Bridgestone announce 'white line' markings.

Bridgestone officially introduced sidewall markings for its softer compound slick tyres during Friday free practice at Le Mans, after testing possible solutions during the previous Spanish Grand Prix.

From the French Grand Prix onwards, it has been decided that the softer slicks will be marked with a white stripe around the sidewall.

That means that fans watching trackside and on TV will, as in the case of Formula One - where Bridgestone has been the single tyre supplier since 2007 - be able to see instantly which type of rider is using which type of tyre.

Crash.net had asked Bridgestone if it was planning just such a move before the season began.

Surprisingly, there was "no plan to differentiate tyres in MotoGP as is done in Formula One" at that time, but Bridgestone's Hiroshi Yamada now believes it will be "well received".

"We trialled tyre markings in Jerez with some different methods of tyre marking and after that weekend we decided to apply a white painted stripe to the tyre sidewalls," he explained.

"This will allow spectators, photographers, TV crews and anyone watching MotoGP to distinguish between the harder and softer compound Bridgestone slick options.

"We have experience of doing this in Formula One, where Bridgestone is also the Official Tyre Supplier, and the feedback we have from that series has been very positive.

"Now four races into our first season as MotoGP's Official Tyre Supplier, we have implemented a system that lets us transfer this experience to our MotoGP tyres, and I hope it will be just as well received in this paddock," he added.

A green line around the tyre sidewall is used to distinguish the softer compound in Formula One.