PIRELLI CELEBRATES 25 YEARS OF WORLD SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP AT MONZA WITH THE SUPERPOLE “SILVER STRIPES” TYRE On the occasion of this important anniversary the Italian company with headquarters in Milan has designed an exclusive version of the tyres the riders will use for Superpole on Saturday with six silver coloured stripes on the tread pattern and a celebratory tag on the side with the Italian flag containing the 25 years logo Milan, 3 May 2012 In 2012 the World Superbike Championship, first held in 1988, celebrates its 25th anniversary and Pirelli, present in this prestigious competition from its inception and sole supplier for it since 2004, has decided to honour this important event by creating an exclusive version of the Superpole tyre the riders will use at Monza on 5 May, to decide the starting order for the races on Sunday 6 May. The Diablo Superbike tyre with the supersoft Superpole compound, in this exclusive “Silver Stripes” version, has six silver coloured stripes on the tread, the colour traditionally associated with 25 year anniversaries, and a label on the side which depicts the Italian flag and the commemorative logo designed by Infront to celebrate the World Superbike Championship’s quarter of a century milestone. “All of our knowledge begins with experience, just as knowing means remembering, and so we remember when we at Pirelli got back into world motorcycle competitions: this was after years of minor activity and the historical Grand Prix races with Gilera, Guzzi, etc. had been forgotten “ said Giorgio Barbier, Pirelli Moto Racing Director and part of the Superbike project from its start at the end of the 1980’s, “…after the first slicks evolved in the early eighties on a National and European level, diving into the new World Superbike adventure in 1988 was a choice of passion and courage. We chose team Rumi, outgoing World champion and its rising star, American rider Fred Merkel. A hard year, full of excitement, disappointments and successes: a championship which was won in the last round in New Zealand against Mertens who would later go on to become a Pirelli rider. Since then, the Pirelli sports identity in the motorcycle world has once again been a culture of constant undertaking and commitment.” The long partnership with World Superbike has allowed Pirelli to develop a series of products which have been exemplified for 10 years in the Diablo range and which are continuously updated thanks to the factory derivatives platform. The experience gained there guides many current choices: Motocross, Enduro, as well as Rally and finally a return to F1 send a clear signal of what Pirelli’s commitment is in the Motorsport world. “This” adds Barbier, “is certainly a very important milestone, not only for Infront Motor Sports and the World Superbike Championship, but for the entire two wheeled sport competition world. In spite of the economic crisis during the 1990’s and in recent years, the World Championship continued to grow consistently both in terms of visibility and prestige, carving out a major role for itself in international motorcycling. The Flammini brothers’ project showed itself from the very beginning to be a winner, attracting important riders that would go on to become legends. Pirelli believed in this project from the beginning, and from 2004 they were chosen as sole official supplier for all four classes of World Superbike, adding their contribution to the excitement that these races provide fans every weekend. We are therefore pleased to be able to celebrate this event together with Infront and all the others involved and we are confident that the World Superbike Championship will continue to grow in the years to come”. For further evidence of the important role Pirelli has in increasing the quality of the show provided for the World Superbike Championship fans, one needs only to think that, since the beginning of Pirelli’s involvement as sole tyre supplier, the championship title has been decided an amazing three times in the last round of the season (in 2004, 2007 and 2009) and five times during the penultimate weekend. While in the open championship (pre-2004) only three manufacturers managed to earn the title in more than 16 years, in 8 years of single tyre seasons, 5 of the 8 motorcycle manufacturers participating (including Petronas) earned at least one title: Ducati, Suzuki, Honda, Yamaha and Aprilia. Thanks to the continuous improvements in tyre performance, from the first season the average race times have decreased year after year, determining an average reduction in race time of -0.3 second per year. About 30 Pirelli patents stem from the WSBK experience, patents that have to do with various aspects of tyre technology and which effect the increase of the contact area (EPT), tread design, compounds and processes. Many of the latest products introduced on the market, such as the Diablo Supercorsa SP, Diablo Rosso Corsa and the Diablo Rosso II, contain elements which are drawn from these technologies in order to provide more advanced products to the consumer for use in daily riding, whether on or off the track. More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki: Sykes Teams Up With Gadea for Monza Weekend WSBK, Monza, Italy, 3 May 2012 Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) enters the Monza race weekend looking for more podium success and at this round he will have a new team-mate in Spaniard Sergio Gadea. This weekend Sergio, a multiple 125cc Grand Prix winner and a podium finisher in that class as recently as 2011, is replacing injured rider Joan Lascorz who continues his recuperation in hospital in Spain. Sykes is a big fan of Monza, a circuit with many high-speed sections and a few areas of heavy braking into tight and then ever faster chicanes, culminating in the blast through the Variante Ascari towards the unique Parabolica final turn. Sykes