Superbike: Pirelli's point after Magny-Cours

Confirming the forecasts, the Sunday races at Magny-Cours were characterized by bad weather: the right opportunity for the superbike riders to test, for the first time and with good results, the new Pirelli rear wet tyre.

The debuting Diablo Rain T0905 immediately demonstrated that it can offer something more in terms of performance compared to the tire currently in the range.

In Saturday's Superpole, run on dry and sunny conditions, Tom Sykes set a lap of 1'36"366 which earned him pole, the 24th of his career, and improved his track record by 6 tenths. same made in 2012.

Pirelli brought a total of 2130 tires to Magny-Cours for the premier class, so each rider had 72 Diablo Superbike tires available, of which 34 front and 38 rear: three slick front solutions, the standard SC1 and SC2 to which is added the S1 development SC1699 and three rear slick options, in addition to the supersoft compound qualifying tire intended only for the 20 riders who access the Superpole.

The French circuit has a very smooth asphalt and almost no irregularities, which therefore does not create particular problems for the tyres, except when the drivers are called upon to brake on uneven surfaces: in this case the front tyres, especially those in the soft compound, can be subjected to a low level of stress, while those in hard compound guarantee better support during insertion and are therefore usually preferred by pilots.

“Today was undoubtedly influenced by the bad weather but Aprilia certainly proved that it has a very competitive bike and riders” – he commented George Barbier, Racing Director Pirelli Moto – “With the show of strength demonstrated today the Noale company confirmed that it has all the potential needed to battle Kawasaki and Tom Sykes until the last round. This year too we have a very hard-fought World Championship which will most likely be decided in the last round in Race 2, as has already happened several times in the past. We just have to wait for the beginning of November and Qatar, where we will find a very different track than that of Magny-Cours and where the riders will race for the first time at night on an artificially lit track. I wish both Tom Sykes and Sylvain Guintoli my best wishes for this last round of the season."