The high-speed nature of the Monza circuit causes
headaches for sole Superbike World Championship tyre supplier Pirelli. With its headquarters just a few kilometres
away, Pirelli always wants to provide safe racing at the historic Italian
circuit but the demands of 165 kg, 1000cc Superikes clocking in excess of 330
km/h are collosal.
"This track
is historically probative for tyres: the extreme length of the straight stretches,
the sustained high speeds and the violent braking zones stress the central part
of the tyre section in a way that no other track in the World Superbike
Championship does,” Giorgio Barbier, Pirelli Racing Director, says.
“Basically, the
thermal energy developed and null lean angle, both in acceleration and in
braking, is about five times more than that developed at Assen. And then there is the thermal stress on the
right shoulder where, especially on the Biassono curve, the tyre stays leaned
over for a long time at high speeds in acceleration, reaching thermal energy
values on the shoulder that approach the record values of Phillip Island. For this reason we decided to bring four solutions
for the rear for the riders to choose from: an SC0 and an SC1 with an oversized
200 profile like the ones already seen during the Australian round. The third solution is also SC1 and last, but
not least, the fourth solution is an SC2, both of which are in the standard
size. The SC0 and the two SC1 solutions
have a reinforced central section which uses an SC2 compound, precisely for the
reasons described above.” Barbier added.
For a visual of the torture
Superbike tyres are subjected to at Monza, click on: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BdfsxBbR4Y&feature=youtu.be
RIDERS IGNORED PIRELLI’S ADVICE
However, rather than the dry
conditions the Superbike usually enjoy at Monza, rain affected both the
Superpole qualifying sessions, and both races.
“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. 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.
“This advice, however, was completely
ignored since all of the riders used rain tyres. The rain tyres run well at 50°- 60°C, but on
the two consecutive straight stretches, which were completely dry, they
obviously reached temperatures well above 200°C. 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,” Barbier stressed.
“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."
