Pirelli announces the race solutions for the first round of the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship in MotorLand Aragón, Spain

The Spanish circuit of MotorLand Aragón is preparing to host from 21^st to 23^rd May the first round of the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship.  The series, now in its 34^th season, is the eighteenth with Pirelli as the Official Sole Tyre Supplier for all classes. A very long winter break is now coming to an end, characterised by multiple tests that allowed the riders to prepare themselves in the best possible way for the coming season.

The Italian tyre brand will take the role of Event Main Sponsor for the renamed Pirelli Aragon Round, and confirms the commitment with which it continues to invest in the Championship of the fastest production derived machines as a platform for developing its tyres in conjunction with international visibility for the brand.

For this first round, Pirelli has decided for the WorldSBK class to bring standard and numerous development solutions. In the WorldSSP class, on the other hand, only standard solutions will be present, ie tyres already on sale on the market.

The Spanish MotorLand Aragón circuit has a rather aggressive asphalt, especially harsh towards the rear tyres. In fact, the surface has a pronounced roughness and the sand, which in windy days can be deposited on the track, may cause loss of grip and drift towards the centre of the corners. For the rear tyre Pirelli has opted for both soft and medium solutions, the latter being useful especially during the morning test sessions in the event of low temperatures. It is expected temperatures will be much lower than the 30 degrees experienced in the August 2020 round.

The front tyres, in addition to the wear caused by the aggressiveness of the asphalt, are also called to withstand violent braking at the end of the straight opposite the pits, and the steep slopes, which cause high loading on the front end. Also notable are the fast corners and multiple changes of direction, where a good level of precision and grip is required.

The solutions for the WorldSBK and WorldSSP classes:

In the WorldSBK class, all riders will have available four front and four rear solutions, including a new development front solution.

For the front tyre, Pirelli allows the choice between the standard SC1 soft compound, the standard SC2 medium compound, and two development solutions. These two are the development solution Y1231 in soft compound, already used in several races in 2020, and the new development solution Z0628 in soft compound: an evolution of the standard SC1. This features a new structure developed to improve front end feeling by increasing support in mid and corner entry.

The four rear tyre options include the super soft standard SCX compound, successfully used throughout the 2020 season in preparation for the qualifying lap and in full races, the soft standard SC0 compound and the medium standard SC1 compound, which could be the ideal solution during the morning test sessions in case of particularly low temperatures.

The last rear option is the Superpole Y0449 tyre, presented in Laguna Seca in 2019, which will allow the riders to make a quick lap during the Superpole session in search of the absolute best time to position themselves on the starting grid.

In the WorldSSP category there will be four dry solutions available to the riders, two for the front and as many for the rear, all exclusively standard solutions. For the front Pirelli will allow a choice between a standard SC1 soft compound and a standard SC2 medium compound. For the rear, the riders will have at their disposal a standard SC0 soft compound and a standard medium SC1 compound.

As always, in case of bad weather, riders of all classes will have rain and intermediate tyres available.

The 2020 Pirelli statistics for Aragón (Teruel Round)

• Total number of tyres brought by Pirelli: 3.503
• Number of solutions (including dry, intermediate and wet) for the WorldSBK class: 5 front and 8 rear.
• Number of tyres available to each WorldSBK rider: 32 front and 35 rear.
• Number of solutions (including dry, intermediate and wet) for the WorldSSP class: 4 front and 4 rear.
• Number of tyres available to each WorldSSP rider: 21 front and 21 rear
• Best Lap Awards Superbike both won by: Michael Ruben Rinaldi Bautista (Team GOELEVEN / Ducati Panigale V4 R) in 1'50.121 (Race 1, lap 2) and in 1’50.338 (Race 2, lap 4)
• Best Lap Awards Supersport both won by: Andrea Locatelli (BARDAHL Evan Bros. WorldSSP Team / Yamaha YZF R6) in 1'54.382 (Race 1, lap 7) and in 1'53.990 (Race 2, lap 8)
• Temperature in Race 1: air 28° C, asphalt 45° C
• Temperature in Race 2: air 24° C, asphalt 40° C
• Maximum race speed reached by Pirelli DIABLO™ Superbike in WorldSBK race: 322,4 km/h, by Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Team GOELEVEN / Ducati Panigale V4 R), Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4 R) and Alvaro Bautista (Team HRC / Honda CBR1000RR-R) in Race 2
• Maximum race speed reached by Pirelli DIABLO™ Superbike in WorldSSP race: 279,1 km/h, by Manuel Gonzalez (Kawasaki ParkinGO Team Kawasaki ZX-6R) in Race 2 on lap 15