Pirelli notes from Monza
Giorgio Barbier, Racing Director Pirelli Moto, analyzes the fourth World Superbike round of the year held at Monza (Italy) from the point of view of the championship's official one-make tyre supplier.
"The weekend at Monza was most certainly conditioned from Saturday by weather conditions which were extremely unstable, with nice weather, suddenly alternating with rain and at times even with hail. As for Superbike, first and foremost I would like to make an important note on Saturday's Superpole: Pirelli consistently recommended that the teams and riders use the intermediate tyres which were available to them. This advice, however, was completely ignored since all of the riders used rain tyres. Clearly the reason for this was the fact that the track was completely dry in places, while in others it was wet due to the trees along the track which kept the asphalt from drying. The rain tyres run well at 50°-60°, but on the two consecutive straight stretches, which were completely dry, they obviously reached temperatures well above 200°. This caused a meltdown of the compound in the centre. I would also like to reassure everyone on this point that Pirelli tyres have a particular structure with a steel belt, and therefore it is absolutely impossible for them to explode. That said, on Sunday the riders in the Superstock classes raced as scheduled, in conditions which were even worse than those during the Superbike races, using the rain tyres on the front and the intermediate or race tyres on the rear. In Supersport, as further proof that the Pirelli rain tyres can most definitely sustain an entire race without any problems, the riders raced and finished on rain tyres. So it was a shame that, although the Superbike riders had two intermediate solutions available to them for the rear, they expected only to use the racing slicks. Once the race began, in any case, it was clear that even in those conditions a good race could be run."
Pirelli BEST LAP Awards:
SBK Race 2 - Tom Sykes ( Kawasaki Racing Team), 1'44.707 (Lap 7)
Total BEST LAP (SBK): Checa C. (Althea Racing): 3, Sykes T. (Kawasaki Racing Team): 2; Biaggi M. (Aprilia Racing Team): 1
WSS - Sam Lowes (Bogdanka PTR Honda), 2'00.653 (Lap 16)
Total BEST LAP (WSS): Foret F. (Kawasaki Intermoto Step): 1; Parkes B. (Ten Kate Racing Products): 1; Lanzi L. (Prorace): 1; Lowes S. (Bogdanka PTR Honda): 1
Stk1000 - Fabio Massei (EAB Ten Kate Junior Team), 1'52.272 (Lap 10)
Stk600 - Riccardo Russo (Team Italia FMI), 2'08.231 (Lap 6)
