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The second half of the 2022 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship is firmly on the horizon with the seventh round and the Pirelli French Round at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours beckoning. After a lengthy summer, the title fight will reignite but there’ll be a new dynamic to face, with Pirelli – the Championship’s Official Sole Tyre Supplier – bringing a new option to the iconic French venue this weekend.

In terms of new tyres, all eyes will be on the front this weekend with Pirelli bringing the all-new B0570 specification front tyre (SC1A), which should offer plenty of front grip and will be an ideal combination with the SCX or SCQ rears. This tyre featured prominently in the recent Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya summer test, with most teams and riders enjoying it but stating that it was a front equivalent to the SCQ, offering maximum performance and good grip but not over a long or sustained period. Also on the front, there will be the well-known standard SC1 and the development SC1 A0674 (SC1B), the latter of which has won six races in 2022. In the case of rain, there will also be a new rain tyre, the SCRD, designed to offer more grip in wet conditions and low track temperatures.

The development isn’t only focussed on the front however, with a new SCX rear also making its debut at Magny-Cours, which sees the development of the compound continue, with this season’s working dating back to Misano – the tyre will be known as the development SCX B0800 (SCXA). Alongside this new specification of SCX, there will be the standard SCX and the standard SC0. After a round away at Most, the SCQ tyre returns for Tissot Superpole and the Tissot Superpole Race.

Speaking about the solutions for the round, Pirelli’s Motorcycle Racing Director Giorgio Barbier explained: “At Magny-Cours we continue our development work, whilst always guaranteeing riders to be able to choose standard solutions or those that they already know very well. The new tyres we bring here are in fact the result of the feedback received with respect to previous solutions already tested in other rounds, but also other new choices.

“In the case of the new rear SCX option, for example, we tried to combine in a single tyre, the characteristics which the riders had appreciated in the two solutions tested in July at Misano. The new soft front instead goes in the direction of offering an even softer tyre and therefore able to guarantee greater grip, to balance the softer rear options. If it doesn't rain, which in Magny-Cours can never be ruled out, we will be able to check the progress made. It will also be interesting to monitor the performance of the wildcards that come from the French Championship and who on this occasion will have the opportunity to get to know our tyres better.”

Looking at the overall allocation, the front sees six of the new SC1A tyres, whilst there’ll be eight of the SC1B development and eight of the SC1 standard tyre. There will be four new rain development tyres, accompanied with six of the standard rain tyres. For the rear, there will be eight of each of the SCX compounds available, making for a total of 16 SCX tyres. There will then be seven SC0 tyres and the usual four SCQ tyres. In terms of rain tyres, there will be eight SCR1 for the rear. The intermediate compound (SCW) will remain unchanged, with an allocation of three tyres for the front and three for the rear.

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