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Bridgestone, who supply world champions Ferrari, Sauber- Petronas, Jordan-Ford, BAR-Honda and Minardi, have flown in 1,000 race tyres direct from its F1 tyre production facility in Tokyo, Japan.
French manufacturers Michelin, who supply last year's Malaysian Grand Prix winners Williams-BMW, McLaren-Mercedes, Renault, Jaguar and Toyota, has not revealed the quantity of tyres, but is counting on its good record at Sepang to gain the upper hand over its Japanese rival.
THE Formula One tyre war continues in Sepang with Bridgestone and Michelin bent on proving their worth in the sweltering heat.
Bridgestone, who supply world champions Ferrari, Sauber- Petronas, Jordan-Ford, BAR-Honda and Minardi, have flown in 1,000 race tyres direct from its F1 tyre production facility in Tokyo, Japan.
French manufacturers Michelin, who supply last year's Malaysian Grand Prix winners Williams-BMW, McLaren-Mercedes, Renault, Jaguar and Toyota, has not revealed the quantity of tyres, but is counting on its good record at Sepang to gain the upper hand over its Japanese rival.
The battle between the two tyre manufacturers is just as interesting as the one between the teams and engine manufactuers as both Birdgestone and Michelin `spies', sporting their official attire, were constantly seen monitoring the activities of teams with their rivals' tyres.
Special attention though, seems to be given by Michelin to the Ferrari pits. One Michelin man is contstantly seen taking down notes while watching the progress of the Bridgestone Potenza tyres used by the world champions.
Although there are no prize for the winner of this battle, this is one area where tyre manufacturers pay special attention to since development at F1 level goes into the creation of better tyres for mass production.
Flying past: With a Malaysian flag painted in grassland in the backdrop, reigning five-time world champion Ferrari's Michael Schumacher powers his car into a bend during the first practice at the Sepang Circuit yesterday.-By Khalid Redza.
Copyright New Straits Times Press, Ltd. Mar 22, 2003