Having Tom Kipp ride for the Team Suzuki Formula Extreme team doesn't seem to bother Dunlop's Jim Allen, even though Kipp has been instrumental in the development of Dunlop's DOT race tire design as a test rider for most of the last ten years. Team Suzuki Endurance used Michelin tires.

"Yeah, he's ridden on our stuff for a long time. I had to call him up and tell him I could not go mountain biking with him any more," Allen said with a laugh.

"Aside from the fact that Tom's a totally ethical person, and has really been a valuable resource for us ... I don't know that Tom has anything proprietary, but we did work closely with the guy."

Many times, teams and tire companies tell riders less about the equipment they are using than they an outsider might expect. One notable team does not give detailed info about the internals of the engine, and only tells them 'this has a better midrange' information so as to not lose proprietary information when and if the rider leaves the team.

Allen tries to give as much info as possible, in most situations.

"Two schools of thought: there's some people involved in testing that won't tell a rider anything. My school of thought is that you sort of gauge the credibility of the guy involved and sometimes you can get a lot more information from a tested rider when you're a lot more open with them," says Allen.

"I'm glad Tom got a good ride this year; he's a great guy. I don't think that he's got anything that's going to hurt us, and also think that even if he did, he wouldn't."