San Juan (Argentina),
08
October
2018
|
13:29
Europe/Amsterdam

Pirelli and the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship to debut on the new Argentine circuit El Villicum

To tackle the newly built South American track, which will host the penultimate round of the World Championship, the Italian tyre manufacturer is bringing its complete range of compounds

Pirelli is ready to face the penultimate round of the 2018 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship next weekend which will run for the first time in history in Argentina, at the new circuit El Villicum. Built in the province of San Juan, in the Cuyo region at the foot of the Andes mountains it is not far from the border with Chile.

For this event, in which only the WorldSBK and WorldSSP600 riders will take part, Pirelli has decided to rely mainly on standard tyres, bringing compounds capable of dealing with different conditions. This is due to the fact that being a newly built circuit, there is no previous data or information to give more precise indications on which solutions could work better than others. In addition to the road surface and the type of asphalt used, which is certainly an important unknown along with the layout of the track, the weather is another question mark. The province of San Juan, where the circuit is located, is in fact at the foot of the Andes at an altitude of about 650 metres above sea level and is subject to a strong temperature range between the early hours of the morning and the late afternoon, so having tyres in different compounds is of fundamental importance.

In addition, the circuit was built in a desert area so when windy a layer of sand could deposit on the track, thus increasing the level of tyre wear, on new asphalt which is usually more abrasive and aggressive.

The San Juan El Villicum circuit, created by Argentine designer Leonardo Stella, presents a 4267 metres layout and a width of 16 metres with 19 curves, 8 right handers and 11 left. The start/finish straight measures more than one kilometre even if the longest straight, where the riders will reach significant speeds, is the one between the curves 7 and 8. The circuit is counterclockwise.

With the WorldSBK title already awarded, the round in Argentina could be decisive for the assignment of the world title in the WorldSSP600 class. At this event Sandro Cortese arrives with 169 points, 11 more than Frenchman Jules Cluzel and 29 more than Randy Krummenacher, all Yamaha riders. Fourth place in the Championship for Federico Caricasulo, another Yamaha rider, who has 132 points and is potentially still fighting for the title.

The solutions for the WorldSBK and WorldSSP600 classes

To tackle the new circuit of El Villicum, Pirelli decided to rely mainly on range solutions, bringing a total of 3249 tyres to Argentina. As usual, the riders of the WorldSBK and WorldSSP600 classes, in addition to dry tyres, will have intermediate and wet tyres available for use in case of bad weather.

As for the WorldSBK class, the riders will be able to choose between four front and three rear as well as the supersoft qualifier option in standard 200/60 size which can be used by the riders in the second session of Superpole®.

At the front Pirelli brings all its standard solutions, namely SC1 (soft), SC2 (medium) and SC3 (hard) which are flanked by the development SC1 V0952, a tyre already known and highly appreciated by riders.

For the rear three solutions in soft, medium and superhard compound. Those SC0 (soft) and SC3 (superhard) are the standard options while the medium compound solution is represented by the development SC1 X0140introduced at Aragón and also carried to Assen, Brno and Magny-Cours. The latter solution has been designed to offer a high level of performance and limited wear and could be the race solution in case of temperatures or asphalt that does not allow the use of SC0.

For the riders of the WorldSSP600 there are three front solutions and as many for the rear. On the front the development SC1 X0012 in soft compound is joined by two solutions in the medium compound: the X0582, designed to offer greater grip and more contained wear compared to the standard solution, and the standard SC2.At the rear there are the development SC0 X0633, which compared to the standard solution should offer better resistance and constant performance, the development SC1 X0093, already brought by Pirelli also to Aragón, Assen, Misano and Portimão and designed to guarantee a high consistency of performance and limited wear, especially if the temperatures should be lower, and the standard SC2 in the case of particularly aggressive asphalt and very cold temperatures.