07/03/2008
NEWS STORY
Bridgestone Motorsport has confirmed that for the 2008 FIA Formula One World Championship season its extreme wet weather tyre will be marked with a white line in the bottom of the central groove. This is in addition to marking the softer of the two dry tyre compounds at each race.
The white tyre marking, which will be present from the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne onwards, has been introduced at the request of the teams and in consultation with the FIA to make Bridgestone's extreme wet weather tyres visibly distinguishable from the wet weather tyres when used on the track in the wet.
Markings of this kind were first introduced by Bridgestone in March 2007, after an eleventh hour change to the 2007 Formula One Sporting Regulations which stipulated the two specifications of dry weather tyre at each event must be visibly distinguishable from one another.
Bridgestone welcomed the application of tyre markings as it enabled the media and the public to further understand the strategies employed by various teams and potentially increase their enjoyment of the race. Bridgestone hopes that marking the extreme wet weather tyre this season will have a similar effect.
Marking of the extreme wet weather tyres will be undertaken by Bridgestone's tyre fitters at the circuit, in the same manner as the 2007 dry weather tyre markings.
Hiroshi Yasukawa - Director, Bridgestone Motorsport: "Throughout the 2008 Formula One season Bridgestone will continue to mark the softer of the two dry weather tyres at each event with a white line along the bottom of the second from inside groove. However, we will now extend the use of the white tyre marking to our extreme wet weather tyres. We hope this change will enable spectators of the sport to have a clearer understanding of the strategies used by all 11 Formula One teams when racing in the wet. Bridgestone is pleased to be able to play a part in increasing Formula One fans' enjoyment of the sport."