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Bridgestone heads tomorrow to
the world renowned Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the seventh round of the
FIA Formula One World Championship. Bridgestone’s Potenza tyres are unbeaten
in Formula One at Indianapolis but they will still face one of their biggest
challenges of the year – the infamous banking.
The medium and soft compound Bridgestone Potenzas will be used by all eleven
teams on the 4.19 km circuit. The use of the oval track banking allied to an
infield section means teams have to compromise on setup and the mixture of
banking, and both high and low speed corners, gives the tyres a thorough
workout.
Bridgestone has a fine pedigree at Indianapolis with its Firestone brand the
official tyre of the Indianapolis 500, which took place last month. After
the United States Grand Prix Formula One heads to Magny-Cours for the Grand
Prix du France on July 1.
Q&A Kees van de Grint, Bridgestone Motorsport Head of Track Engineering
Operations: What are the challenges of Indianapolis?
“Indy is a compromise. There is the infield where you need high downforce,
good grip and a softer tyre. Then there is the main straight and the banking
where the teams try to reduce their car’s drag to have a very high top
speed. With the setups used, the cars will suffer a little bit from lack of
downforce in the infield which they try to make up with tyre grip, which
means softer compounds. Because of the very high speeds and grip
requirements we will use the medium and soft compound Bridgestone Potenzas.
It is also essential that the teams maintain the correct tyre pressures, as
recommended by Bridgestone. This is important from both a safety and
performance point of view – especially where you have a banking which
creates forces which are nearly double those experienced when the car is in
a horizontal position. There is a little bit of a conflict for what is
required as Indianapolis is not a straightforward circuit, and this presents
a big challenge.”
Stats & Facts
Number & Spec of tyres brought to Indianapolis: 2,200 (medium and soft)
Pole position time 2006: 1min 10.832secs (M Schumacher, Ferrari)
Fastest race lap 2006: 1min 12.719secs (M Schumacher, Ferrari)
Top three 2006: M Schumacher, F Massa, G Fisichella |
