Bridgestone, Michelin set for Barcelona showdown.

After Michael Schumacher came so close to victory at Imola, and with Fernando Alonso heading to his home grand prix with three wins and the championship lead under his belt, tyre manufacturers Bridgestone and Michelin both head to Spain knowing that this weekend's grand prix will be a challenge on and off track.

Bridgestone's engineers are eagerly anticipating this weekend's Spanish Grand Prix after Ferrari and Schumacher proved to everyone that the stunning turn of speed shown by the F2005 in testing was no fluke. Although the German's racecraft produced a well-earned second place behind Alonso at Imola, it was that pace that enabled him to climb from 13th on the grid.

"This week's Spanish Grand Prix has all the hallmarks of being another classic race," Bridgestone director of motorsport Hiroshi Yasukawa said, "We clearly saw at Imola that, following an intensive period of working closely with our teams, we have been able to provide them with increasingly competitive tyres. To see Michael Schumacher running up to two seconds a lap faster than his rivals was hugely satisfying and we intend to keep up the momentum.

"The race in Spain will undoubtedly produce another big showdown between the leading runners, and we expect the Ferrari drivers to be right up there, showing what they can do in front of the expected capacity crowd."

Race tickets sold out well in advance of the weekend, and a capacity crowd of about 125,000 is expected to be on hand to cheer Alonso, the Renault driver having taken victory in each of the past three races to knock the likes of Real Madrid off the front pages of the national newspapers. Alonso is aiming to become the first Spaniard to win his home grand prix, but Michelin knows that should the pressure - or mechanical problems - get to him, it has other drivers ready to take the challenge to Ferrari.

Although Alonso has yet to finish outside the top three so far this year, six Michelin drivers from five of the company's seven partner teams have shared ten of a possible twelve podium finishes. Jarno Trulli was the best-placed Michelin runner in last year's corresponding fixture, when he took his Renault to third place, fractionally ahead of team-mate Alonso, and has been on the podium twice for Toyota in 2005. Giancarlo Fisichella, Nick Heidfeld, Jenson Button and Kimi Raikkonen have all reached the top three this year, and will be helping Michelin chase only its second race win in Spain.

"Barcelona has traditionally been a tough circuit for tyres," Alonso revealed, "Even though it has been resurfaced, I think it might be one of the first tracks where wear rates are a big concern for engineers, because the long, fast corners could make it very hard on tyres - especially the fronts.

"From our perspective, though, we are very confident: Renault and Michelin have won four races out of four this season and, historically, we have always been quick in
Spain. Everything is still there to fight for and I know the atmosphere will be fantastic - like a big party for all three days. That will be an even stronger motivation for me to fight for the podium."

As Alonso points out, the 4.627km Circuit de Catalunya underwent considerable resurfacing work during the winter months and, as a consequence, has become relatively smooth. The circuit is still notoriously tough on tyres, however, and both Bridgestone and Michelin have had to consider both these factors before choosing which tyres to bring.

"Barcelona is now smoother than in previous years, but it is still a hard wearing track from a tyre point of view," Bridgestone technical manager Hisao Suganuma confirmed, "The number of high speed corners and undulating nature of the circuit make it hard on the brakes and tyres. Taking all these factors into account, we have again chosen tyres which have shown a high, consistent performance and we are confident that following testing last week, where we tried approximately 15 different specifications with Ferrari and Minardi at Mugello and Jordan at Silverstone, our tyres should be strong in Spain."

"We will be dealing with some new characteristics at the Circuit de Catalunya this year, because it has been totally resurfaced," agreed Michelin's Pierre Dupasquier, "We completed lots of test laps here during the winter and found the asphalt much less abrasive than it used to be. We also evaluated a number of new ideas on this circuit and have developed a softer range of compounds than we were accustomed to using in the past.

"Although the surface has been modified, the track configuration means there is no change to the mechanically-induced loads the rubber must endure - and these are
considerable. There are several long, fast corners that put a significant strain on tyres, but the engineers can run cars with a relatively high degree of downforce. Although this helps the tyres to generate more grip, it increases the demands imposed on the sidewalls through the higher-speed corners. Last but not least, fuel loads are more influential here than at many other circuits - every 10kg equates to about 0.4secs per lap."