Bridgestone Motorsport is gearing up for its home race in Suzuka, Japan - the penultimate round of the 2005 FIA Formula One World Championship. The significance of the final two races of the year is certainly not lost on Bridgestone. This year's Drivers' Champion may have been unofficially crowned at the previous round in Brazil but Michael Schumacher is locked in an important battle for third place in the drivers' standings with McLaren's Juan Pablo Montoya. The Constructors' battle also remains wide open with the Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro team aiming to seal its third place in the standings. The Jordan Grand Prix and Minardi F1 teams are about to compete for the final two races under their present names so they, too, will be looking to finish the season on a high. Consequently, Bridgestone is aiming to give its teams a final push as the season draws to a close.

Hiroshi Yasukawa, Director of Motorsport: "It is always a great pleasure to compete at our home race in front of our Bridgestone colleagues. It does not make the challenge any less easy but I know the Bridgestone Motorsport staff are highly motivated. Our performance has been steadily improving over recent races with Brazil producing points for both the Ferrari drivers. We are aiming to continue that rise in performance and put on a good race for the spectators and Bridgestone supporters."

Tyres for Suzuka

Bridgestone Motorsport's Formula One Potenza tyres will travel the shortest distance of the year this week as they are transferred from Bridgestone's F1 production facility in Tokyo to the Suzuka circuit for this weekend's Japanese Grand Prix. As is the same for every race, the specially selected tyres will consist of two dry, grooved specifications for each team and the same wet weather and extreme wet weather specification for all Bridgestone teams.

Hisao Suganuma, Technical Manager: "There is no F1 testing at the Suzuka Circuit and it is a unique circuit which must be respected. It is the only figure of eight track on the F1 calendar and from a tyre point of view this means both the left and right side tyres are subject to equal amounts of wear. For a good lap time at Suzuka drivers must have a good line through the Esses and to do this they require stability from the tyres. At the hairpin, they require good braking and acceleration performance from the tyres, and in the very high speed 130R, again, stability is important. In all, from a tyre point of view, we need to provide stability, grip, braking performance and good acceleration. It's a difficult circuit in that respect. Furthermore, the track surface is quite aggressive, requiring mid to hard range compounds, and the tyres must be strong in terms of wear and degradation. Following on from an encouraging result in Brazil, our technical centre and testing staff have been working extremely hard to make sure we give our teams a positive end to the season. Recent tests at Paul Ricard in France with the Ferrari team were very constructive in pushing our development forward but the competition has been strong this year so we can expect a good fight this weekend for our home crowds. Let's hope the weather behaves this year as we are running again in typhoon season."