Isle of Man TT 2005 Isle of Pirelli (Man) June ’05 Races Report Isle of Man, June 2005 – Pirelli has proven to be, once again, the dominant force at the Isle of Man TT races, which are the toughest, truest test in world motorcycle racing. In the TT’s five solo events, Pirelli tires scored three wins and dominated the leaderboard by capturing 41 of the 50 top-ten positions, and 12 of the 15 podium finishes. With top speeds reaching over 180 mph, on the Isle’s ultra-harsh 37.73-mile course of public roads, winding through villages and over mountains, the performance of Pirelli’s new Supercorsa Pro tires in the Supersport and Superstock classes was unmatched by any other brand. These Supercorsa Pro tires, posting TT laps averaging over 126 mph in this ultimate test of speed, handling and durability, are the same product available to every street rider of today’s high-performance high-powered sportbikes. Racer Adrian Archibald, riding the TAS Suzuki GSX-R10000 on Supercorsa Pro DOT tires, lapped the 37.73 mile TT course at an average speed of 126.641mph. This is a mere six seconds slower than the fastest lap of the week, recorded on full-racing slicks. “Those speeds on a treaded tire are amazing”, exclaimed Archibald after the race. “I never had a slide throughout the whole race, and you could see how good they still were at the end of the race. The Superbike [slick] tires were great, too I had no tire problems at all. Even with the softest SC0 compound, the front tire did six laps, no problem.” Honda’s Ian Lougher, the veteran Welshman who finished a successful week with one win, two second places and one fourth, pronounced himself “Happy with that. The Pirellis were no trouble at all, which is important when you’ve got so many other problems to solve. The durability’s good, both with the slicks and the new Supercorsa Pro. I honestly wouldn’t like to be on anything else. The Pirelli’s are always consistent the grip’s the same with every tire. And the stability’s superb.” Ryan Farquhar, winner of the second Supersports race on his MSS Discovery Kawasaki ZX6R, was equally impressed. “Setting up a bike for a course like this can be a huge headache, but at least you know you can depend on your Pirellis. The stability they give here is priceless.” Richard Britton rode superbly all week only to be handicapped by a succession of technical problems, but could at least rely on the dependability of his Pirelli tires. “They’ve been working brilliantly”, explained the Enniskillen star. “It’s just a pity that other problems meant that we couldn’t give them a result. They’re stable, predictable and you can rely on them. You never get a ‘rogue’ one as you do with some other brands of tires.” The secret of Pirelli tires’ unique suitability for the gruelling TT road course lies in their patented steel-belted construction. This ‘ring of steel’ prevents the tire’s carcass from expanding due to centrifugal forces generated by speeds approaching 200mph, yet doesn’t inhibit the flexibility needed to soak up the Mountain Circuit’s notorious bumps. Overall, the construction’s inherent combination of form stability with flexibility also allows the tire to have a more radical, quicker-steering profile without compromising straight-line stability. This is even truer now that the new generation of Supercorsa Pro tires have arrived. The Supercorsa Pro characteristics are uniquely suited to solving the problems today’s supersport machines encounter when performing at extreme speeds over the cambers, bumps and ripples of public roads. No other race circuit in the world puts such exceptional demands on tires, yet rider after rider praised the grip, consistency and, above all, the reassuring stability of the Pirelli tires. Speaking in the TT paddock during the races, Pirelli’s Eddie Roberts explained the latest developments for Pirelli’s slick and road tires. “This year we have the Supercorsa Pro, a development of the tires we were running last year. The front has a new profile for faster steering, while the rear has a new tread pattern for better wear characteristics. Then we have a new soft front tire compound, designated ‘SC0’. This has been working very well on the front. All our top riders are using it. The Supercorsa Pro rear tire compounds have also changed, and are now exactly in line with our slick compounds.” TT 2005: PIRELLI RESULTS Superbike TT: 15 of the top 20 finishers used Pirelli tires. Superstock TT: Winner: Bruce Anstey, TAS Suzuki GSX-R1000, Pirelli tires, average speed 124.242mph. Fastest lap: Adrian Archibald, TAS Suzuki GSX-R1000, 126.641mph, Pirelli tires. The top 14 riders all used Pirelli tires. Supersport Junior TT Race A: Winner: Ian Lougher, DMRR Honda CBR600, Pirelli tires, average speed 120.928mph. Fastest lap: Ryan Farquhar, MSS Kawasaki ZX-6R, 122.639mph, Pirelli tires. 15 of the top 20 riders also used Pirelli tires. Supersport Junior TT Race 2: Winner: Ryan Farquhar, MSS Kawasaki ZX-6R. Pirelli tires, average speed 120.697mph. Fastest lap Jason Griffiths, Yamaha R6, 122.540mph, Pirelli tires. 19 of the top 25 finishers all used Pirelli tires. Supersport Senior: 9 of the top 10 finishers used Pirelli tires.