Bridgestone is to increase the number of tires and compounds it provides to the MotoGP field from August's Czech Grand Prix.
The change is in response to a large number of crashes in recent events – including a string of falls in Friday morning practice at the Sachsenring this weekend – which have been attributed to cold tires.
From Brno, three rather than the previous two front tire compounds will be offered and the front tire allocation per rider will be increased from eight to nine. There will also be more flexibility in the choice of rear tire compounds.
Hiroshi Yamada, head of Bridgestone motorsport, said the changes proved that his company was receptive to riders' concerns.
"When rider comments about warm-up performance started last year, we developed the extra soft compound rubber for the rear tires to improve the situation," he said. "Then at the start of this year we already selected softer compound options for five of the first nine races, again to provide tires that warm-up more quickly.
"Then during the Italian Grand Prix we decided to bring softer spec rears to a further six of the remaining nine races, and with this latest change to our tire approach we very much hope to arrive at a situation where the riders feel satisfied with the extra tire choices they have each weekend and more comfortable with additional softer tires in the cooler morning sessions.
"The introduction of FP1 on Friday morning this year changed the situation for us because conditions are never ideal on Friday morning and this is when we have seen most of the crashes.
"Nevertheless, we take rider safety very seriously and, of course, we are sorry to have seen the crashes that we have this year and want to avoid such unnecessary occurrences. I hope this fundamental change to the official tire supplier situation demonstrates that we listen to riders and have long been working toward such a compromise to make them feel safer and more comfortable and confident in the warm-up performance of our tires."
Hirohide Hamashima, assistant director of Bridgestone's motorcycle tire development division, said more changes were planned for 2012 and that the Brno alterations were an interim solution.
"We realize the need to focus more on the area of warm-up performance, and while we continue our development of a new family of tires for next year which feature a softer construction, these changes that come into effect from Brno are our best effort at reacting as quickly as we can, and in a way satisfactory to all parties, midway through the season," he said.
"The riders have agreed with our proposal so I am confident that the changes will provide them with what they've been asking for in terms of a greater number of softer specification tires each weekend."