This past weekend the high profile Formula 1 car racing series made its only stop on US soil at the famed Indianapolis Speedway for the United States Grand Prix. Unfortunately, before the race even began it was mired in controversy and when the racing was over on Sunday the disgruntled fans actually boo’ed the winner. Not what is expected from a world caliber race and downright shocking when you realize that F1 racing is the most popular sport in most of Europe…this is not a rinky-dink operation in which this kind of problem might be normal.

The first rumblings of the eventual melt-down started during practice on Friday. Of the 10 teams racing in this premier cage racing series, seven of them run Michelin tires (the remainder run Bridgestones). Two of the Michelin drivers, Ralf Schumacher and Richardo Zonta, both crashed in practice due to tire failure. The problem is that the FIA has a rule that teams must race using the same tire that is used for qualifying. Michelin didn’t have any harder compound tires, capable of dealing with the brutal down force generated by an F1 car at full honk on the Indy banking, available for the qualifying session. They requested an exception be made for the qualifying tire rule or that a chicane be added to slow top speeds but the FIA deemed either option unfair to Bridgestone that had tires which appeared capable of racing at Indy. As a result, Michelin withdrew their tire and 7 teams (14 drivers) thus withdrew from the race. When only six cars lined up for the final race on Sunday, the crowd went bananas and the end result was that Michael Schumacher was boo’ed as he took to the podium after his win. The FIA then responding by fining the Michelin teams for actions “negative to the sport”

Talk about a public relations nightmare! Michelin look like they can’t make a good tire. The FIA looks like they don’t care about driver safety. The track looks dangerous. The fans look like idiots. The teams running Bridgestones look greedy for stone walling on the compromise asked by Michelin then going ahead with the race to gain maximum points. Only Bridgestone comes out of the deal looking good, since they brought a tire that could go the distance at the Brickyard road course. Now it has become a nasty finger pointing war.

So given that I’m a motorcycle race fan and don’t give a flip about cars why am I bringing all this up? Well, its because this could well be in our future. The FIM, the governing body behind MotoGP, would sell whatever remains of it’s soul if it thought it could become as popular as F-1 racing. Many of the current rules being put in place, specifically the flag-to-flag rain race rule, were built specifically to increase MotoGP’s appeal to a TV audience. This rule was adopted despite some serious questions being raised about the safety aspects of such a ruling. This is just the latest in a long history of questionable decision making by the FIM in regards to rider safety.

Given that the tire war in MotoGP boils down to the same two tire manufacturers as in F1 (Dunlop also provides tires for MotoGP but they aren’t particularly competitive) it is ironic that the situation seems reversed on the bikes. Michelin virtually owns the MotoGP series while Bridgestone has struggled at really fast tracks over the past two seasons. Bridgestone’s most spectacular problem was Shinya Nakano’s 180 mph rear tire blowout at Mugello last year but even this year the Bridgestone riders seemed to struggle at Catalunya. I’m sure that Bridgestone wasn’t too sorry to see Michelin lose face at Indy given how bad they looked after Mugello last summer!

It isn’t that big a stretch to think that rules could be put in place in Grand Prix to limit tire costs in an effort to stem the hemorrhaging of financial resources by the smaller teams. Teams like Team KTM/Roberts, WCM and D’Antin Ducati need to find a way to increase sponsorship, reduce costs, become competitive with what they have or get out of the sport. The FIM can’t afford to lose more teams, so they may have to introduce rules changes that help. Since tire costs are exploding and since the difference between having first tier tire support and second is at least a second per lap the smaller outfits will never stand a chance against the better funded teams. Also, as the tire wars escalate, the tire companies will take more and more risks by providing softer and softer tires. Not only are these tires less likely to last in the harshest of race conditions, they also cost more which again widens the gap. Finally, the tire manufacturers can’t afford to make special tires for each model of bike so they design their tires around maybe two of the team’s bikes. Michelin, for example, builds their tires for Honda and Yamaha. Team KTM/Roberts, which also races on Michelin, have to make do with tires designed for a different bike. If it matches their geometry great. If not, they will struggle. As the World Superbike series shows, tires may be the first place the FIM looks when it comes time to make changes to improve the competition by reducing costs.

Given the pressure on the two groups…the FIM’s need to both reduce tire cost and increase popularity on one hand and the tire manufacturers struggle to make tires capable of handling the 250+ horsepower dealt out by the MotoGP bikes on the other. It seems that it doesn’t take a gypsy fortune teller to foresee the potential for future MotoGP rules which may ultimately sacrifice rider safety for a more level and affordable series.

Perhaps this is one of the “gotchas” which await the FIM in its quest to match the popularity of F1. As is often the case, the grass isn’t always greener and the complexities of balancing cost, safety and participation may yet create the same PR controversy for MotoGP that has just exploded in the Formula One world.

[image from the Motoplus Germany web site.]