Following a couple of absolutely awful rounds for the teams running Michelin tyres in Moto GP it seems extremely likely that in 2009 there will be a one make tyre rule and of course that tyre is almost certainly going to be Bridgestone.

Last season we saw top riders like Valentino Rossi struggle on the Michelins whilst Bridgestone shod Casey Stoner ran away with the championship. Then Valentino demanded a switch to Bridgestones for this season, leaving the rest of the Yamahas, factory and satellite teams, including his team mate Jorge Lorenzo languishing on Michelins.

At the start of the season I cannot have been the only one wondering whether he had made the right choice as there didn’t seem to be any noticeable difference in results although this was less obvious because Casey’s results were lack lustre at the beginning of the season but this was due to issues with the Ducati not the tyres.

Surely after losing such a high profile rider, as Rossi to a competitor’s product should have been enough to ensure that Michelin worked frantically to develop tyres during the winter lay off that would prevent a similar embarrassment this year?
Apparently not!

This season Michelin have further compounded their embarrassment first at Laguna Seca, where Nicky Haden apparently called them himself to request different tyres to the ones supplied and was told that would not be possible. Then things finally came to a head last weekend at Brno when the top Michelin riders Dani Pedrosa, Jorge Lorenzo and Colin Edwards, qualified in the lower part of the grid and James Toseland qualified outside of the times that would normally allow him to even start the race! In fact according to reports in Motorcycle News, a Honda and Pedrosa led boycott threatened the race altogether.

Safety issues have also been a concern with several high profile riders having big crashes and missed rounds due to injuries. Performance restrictions were proposed to the riders and all 17 riders present in Brno voted for the one make tyre rule.

So what does a one make tyre rule mean to you and me?
Well for a start it is likely to result in closer, more exciting racing and that can’t be a bad thing for all spectators if it means that every round we get similar edge of the seat racing that we saw from Rossi and Stoner (both on Bridgestones) in Laguna Seca.

Bring it on!