Australia MotoGP star Casey Stoner has been warned that new tyre rules for 2009 will make world champion Valentino Rossi virtually unbeatable.
The caution comes from Stoner's compatriot Jerry Burgess, the South Australian who has been the mastermind behind title wins by Rossi and Mick Doohan.
As Rossi'sYamaha crew chief, Burgess was the driving force that steered the Italian to a sixth world crown and deprived Stoner and Ducati of back-to-back championships.
Under new regulations for next season, all teams will have to use a single make of tyre, a decision which has been criticised by several key figures in the paddock, including Australian rider Chris Vermeulen.
Burgess, too, believes the move will prove restricting to teams trying to develop technology to make the sport competitive.
But he says if all riders are on equal rubber it is Rossi who will dominate the series.
Burgess says that while Stoner and Spaniard Dani Pedrosa are set to be the major title challengers next year, the selection of Bridgestone tyres for all teams will aid Rossi.
"If I was a rider out there now I wouldn't want to be on the same stuff as Valentino Rossi," Burgess told motorcyclenews.com.
"Thats a tough call."
The tyre decision means that there will be less competition on the track, according to Burgess, leading to processional races.
"It was virtually a mono tyre several years ago without a regulation with Michelin in 500s and we saw some pretty uninteresting racing there with Mick (Doohan) clearing away and winning races.
"When it was Mick and Valentino in the past with everyone on the same brand, those guys did most of the winning, so nothing will change."
Burgess says MotoGP is the elite series where more competition among the suppliers leads to innovation on the track and in turn on the road.
But he says a single tyre supplier will remove the need to strive hard for an edge over a rival manufacturer.
"To me it's taking away the reason we go prototype racing, which is to improve bikes and technical partners and the engineering challenge which can make motorcycles better and safer in the future.
"It's a disappointing decision, given we are in prototype racing and we need a many technical contributors, so we can to differentiate ourselves from the World Superbike category," he said.
