Bridgestone previews Belgian weekend

Bridgestone Motorsport is looking forward to the GP on the longest track on the calendar, the 6,976 km circuit is famed for its high speed corners as it winds up and down the Ardennes hillside, posing a tough challenge for the teams and tyre manufactures.

After two non-points scoring races, Bridgestone will be pushing hard in Belgium. Bridgestone Motorsport's Formula One Potenza tyres arrive in Belgium this week. The tyres were produced in Japan. The specifications of Spa will consist of two dry, grooved specifications for each team and the same wet weather and extreme wet weather specifications for all Bridgestone teams.

Hiroshi Yasukawa, Director of Motorsport “The Belgian Grand Prix is always a favourite with the F1 drivers, providing plenty of excitement on track. We had a particularly successful race here last year with four of the top five finishers running on Bridgestone tyres and although the competition is proving quite tough this year, Bridgestone and its teams are aiming for a good result to end the European season on.”

Hisao Suganuma, Technical Manager “Not only is Spa the final European round of the year, but the Belgian Grand Prix is also one of the toughest on the F1 calendar. The track is the longest in F1 and its undulating nature combined with several high speed corners, such as Eau Rouge, make it a real drivers circuit.
The demands made on the tyres and the cornering forces they are subjected to mean that they have to be strong. Stability is very important through those corners but in other sections of the circuit, such as La Source hairpin, grip and traction will be key requirements. In addition to this, Spa-Francorchamps is located in the mountainous Ardennes region where weather conditions can be unstable. The circuit seems to have its own micro-climate so while we have selected tyres from the medium to hard range because of the relatively rough track surface and high speed corners, the tyres have a wide working temperature range to cope with the possible weather fluctuations. We shall also of course be ready with our wet and extreme weather specifications. One thing we shall be looking out for in Spa, however, is tyre wear because of the rough track surface. We will have a new, previously un-raced specification of tyre in Spa which we anticipate will cope well with the conditions and give a competitive performance.”