Bridgestone will use this year’s Road Race and Superbike Show at London’s Alexandra Palace (27 Jan - 4 Feb) to launch its new Supersport race tyre, the BT-001R.

Developed directly from Bridgestone’s award-winning BT-010 road tyre, which was launched to universal acclaim last year, the BT-001R has been produced to withstand the fierce competition found in the British Supersport and Superstock championships.

Prototype versions of the BT-001R were used in last year’s Spanish Supersport championship in which Oriol Fernandez of the Stile Moto Suzuki team and Motosport Belart Yamaha rider, David Vasquez, finished as champion and runner-up respectively.

Bridgestone UK’s motorcycle manager, Arthur Macdonald, commented: "We’ve been conducting a comprehensive testing and development schedule during the close season and we now know that the BT-001R is a seriously competitive tyre."

Macdonald continued: "The fact that Bridgestone has recently embarked on a £4 million Moto GP testing programme with Erv Kanemoto underlines the company’s commitment to making as big an impact in motorcycle racing as it has recently in Formula 1 and other major car racing series."

The BT-001R will be available for the 2001 British Superstock and Supersport series in a wide range of different sizes and compounds direct from Bridgestone’s Motorcycle Race Tyre service, which will attend each round of this season’s MRO and British championships headed by service manager, Neil McCarthy.