Brno – Round 9 – SBK Race report

The scorching heat of the Automotodrom Brno presented an adequate challenge for Pirelli’s race tyre solutions, with asphalt temperatures reaching as much as 57°C (135°F) during Race 2.  The majority of the grid adopted the reference medium-soft ‘B’ front along with a new soft ‘A’ rear performance solution developed in testing sessions just two weeks ago. This combination was notably successful in Superbike Race 1 for Suzuki Alstare rider Sylvain Guintoli, who tied his best result of the year (4th – Australia) in Race 1, while BMW rider Reuben Xaus had his best result ever on the S1000RR with a fifth place.  A fourth win of the year for Rea (Honda) and a return to the podium for Fabrizio (Ducati) gave additional testimony to the new soft solution compound, event considering the incredible heat.  A new Superpole time of 1'58.018 was set by Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha) in the final session, a blazing pace which was duplicated again in Race 2 of SBK when he set a new lap record of 1'59.291.  An incredible battle between Sofuoglu (Honda) and Lascorz offered an excellent demonstration of the new ‘A’ soft compound Diablo Supercorsa, with Lascorz recording the fastest time on lap 16 of 20, crossing the finish line just 0.1 secs behind the new championship leader.  The 4,200 Pirelli tyre supplied for the weekend consisted of 4 front and 4 rear Diablo Superbike solutions in the SBK class, three of which are new for Brno, along with 3 front and 2 rear Diablo Supercorsa solutions in the Supersport class.