This isn't a thread about which is better, i'm just curious about how both are used in AMA and GP.

I've noticed that in AMA, nearly all riders ride Dunlops .. while a few use Michelines and a few are on Pirelli.

In GP, it seems that nearly all riders are on Michelins, with very few on Dunlops or any other brand.

Why is this? I figured that if Michelin were the "best", then they would be dominant in both circuits, and the other way around. Then i thought it might involve sponrships with the sanctioning bodies or the racing teams, but with something as important as tires, i think people would rather choose what they think is best rather then getting them free and some money.

Any ideas, or anyone know?

 

Michelin doesn't want to compete here. Simple as that.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by RebornGSR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Michelin doesn't want to compete here. Simple as that.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yup.. only significant data logging comes from Daytona and it's high speed bank and the side pressure loads that it generates.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by RebornGSR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Michelin doesn't want to compete here. Simple as that.</TD></TR></TABLE>

There's a difference between WANT and CAN'T. At least at the moment.

 

So your saying that they CAN compete in GP but they CAN't compete in AMA? That's kinda backwards. Nice to see you post, you have not posted in a while (that I have seen anyways)

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Mr Hammond &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

There's a difference between WANT and CAN'T. At least at the moment.</TD></TR></TABLE>

They could do whatever they want. They are the greatest tire manufacture in the world. They simply don't want to.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by RebornGSR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">They could do whatever they want. They are the greatest tire manufacture in the world. They simply don't want to.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Tell that to the folks that paid to see the USGP.

 

Keep in mind that sponsorships and contingencies have a lot to do with what tires people use. If you can win a race on either tire, but Pirelli will pay you for wins, you will likely use their tire. Also, if Michelin will GIVE you tires AND money for wins, you'd be more likely to use their tire.

Not everybody will use the best available, as there's other factors considered.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Apocalypse &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Tell that to the folks that paid to see the USGP.</TD></TR></TABLE>

You know I was about to put that in quotes but then I figured even that couldn't be used as good enough evidence to dispute my claim.


&lt;---who has a friend who flew to the F1 USGP with his dad from NY and left after the 3rd lap of the race

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Engloid &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Keep in mind that sponsorships and contingencies have a lot to do with what tires people use. If you can win a race on either tire, but Pirelli will pay you for wins, you will likely use their tire. Also, if Michelin will GIVE you tires AND money for wins, you'd be more likely to use their tire.

Not everybody will use the best available, as there's other factors considered.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Read this:

http://www.roadracingworld.com...23017

It's not about anything other then them not wanting to compete.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by RebornGSR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Read this:

http://www.roadracingworld.com...23017

It's not about anything other then them not wanting to compete.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I read the article, but don't understand what point you're making. I'm not trying to be sarcastic, but your use of "double negatives" can be a bit confusing. Would you clarify your statement?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by backlash &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">So your saying that they CAN compete in GP but they CAN't compete in AMA? That's kinda backwards. Nice to see you post, you have not posted in a while (that I have seen anyways) </TD></TR></TABLE>

Let me word this better.

According to Michelin in a recent article I read, they obviously have their focus on the pinnacle of motorcycle racing in that of MotoGP. However, they are WELL aware of Dunlops strangle hold on the AMA. They know there is HUGE money and HUGE publicity in that and how a manufacturer could go "oh we just aren't interested" sure sounds jaded to me. Fact of the matter is, they showed a huge interest in taking the bulk away from dunlop. They started last year supporting Ducati Austin's Eric Bostrom. Just kind of testing the waters out. Their theory proved correct as Dunlop limited their test dates to Dunlop riders only. So Michelin one-upd them and secured their own test dates, but offered it to anyone and everyone and anyone who held an AMA license and ran the test on Michelin's could participate at no charge.

According to Michelin in a later press release they expressed much interest, BUT they are Michelin. They want to do things right. They said at the time all of their focus is on GP. If they were to make big waves in AMA, they wanted to wait until they could secure a large majority of the field and have a much larger support team then that of GP (for obvious reasons) to put over here in the states. At the time of the article they said that would take some time, but not to count them out.

I figure fielding a team for one series, with one tire in multiple compounds is probably much easier then fielding said team to cover all classes and tire specs for an AMA weekend. Especially one that another major tire company has been pretty comfortable doing on it's own for quite some time now.

 

That's a bit easier to follow, but with my lack of knowledge of different classes of professional sportbikes, I don't know that I follow it completely.

I'll ask a question:

Based on the article, it seemed that michelin was concerned about some of their new technologies getting stolen while in testing stages. Could it be that they feel that AMA riders would not be so well at securing this technology as those in MotoGP, or vice versa?

It seems that their big issue was the technology....why can't they just support the riders in both series, but only release their top testing tires to one group until they are perfected and released on a full scale marketing boom?