Amazingly, it's been six years since Pirelli took on the tyre supply at WSBK. It was a shock at the time, but its been copied, hasn't it?
Pirelli has been the sole tyre supplier to WSB for six years already and, after initial apprehension, most riders in the paddock now see it as a good thing. The suspicions that some riders would still be favoured or that all tyre development would stop dead appear to have been unfounded.
Pirelli sent out us this info which we thought was worth posting up here, since it points out a few things that, frankly, we hadn't considered and didn't know. So here goes for some Pirelli propaganda...
"The first two year period of Pirelli's relationship in WSB was dedicated to refining the service element to guarantee adequate support for all riders in the Superbike paddock. The next step then began a true search for performance, improving lap times and cornerspeed and reducing circuit records. During the last two years, Pirelli has continued to deliver a higher level of performance, but more noteworthy is the stabilization of performance, meaning reduced lap times all the way to the flag.
Relative to this stabilized performance, the measured race time for 2009 decreased an average of 20 seconds over last year, signifying truly faster racing and a consistent competition level. From the 48 dry solutions available to riders this season between the World Superbike and Supersport grids, one front and three rear tyres will enter the 2010 Pirelli Racing product range and be available to all authorized customers on the market.
With as many as 6,000 tyres delivered each weekend on the WSBK calendar, the cutting-edge technologies bred within this environment can be quickly transferred into street product through Pirelli's application of perfected carcass constructions concepts. For example, the new Diablo Rosso Corsa adopts a carcass from the Superbike class and shoulders of its three zones compound rear tyre being an offspring to those used in the Superstock class."
Source: Superbike.co.uk
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