Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

The FIM annoucement that the Superbike World Championship will run on spec tires in 2004 came as a surprise to representatives of Dunlop, which supplies the majority of teams on the grid, and to Michelin, which has dominated the Championship.

“We don’t have any knowlegde of it at all,” said Dave Watkins, Manager-Motorcycle Race of Dunlop Tyres Ltd. of Birminghamn, England, speaking in the paddock at Laguna Seca Thursday afternoon.

“Both Dunlop and Michelin are very upset about it, the fact that this is going on and we haven’t been consulted about it. There’s nothing to say, really, we can’t give you a comment, because we don’t know what they’re planning, or what the idea is, or where the position of Pirelli is in this. We have no idea. So it’s as much news to you as it is to us.”

“I wish that they had contacted us before,” said Jean Herisse, who runs Michelin’s World Superbike program. “Because it looks like only Pirelli knew about it so far. Dunlop was surprised, and us. Of course, Flammini and Zerbi being Italian, maybe that’s why they contacted Pirelli. The thing I cannot understand, they are making that so everybody will be equal, huh? ‘To create a fair and equitable condition.’ So in this case they should have all the same machine. Either all on the Ducati, or all on the Honda, or all on the Yamaha. That would be fair, no? And since Ducati is Italian, maybe they should pick it.”

But while Pirelli Racing Development Manager Giorgio Barbier said “I can’t tell you” when asked if Pirelli is negotiating with series promoter FGSport Group to supply spec World Superbike tires, he did say, “The series could have an advantage” if spec tires were adopted.

“Now the tires are really making a bigger difference than the quality of the machines and the riders,” said Barbier. According to Barbier, competition in the World Superbike series is hampered because Michelin supplies only one team, Ducati Corse, and sells tires of a lesser spec to one team, Foggy Petronas, and because Dunlop supports a few teams with development tires and sells lesser spec tires to other teams. A single make and model tire would eliminate the advantages a few teams now have, Barbier said. However, Pirelli is currently running a small R&D program with a single team and is not in a position to supply the entire World Superbike paddock, Barbier said.

Pirelli does supply a spec tire in the European Superstock Series, and Barbier said that the result is extremely close competition among several motorcycle teams and brands.