"We have two primary compounds we run at the street courses, and we have three primary compounds we run on the ovals. The short ovals require a stiffer tyre and the compounds have a lot of grip. For the superspeedways, the construction is stiffer yet again, and they have the hardest compound. Basically, the more downforce you have the faster you're going and the stiffer the tyre."
Despite being a spec tyre supplier these days,
Bridgestone Firestone continues to improve its product.
"We're still developing all the time," Speyer said, "That's part of the reason we're here. We're still pushing the envelope, maybe not as quickly as we did before."
Added Mader: "We're still working on making the tyres better for driveability."
Speyer and Mader feel their product is a little underestimated by the latest generation.
"I think the biggest thing we have now that we didn't have even in say, '99, is that people haven't run another product," Mader noted, "There are so many people who don't really understand how good we are."
Added Speyer: "We're taken for granted some times."
Mader says there's quite a lot of information exchange between his group and the
F1 group in Japan. He and his engineers visited Bridgestone Firestone's tech centre while they were in Japan for the IRL race at Motegi a few weeks ago.
"There's plenty of back and forth," Mader reported. "We have a meeting every time we go to Motegi. We go to the Tech Centre and go over some material and they present some material. We've always had somebody in my department from the motorsports development division in Japan and it's very good feedback."
Finally, I asked Speyer if Bridgestone Firestone might ever show any interest in NASCAR.
"The number one question our CEO gets asked is why don't we do stock car racing?" he grinned. "So I'd say, yes, there's interest from our management. But it would be a big step for us because they use a lot of tyres. Production considerations would be a major issue for us. But it's one we could address.
