COMPILED BY TFR STAFF

Melbourne, Australia — The 2004 FIA Formula One World Championship springs into life in Melbourne, Australia on March 5. Following the off-season testing, the Formula One tyre manufacturers head to the first grand prix of season.

Located in picturesque Albert Park, the circuit is not a permanent facility and the roads are open to everyday traffic for all but one week per year. As a result the track surface tends to be dirty - and therefore very slippery - at the start of the grand prix meeting. Gradually, however, the F-1 cars lay down rubber and the circuit generates significantly more grip as the weekend wears on. Generally Melbourne places a high level of strain on tyres, because it features a number of high-speed corners and also demands fierce braking several times per lap.

The track, on which the Australian GP has run since 1996, has undergone several changes in preparation for this year’s race including work on straightening the pitlane. Combined with an increase in permitted pitlane speeds, this will undoubtedly affect race strategies.

MICHELIN
Michelin will be present with its six partners, including Jaguar Racing.

Q&A: PIERRE DUPASQUIER, MICHELIN MOTORSPORT DIRECTOR
How well prepared are you for the 2004 season? “It is always difficult to know where one stands before the racing begins in earnest - not least because we haven’t yet had an opportunity to see all the teams running together in identical conditions. Every car has completed a healthy number of laps at a variety of circuits. I accept that it’s hard to know exactly what fuel loads teams are running during preseason tests, but it’s fair to say that all our partners have fulfilled our expectations in terms of performance. What’s more, some of our new-specification tyres have produced particularly interesting results. I don’t think it’s any secret that we are approaching the season in a positive frame of mind.

“In summary, we are confident that our tyres will be competitive. As for winning championship titles, well, that’s another thing altogether. There will be seven or eight Michelin drivers who are capable of challenging for podium finishes at every race and it is inevitable that they will take points off each other. Over the course of a season that could benefit our rivals. But let’s wait and see. Ask me the same question again on Sunday March 7, after the chequered flag has fallen in Australia.”

BRIDGESTONE
After 17,000 kms of tyre testing with its four teams, Bridgestone Motorsport is about to hit the first round of the 2004 FIA Formula One World Championship with 1,400 of its latest development Potenza Formula One tyres. Winter testing has seen Bridgestone and some of its teams, including Jordan Ford and European Minardi, travel to circuits across Europe in Italy, Spain and the UK - and the waiting is nearly over.

Bridgestone Motorsport will be flying eight new dry weather tyre specifications, one wet-weather and one extreme-weather specification to the Melbourne Grand Prix. The number of tyres being flown directly to Australia from its F-1 tyre production facility in Tokyo is approximately 1,400.

HIROSHI YASUKAWA, DIRECTOR OF MOTORSPORT
“The Australian Grand Prix is a great race to start the season with and our team of 40 engineers, fitters and supporting personnel are raring to get out there. We expect the competition to be just as hard fought this year, but we are very determined to start this season as we finished the last.”

HISAO SUGANUMA, TECHNICAL MANAGER
“Bridgestone’s engineers have worked hard all winter in preparation for this race and we are looking forward to seeing our latest development tyres in action. Whilst tyre performance is always relative to that of your rivals, the progress of Bridgestone’s development over the past few months has been significant - and there will be more to come during the season. In the meantime, I can say that we have eight new specifications for our teams. We have worked not only on compound development, which is important for grip but also on improving both front and rear construction performance. All in all, I was very satisfied with our winter test programme and am confident we’ll be competitive in Melbourne - but the true test of course will start on Friday.

“From a track surface point of view, the Melbourne race circuit is quite smooth and requires a soft-medium range compound to facilitate grip levels. Front tyre graining can be an issue resulting in understeer. However, teams will want to work on the prevention of understeer for the best chance of a good one-lap qualifying performance. They will also need to work on getting a good balance of front and rear tyres, which provides consistency over a race distance. In addition to this, the pitlane changes and the increase of pitlane speeds will most likely result in an extra pitstop and therefore shorter race stints, so tyre wear will not be as much of a factor .”