Pirelli and the eni FIM Superbike World Championship to debut in Thailand
Next weekend the Chang International Circuit of Buriram will host a round for the first time in history, with Pirelli bringing the full range of DIABLO™ Superbike and DIABLO™ Supercorsa tires
On Monday after the race weekend, the circuit will host the first of seven Pirelli SBK® Track Days, days on track in some of the most fascinating circuits that host the World Superbike dedicated to riders who love the Milanese brand
Buriram (Thailand), March 16, 2015 – Pirelli gets back on track for the second round of the eni FIM Superbike World Championship season, after the excellent debut three weeks ago on the demanding Australian circuit of Phillip Island.
What the Italian tire company is going to face is a new track, the Chang International Circuit of Buriram, where the production derived Championship has never raced before. For the first time in history, Thailand will host the Superbike World Championship and Pirelli will bring its entire range of DIABLO™ Superbike tires, for the Superbike class, and DIABLO™ Supercorsa, for Supersport.
As in Australia, there will be only the premier class and the Supersport division, while the Superstock classes and the young talents of the European Junior Cup racing will return on April 12 when the series moves to the Circuit de Aragón, Spain.
In Thailand in the Superbike class the 24 permanent riders will be joined by two local wild cards. In Supersport there are 24 riders on the grid, including 4 Thai wild cards. After the success of Phillip Island it will be interesting to see who among Leon Haslam on Aprilia and Jonathan Rea on Kawasaki will be able to repeat the success of the opening round. Chaz Davies on Ducati, Tom Sykes on Kawasaki, Michael Vd Mark on Honda and the defending champion Sylvain Guintoli certainly will not ride just to make up the numbers.
One to watch is Troy Bayliss, who in his return in place of the injured Davide Giugliano, had failed to enter the top ten, but now on a circuit which is new for all the riders, could take advantage of his experience and give fans some pleasant surprises.
Enthusiasts and bikers this year will be excited by the new Pirelli experience; Pirelli SBK® Track Days. In 7 of the 13 circuits on which the eni Superbike World Championship run, Pirelli organize (on the Monday following the race weekend), a day at the track dedicated to all riders who love the Italian tire brand. The Chang International Circuit Buriram will be the first to host, on Monday March 23, one of the Pirelli SBK® Track Days. The other circuits involved in the project are Motorland Aragón (Spain), April 13, TT Circuit Assen (Netherlands) April 20, the Autrodromo of Imola (Italy) on May 11, the Misano World Circuit (Italy) on June 22, the Sepang International Circuit (Malaysia) on August 3 and the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours on October 5. The initiative has a limited number of places available and is organized directly by each of the countries hosting the Pirelli SBK® Track Days.
Chang International Circuit VS the tires: a circuit to discover with the unknown factors of the high temperatures and humidity
The Chang International Circuit is a new track, which opened a few months ago, in October 2014, and is the first to be approved by the FIM in Thailand and therefore the only one capable of hosting the eni FIM Superbike World Championship in the country.
The circuit, designed by the renowned architect Hermann Tilke and located about 400 kilometers north-east of Bangkok, is 4.554 km long and has 12 turns, 5 to the left and 7 to the right.
Since this is the first time that the production derived Championship makes a stop on this track Pirelli has no experience or important data on which to base the choice of tires, that’s why, in the absence of a pre-race test, the Italian tire company decided to bring its full range of DIABLO™ Superbike and DIABLO™ Supersport tires. In any case it is very likely that the tires are called to face a circuit with a not particularly demanding layout even if the high temperatures and the high humidity typical of this period may be important unknowns and play an interesting role in the choice of the tires.
The Pirelli solutions for Superbike and Supersport classes:
The tires that Pirelli has brought on the new Thai Circuit of Buriram for the second round of the production derived championship number 3312.
In the premier class every rider can count on the range of DIABLO™ Superbike with 4 front solutions, for a total of 30 available tires, and 5 rear solutions with the same total number of 30 available tires. In total, each rider will have a choice of 60 tires, even if by regulation the maximum number of tires used by each rider for the entire race weekend (Friday to Sunday) has to be 24.
As regards the front in addition to the wet DIABLO™ Rain tires and the intermediate DIABLO™ Wet, Pirelli provides two dry tires: the development SC1 S1699, a tire which is already known by the pilots who have used it a lot in the past season, and the standard SC2, ideal for high track temperatures because it guarantees stability in the tread. The latter will be the favorite solution of the aggressive riders who prefer the compactness of the tread band.
Also for the rear there are wet and intermediate tires and two dry solutions: the standard SC0, the softest and most ideal to face smooth asphalt and high temperatures. This is because it offers maximum indentation and maximum development of traction at high temperatures on top of a higher stability to the thermal decay of performance, and the standard SC1 with a medium hardness compound, is a very versatile solution that is well suited to different temperatures and tracks, so for this reason is the natural alternative to the soft solution.
As always, the 20 riders who will have access to the two Superpole sessions will have a rear qualifier tire for use only on Saturday, looking for the best time to take place on the grid.
In Supersport Pirelli brings the full range of dry DIABLO™ Supercorsa tires, always accompanied by solutions for wet and intermediate conditions for a total of 4 front solutions and 4 rear. Overall, riders can choose between 23 front tires and 24 rear though for regulation they will be able to use only 18 over the weekend. Compared to the DIABLO™ Superbike the DIABLO™ Supercorsa tires are grooved, at the front there will be the standard SC1 and SC2, at the rear the standard SC0 and SC1.