Belgian GP: Bridgestone preview

Bridgestone focussed on Spa

Bridgestone Motorsport and its four teams are aiming to keep up the pressure on its rivals next weekend at Round Fourteen of the FIA Formula One World Championship in Spa- Francorchamps, Belgium. After the resounding success of the Hungarian Grand Prix where Ferrari's seventh one-two finish of the season sealed the Constructors' title for the Scuderia and Sauber Petronas' Giancarlo Fisichella took another all important point for the Swiss- based team, it has been business as usual for Bridgestone's engineers.

Mindful that there is much work to be done yet, Bridgestone has approached the next challenge of Spa with every intention of assisting its teams in fulfilling their potential. Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello will be "going for gold" as they battle for the Drivers' Championship and Fisichella, currently lying a respectable tenth overall, has every chance of climbing further up the rankings if he maintains his run of form. There is still much to play for.

Hiroshi Yasukawa, Director of Motorsport:

"After the excitement of seeing Ferrari seal the Constructor's Championship in Hungary last week, we move on to Spa- Francorchamps where the Bridgestone equipped drivers will all be battling for further championship points. This is an important stage of the season and we are very focussed on serving our teams to the best of our abilities. The circuit at Spa is a favourite of many in the motor racing world and it is a pleasure to see it make a welcome return to the calendar this year. I expect it to produce a thrilling grand prix."

2004 Tyres for Belgium
1,400 Bridgestone Potenza Formula One tyres will leave for the 6.973km Spa-Francorchamps circuit next week. Comprising of five different specifications of dry Bridgestone tyres, the specifications were selected at the final Jerez and Monza tests prior to the test ban.

Hisao Suganuma, Technical Manager:

"Spa-Francorchamps is another very challenging circuit. Its high speed nature means that the tyres must have good heat durability while also providing good stability through the fast corners, such as Eau Rouge."

"Like the Nurburgring, this circuit is in a mountainous region and therefore subject to variable weather conditions and temperature fluctuations. We have had to take this into consideration when choosing our dry tyre specifications and wet tyre specification as they need to perform whatever the weather brings."

"Our choice of compounds has been selected from our mid to hard range because of the abrasive nature of the track surface and the high speeds endured. Spa will be very interesting for us this year because while we expect to be competitive as it has traditionally suited Bridgestone's tyres, it has been resurfaced in some areas since the grand prix was last held there in 2002. The "Bus Stop" has also been modified but we do not expect this to have too much of an influence on tyre selection."

"We have not been able to test specifically for Spa but are confident that following the last tests in Jerez and Monza prior to the test ban commencing, we made the right choices in conjunction with our teams."

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