Phillip Island tyre test starts today

The newly-Open-class Ducati team, as well as Yamaha Factory Racing and Repsol Honda teams are all taking part in the test, but as previously reported, Marc Marquez will not participate in the test, due to the fractured lower let he suffered earlier last month. The test runs from March 3-5.

Bridgestone rightly copped criticism for their failure to supply a tyre able to last a full race distance at the resurfaced track, and there was talk at the time of last October's race that Bridgestone had been asked to test at the track, but refused.

In a video release on motogp.com, Bridgestone said that they had taken the resurfacing into account in the compounds they brought to Phillip Island last year, but curiously, said they hadn't factored in the higher average speed that the resurfacing would deliver.

In addition to the MotoGP teams taking part in the Bridgestone test, Dunlop is also testing PI-specific compounds at Phillip Island, with the Marc VDS team (Mika Kallio and Tito Rabat) and Mapfre Aspar Team (Nico Terol and Jordi Torres) in attendance.

While the problems with disintegrating rear tyres weren't as dramatic as with the the MotoGP Bridgestones, the problems were still severe enough to cause a dramatic shortening in last year's race, from 25 laps to 13.

Image: motogp.com