 teams will run Dunlops for the next three seasons, just as the Moto2 Championship has done. Speaking of Moto2, Dunlop saw its contract in that series extended to 2014 as well, and we wouldn’t be surprised if the two items were part of Dunlop’s ability to put together a more competitive bid than other tire manufacturers.
With Bridgestone set to supply tires in the 2012 season for MotoGP, Dunlop still only accounts for two of the three GP series, but we expect that a sole-supplier for Moto3, Moto2, and MotoGP will emerge in the coming years. Single-tire rules were put in place not only to help level the playing field between competitors, but also to help reduce development costs for manufacturers, and logistical costs for tire suppliers. If a single tire company provided all the grid’s tires, that overall cost would likely drop further, something Dorna has been keen on lately. Whether it makes for better racing though, we’ll let you decide in the comments.
“Moto3 is an exciting new Championship for Dunlop, our engineers and technicians and we relish the new challenge, and look forward to the progress in our understanding as we develop tyres for the new 250cc 4-stroke powered racing machines,” said Jean-Félix Bazelin, General Manager at Dunlop Motorsport. “The extension of our Moto2 contract is a strong validation of the good job we have done in that Championship, the results of which are clear to see.”
“It is a great honour to be able to continue working with a brand such as Dunlop in the new Moto3 category, and also to extend the existing collaboration we have with them in Moto2 until the end of 2014,” said Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta. “Dunlop’s passion for the world of motorcycling and its commitment to the MotoGP World Championship are values which have consolidated the relationship between Dorna, and this has been done through two of the three categories which comprise the World Championship. There is no doubt that the constant technological work carried out by Dunlop to improve their products allows the circuit to be a testing ground for these developments, and that this technology is then transferred to the road.”
Comments