For the Pirelli French Round, the last European event of the FIM Superbike World Championship, Pirelli brings two new solutions for the WorldSBK class and one for WorldSSP

Next weekend the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship circus moves to France where, at the Nevers Magny-Cours circuit, the third to last round of the season will take place.Pirelli is the Event Main Sponsor of this last European event, which for the occasion is named the Pirelli French Round.

The brand of the elongated P logo will equip riders with two new solutions for the WorldSBK class and a new option for WorldSSP. The premier class will be able to count on a new development solution in soft compound with Y0772 specification and, in the case of rain, an unprecedented new rear with X1250 specification. Both solutions are particularly suitable for low temperatures and smooth asphalt that offer little grip. Regarding the WorldSSP, riders will be offered a new option for the front, the development SC1 Y0898.

Even if there are still three rounds to go before the end of the Championship, the French round could mark an important stage in the run-up to the world titles of the three classes. In WorldSBK Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki) dominates the overall standings with 91 points ahead of Ducati rider Àlvaro Bautista and, if the latter were in difficulty, the four-time World Champion could attempt the assault on a fifth consecutive world title. In WorldSSP it is instead an open challenge among the Yamaha riders of the BARDAHL Evan Bros. WorldSSP Team with the Swiss native Randy Krummenacher who leads the standings with an advantage of only 10 points over team-mate Federico Caricasulo. The fight for the WorldSSP300 title is more open, albeit only among Kawasaki riders, but this class has only two races to be run since it will not race in Argentina. Spaniard Manuel Gonzalez leads the standings with a lead of 38 points over Dutchman Scott Deroue and 47 points over defending Champion Ana Carrasco.

Inaugurated almost 60 years ago in 1960, the Nevers Magny-Cours circuit is 4411 metres long and has nine right-handers and eight to the left, with a minimum bend radius of 5 metres and a maximum of 474.45 metres plus a finishing straight which measures 250 metres in length. The maximum slope uphill is 2.38%, with a 2.68% descent.This track is characterised by sudden deceleration and re-acceleration changes, interspersed with medium length straights, with plenty of altitude changes. In its default layout it also provides a hairpin (Adelaide) with one of the heaviest braking points present among the international circuits, arriving from a fast straight.The asphalt has a smooth and regular surface and therefore offers little natural grip, especially in case of low temperatures or in the wet. Moreover, in some points the riders are called to brake in the downhill sections putting the front tyre under stress.

The solutions for the WorldSBK and WorldSSP classes:

For the French round Pirelli brings a total of 4047 tyres to the track which includes both a dry slick (for the WorldSBK class) and grooved solutions (for WorldSSP and WorldSSP300 classes) as well as wet options for all classes.

In the WorldSBK class, riders will be able to count on 5 front and 7 rear solutions, including wet solutions. The slick options for the front will be three, all in larger size 125/70: the standard SC1 125/70 in soft compound and the development SC2 X1071 in medium compound will be flanked by the new development SC1 Y0772 that the riders had the opportunity to try during the official tests carried out in August at Portimão. This tyre uses a compound that is particularly suitable for low temperatures and therefore could be useful on a circuit like that of Magny-Cours, which offers little grip with cold weather.The range regarding the rear options is as follows. In this round the standard SC0 in 200/65 is flanked by the development X1351, which debuted in Jerez and was also taken to Portimão. The SCX solution in specification Y0781, which was introduced by Pirelli in the Portimão round, is also confirmed. Lastly in Superpole^® the riders will be able to count on the rear solution in supersoft compound developed for Superpole^®, in this case in the Y0449 specification.As for wet solutions, at Magny-Cours Pirelli provides pilots with a new rear development solution with X1250 specification which uses a compound intended to be used on particularly smooth circuits, such as Magny-Cours, which historically offer little grip especially in wet conditions.

Even WorldSSP class riders will be able to count on a new front option: the standard SC1 and SC2 will be joined by the new development solution Y0898, which differs from the standard SC1 in terms of structure, profile and compound and which has been developed to offer the typical behaviour of an SC2 but with the grip guaranteed by an SC1. At the rear, instead, the standard SC0 in 180/60 and the development SC0 Y0410 in a larger 190/60 size, which debuted in Misano and was also used in Donington and Portimão, will be present once again.

The 2018 Pirelli statistics for Portimão

• Total number of tyres brought by Pirelli: 4624 

• Number of solutions (including dry, intermediate and wet) for the WorldSBK class: 5 front and 9 rear 

• Number of tyres available for each WorldSBK rider: 39 front and 48 rear 

• Number of solutions for the WorldSSP class (including dry, intermediate and wet): 5 front and 5 rear 

• Number of tyres available for each WorldSSP rider: 24 front and 27 rear 

• WorldSBK Best Lap Awards won by: Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)in 1'37.152 (Race 1, 8^th lap) and Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) in 1'37.363 (Race 2, 2^nd lap) 

• WorldSSP Best Lap Award won by: Sandro Cortese (Kallio Racing), in 1'41.185 at 12^th lap 

• Temperature in Race 1: air 18° C, asphalt 30° C 

• Temperature in Race 2: air 20° C, asphalt 34° C 

• Maximum race speed reached by Pirelli DIABLO™ Superbike tyres: 294.3 km/h in Race 1 by Michael Van Der Mark (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) at 11^th and 17^th lap 

• Maximum race speed reached by Pirelli DIABLO™ Supercorsa SC tyres in WorldSSP race: 264.7 km/h, by Jules Cluzel (NRT) at the 16^th lap.