Bridgestone: We'll develop to the end

Bridgestone insists it will continue to develop its MotoGP tyres right up until the end f the 2015 season.

The Japanese manufacturer, which became MotoGP's first exclusive tyre supplier in 2009, has announced it will depart at the end of next season.

"We will still continue to develop new technologies as we want to leave the championship at the end of next season in the best way possible," said Masao Azuma, chief engineer of Bridgestone Motorsport's Tyre Development Department.

"It is in our interest to keep our development programme going strong right until the end of our tenure in MotoGP, as there is still a lot for us to learn that we can then migrate to our range of motorcycle road tyres.

"We are currently developing new advances in technology, particularly for the front tyre that we will be providing to teams for testing purposes in the coming months. People can expect to see some state-of-the-art tyre technology being introduced to the MotoGP championship over the next eighteen months. "

Bridgestone's present contract was due to expire this year but that would not have given enough time for a to-be-announced replacement to found, so the company agreed to stay for a further year.

As well as a new tyre supplier, 2016 will also see a single ECU become mandatory in MotoGP.