asey Stoner, his Ducati and his Bridgestones are unstoppable. Just about unbeatable, too. Look at the season so far…Round 1, the Grand Prix of Qatar: Stoner and Bridgestone on top. Round 3, the Grand Prix of Turkey: a repeat performance, Stoner and Bridgestone winners once again. Round 4, the Sinopec Great Wall Lubricants GP in Shanghai: it was Casey Stoner and Bridgestone first at the finish yet again. Round 5 in France at the LeMans GP brought a total Bridgestone podium sweep, with Chris Vermeulen taking home the win, with Marco Melandri in second and Stoner in third. And Round 2, the Spanish GP? While they didn’t take the top spot there, Bridgestone hardly came away empty handed. Four out of the Top 10 finishers were racing on Bridgestone tires. Now that’s the way to start a racing season. It’s also the way to sell tires to sportbike riders.
     Right after the opening event at the Grand Prix of Qatar (and Casey Stoner’s first win of the 2007 MotoGP season), he said, “We’ll only get stronger as I get more used to the strengths of the Ducati and the Bridgestones.” He wasn’t kidding and he wasn’t exaggerating. Three wins out of five races–as this is written–is an impressive performance from the rider, the bike and most definitely from the tires. Those Bridgestones, Stoner says, allow him to set his own pace throughout a race, never feeling like he has to push too much or too hard to get out front. Those Bridgestone race tires are confidence-inspiring, and confidence results in wins and points. Stoner leads the championship with 102 points at this stage of the Series.
     Sport riders worldwide haven’t let any of this slip by unnoticed. They see who’s winning, they see what is winning and which tires those winners choose. And in MotoGP this season those tires are by Bridgestone. It isn’t just Casey Stoner on Bridgestones, either. John Hopkins, Marco Melandri, Loris Capirossi, Chris Vermeulen, Randy de Puniet and Alex Hofmann are all on Bridgestones, and whether it’s a Ducati, a Suzuki, a Honda or a Kawasaki those Bridgestones are performers. All those names just listed have pretty much filled out the Top 10 roster at every MotoGP for 2007.
Serious sport riders can get some of the Bridgestone magic themselves, right here and right now. The Battlax BT-002 Racing Street is a Z-speed rated sport tire that performs like a full-blown race tire. On the track or off the BT-002 Racing Street deals up the same sort of balance, stability, feedback, grip, anti-shimmy properties and shock absorption as Bridgestone’s race-level tires. It lets a sportbike and its rider perform at their maximum potential; this DOT approved street/track day tire is a direct result of Bridgestone’s successful MotoGP experience. Bridgestone set out to deliver the ultimate street/sport tire and has done it with the BT-002 Racing Street. These tires actually come out of the same molds as their DOT race rubber.
     The BT-002 Racing Streets with their Silica Rich Dual Tread Construction (DTC), their optimized tread patterns and their specially designed and race-inspired carcasses are available right now. Parts Unlimited has them in all the popular sportbike sizes, 120/70ZR17, 180/55ZR17, 190/50ZR17 and 190/55ZR17. They’re in stock now.
     MotoGP 2007, so far, is owned by Bridgestone. Bridgestone owns the track. There’s no reason sportbike riders can’t own the street. The Battlax BT-002 Racing Street tires are ready and waiting for them, just like Casey Stoner’s Bridgestones are there for him. Tell your serious sportbike riders. Then again, you might not have to. They’ll already know. Just make sure you have what they want, and that’s the Bridgestone Battlax BT-002 Racing Street. It’s the race tire for the street.