Decorated tyre company Bridgestone immediately made its presence felt at Wonthaggi’s ProMX opener, where Dean Ferris landed his Penrite Racing Empire Kawasaki on the MX1 podium. It signals a return to familiar territory for the Japanese brand, and represents a critical step in revitalising its global motocross presence.

It’s important because – as many longtime fans of the sport will recall – there was a time in the late ’90s-early 2000s when Bridgestone was synonymous with race-winning success, with the likes of Jeremy McGrath, Ricky Carmichael, Chad Reed and James Stewart delivering championship after championship in the US.

That racing pedigree has largely faded in the time since, with rival brands such as Dunlop and Pirelli taking centre stage as the tyre of choice for riders and teams alike. Now, however, Bridgestone is mounting a return, supporting the Liqui Moly Beta Factory Racing team in America, as well as the official Kawasaki effort and newly-formed MotoCoach Elite effort locally.

Brand manager of Bridgestone at national distributor McLeod Accessories, Duncan Hale, explained that 2026 presented a ‘right place, right time’ scenario for the brand’s partnership with Empire, underscored by the return of four-time MX1 champion Ferris, along with Brad West – both who had used the product previously in their careers.

“Bridgestone is making a push back into the off-road side,” Hale told MotoOnline. “In the US, we’ve been with the Beta factory team for the last two years, and then this year, we’ve been able to partner with the Empire Kawasaki team here in Australia, which is really good.

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“It’s difficult to get back into the motocross industry after you’ve been out for so long. A lot of the teams have relationships with brands – they’re locked in for long periods of time with their contracts and stuff like that, so we just had to wait for the right opportunity to come along, and we were very fortunate that came with Empire Kawasaki.”

The Empire Kawasaki program underwent several changes at the conclusion of the 2025 season, with the Tyson Cherry-led team transitioning to a 450-only structure from this year, while also enlisting the services of Ferris and West.

Additionally, the departure of Luke Clout – who the program had largely been built around over the past two seasons – presented an opportunity for a fresh start across multiple areas. A change in tyre manufacturer to Bridgestone formed part of that shift, with riders evaluating the package during the pre-season.

“Late last year, we did a lot of testing with Empire for 2026, with Dean and Brad,” continued Hale. “And [it was] kind of a unique situation where we actually sort of stepped back after we did all the testing, got all the data, and everyone was happy.

“We took a step back and let the riders make the decision on which way they wanted to go with the tyres, and they both chose to go with Bridgestone, which was fantastic. The first round went fantastically, where Dean was on the podium – the first time we’ve had a Bridgestone hat on the podium for a long time.”

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In terms of tyre specification being used, all rubber is off-the-shelf production, with Bridgestone offering a range of compounds to suit varying terrain. So far, Ferris has favoured the Battlecross X31 intermediate on the front, while rotating through rear options depending on track conditions.

“On the front, Dean’s favouring the X31, which is like our intermediate soft,” Hale said. “But on the back, he’s been going between the intermediate hard, the intermediate, and the paddle tyre. He actually used a paddle tyre at Wonthaggi for the whole day, but that’s sort of one advantage we have, too, is that we have a lot of options.

“The team can start the day when the tracks are plowed in the morning, as the tracks are normally quite soft, so at that point we can be on intermediate soft or even a paddle if need be. And then, the first moto is after lunch and the track’s hardened up, [so] we can switch to an intermediate and then for the last moto, we can go onto a hard.”

So why the return to competition? The answer largely comes down to exposure, with it easier to sell a tyre at dealership level when riders such as Ferris, West, or even MX2 rider Rhys Budd – the primary rider on MotoCoach – deliver strong results with the product. Race teams serve as powerful marketing tools in action, with on-track performance validating the tyre’s capabilities.

“I mean, it’s just to get exposure, right?” added Hale. “It’s brand exposure. Up to now, we haven’t had much of a race presence, so we’ve been reliant on – we’ve been 100 percent reliant on our dealer network to offer the tyres to the consumer.

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“Now, when a dealer is selling tyres, they can say, ‘Hey, Dean finished third on the weekend on this tyre – the tyres are fantastic.’ Bridgestone doesn’t have the big marketing budget that the other brands have had over the last 10 or 15 years, so it’s good that they’re getting back into it. We’re racing because it just gives you that justification for how good your product is, and you can rely on it. It gives you that brand credibility.”

The return of Bridgestone adds a unique dynamic to the ProMX paddock, further enhancing the competitive landscape when it comes to extracting performance on track. It remains to be seen how this revitalisation unfolds, and whether the brand can return to its former level of success, but already it’s off to a competitive start.