Been reading the recent articles discussing the history of tire wars in the major racing series and I have a question lingering. Why do tire manufacturers need a pecking order of whom they will supply their best tires to? Do tires have that great a manufacturing tolerance?

I also recall an article about Casey Stoner's career that was plauged by him being consistenly put on these so-called inferior tires. Can anyone help to explain to someone like me who doesn't understand what goes into the making of a tire?

 

There will always be a pecking order among factory teams & their racers.
The politics of being on a # 1 team & being on a non-factory team never goes
away. In my younger days I was a factory BMX rider & it was awesome
when all the new gear & bikes would hit my doorsteps. At every National race
all the reps would hand out new gear to the factory teams in this order.

1. the Pro's caught first dibs 2. amatuers by age & time on team

The pecking order nevers goes away. I always felt like a pro when all
the riders from my local track came up to my dad's car the race after a
National cause they new I would have all this gear & swag to give away.

In any sport you have to pay your dues to get in the front of the line.

Moto GP or AMA isn't any different.

 

I can understand the idea of a limited supply, but were talking about tires, something that can be mass produced. All racing regs require that the tires are made from moldings. IIRC MOTOGP allows hand-cut tires so that could be an exception...manpower shortage.

 

in MotoGP tires are constantly evolving, top teams get new tires first and if they are better, other teams will get them. Also in MotoGP, tires are highly specialized, top teams get more choices of tires and priority in developing them. With the new tire rules its not as much of an inner-brand issue as it is a brand vs brand. Michelin has always thrived on their ability to choose from a LOT of tires and find one that works best while Bridgestone had fewer options so they made their tires more broad-ranged.

In AMA its more about money, the majority of the paddock is Dunlop but unlike MotoGP, the lower level teams and riders have to buy their tires and because its a national series most riders are using off-the-shelf tires. The top teams have the option of working with Dunlop to have more rider/bike specific tires. Pirelli doesnt have a ton of resources in the US because of the spec tire in WSBK, I know they have turned down a team or two because they couldnt get they didnt have enough allocated to North America