Today during the AMA Pro road races at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Dunlop introduces its new Sportmax GP-A Pro, the company’s first bi-directional, N-TEC, DOT-labeled road racing tire and the replacement for the Sportmax D211 GP-A.
By utilizing high-tech machinery now in place at its manufacturing facility near Buffalo, New York, Dunlop can apply its Jointless Tread application procedure to the GP-A Pro, allowing the new rear tire to be run in any direction and even flipped to extend its useable life. By flipping, Dunlop means a rider can use the best part of one side of a rear tire, dismount the tire, remount it in the reverse direction and do more laps by using the other side of the rear tire. The new GP-A Pro front tire is not bi-directional, however.
Dunlop has also incorporated Carbon Fiber Technology (CFT) into the sidewall of the GP-A Pro to enhance cornering stability, improve transitional steering traits and increase stiffness without adding extra weight. In fact, the GP-A Pro is slightly lighter than the D211 GP-A.
The symmetrical tread of the GP-A Pro supports its bi-directional mission and makes more rubber available in the hardest-working part of the tire while keeping enough tread cuts to match the D211 GP-A in wet weather performance and meet DOT standards.
All of this combined with the same rubber compounds currently available with the D211 GP-A result in more grip, better feeling and faster lap times during back-to-back testing by best racers in the country, according to Dunlop.
The new Dunlop Sportmax GP-A Pro is only available in 120/70-ZR17 fronts and 190/60-ZR17 rears, which are dimensionally identical to the D211 GP-A front and rear.
And the prices are the same as the D211 GP-A, $399/set for the general public and $320/set to licensed AMA Pro racers at AMA Pro events. The tires are only available through Race Tire Service (www.dunlopracing.com, 1-800-772-8473).
Only GP-A Pros will be sold at AMA Pro road races, where Dunlop is the control tire supplier, but Dunlop D211 GP-A tires that meet AMA specification can still be used, according to AMA Pro Racing.