and his team feel that Monza should be a great venue for man and machine, as Tom goes for his first win of 2012, and his second career win for Kawasaki. Tom has won Superpole at all three races of the 2012 season so far and at Monza a good starting place is particularly beneficial as the entire pack has to negotiate the first few chicanes at high speed and in close proximity. For Sergio racing a Superbike in this category will be a new experience. He has never raced at Monza before but it is may be fortunate that although Monza is unique in its high-speed nature, the layout of the track is relatively simple. Pedercini Team riders David Salom and Leandro Mercado will be fighting it out at Monza again on their Ninja ZX-10R race bikes, all ready to push on to more points scores to get into double figures and march up the table as the season progresses. In the other main classes Pedercini Team Kawasaki Superstock 1000 FIM Cup riders Bryan Staring and Jeremy Guarnoni will be out once again, while Loris Baz rides his MRS Ninja ZX-10R, having made a great impact since his arrival back into this class. For all competitors the potential for poor weather, according to the latest forecasts at least, may be the only thing to spoil what is one of the most enjoyable weekends of the year. Tom Sykes: “We have had a fantastic start to the year but I think we also had some bad luck at Assen last time out. Hopefully that is our bad luck for a while now. The good thing from my point of view is that I did not make a mistake, when we were forced to retire we were in the lead of the race and we were competitive again before that. Now I am looking forward to Monza. We have some good circuits coming up and for us Monza we should be OK. We have a good base setting so we need to work around that and not stray too far away from where we need to be. We can still improve the bike in a couple of areas and I am sure we can get there, so we can push on that extra little bit where we need to. The Kawasaki is also strong in the engine performance and I am going to Monza looking to bring back two top finishing places.” Sergio Gadea: “This is a great challenge for me and I am very happy about it. I want to thank Kawasaki for the confidence they have had in me this weekend. I have never seen Monza before – only on the Playstation – and I was up until 1:30am this morning playing it. I have also done many laps on the scooter just to be sure of the circuit layout for the first practice session on Friday.” Tati Mercado: “I hope to make a step up this weekend because we were able to figure out some things after the Assen race. Getting out of the corners to generate maximum speed down the straights is the most important thing at Monza and that’s what we will focus on. I’m really pleased with the way things are progressing with the package and the team and as it’s their home race it also adds something extra to the weekend.” David Salom: “Monza is a good track for me because our Kawasaki has good speed and it should work well there. I need to score some points at this race. My form is good and my motivation is still high and I intend to just try as hard as I can to reach a good result. I like Monza, also because there are many Pedercini team supporters because it is our team’s home race. We’ve been working hard as a team to continuously improve the bike and I’m confident ahead of the Monza races.” More, from another press release issued by Kawasaki: Kawasaki Riders Going For More Gold At Classic Monza Circuit WSS, Monza, Italy, 3 May 2012 Kawasaki DeltaFin Lorenzini competitors Kenan Sofuoglu and Sheridan Morais will soon be able to give the engines on their Ninja ZX-6R machines free rein at the fastest circuit on the calendar, Monza. The classic Italian circuit, build inside the grounds of a former Royal Park, has been around in one form or another since the 1920s. Even with several chicanes Monza is still a unique venue in terms of top speed and the need to slipstream, with engines held at full revs for a long time down the fast start-finish straight. It is a track that both Sofuoglu and Morais relish racing at given the strong top end on their Ninja ZX-6Rs, but their entire race packages are already at a high level now and improving every time they take to the track. At the top of the table Fabien Foret (Kawasaki Intermoto Step Racing) shares 45 points with Sofuoglu as the Kawasaki teams in general have made a great start to the season against some tough opponents. Morais is currently 12th in the rankings, Foret’s team-mate Romain Lanusse 16th. Kenan Sofuoglu: “I feel more confident and have a better feeling since Assen. I made a mistake at Imola and lost a lot of points, so I was under a lot of pressure not to make a mistake in the Assen race. I was really careful there in the slippery wet conditions and I got 20 points, which brought me to the top of the championship again. I am adapting more to my bike at every race. Monza is a good track for me, not like a special one, but it is a good track. I believe also Kawasaki has a very, very fast engine and that can be a help to me. Hopefully we can bring a good result this weekend and hopefully finish in the podium. Of course I want to win but for the championship it is important to finish on the podium.” Sheridan Morais: “Since Assen we have been working towards Monza and because I live so close to the workshops now I am there every day with the guys. We have been going through last year’s set-up and we have changed a few things with the gearbox already, so we should be starting out from a good point at Monza. We have checked the telemetry and the engine maps from last year so it feels like I have already done 100 laps around there, so I am ready to go there now. I love the circuit and there are some really difficult sections and fast turns. Our bike is really good engine-wise and suspension-wise, so I think it can be a great weekend for us.”