Pirelli on its way to the Circuit of Barcelona, tyre solutions for the Hyundhai N Catalunya Round in Spain revealed
The MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship makes a stop in Barcelona, for the ninth round of the season. Numerous development solutions are available for the riders of the Superbike and Supersport class
The Hyundhai N Catalunya Round takes place next weekend from Friday 17th to Sunday 19th September and could represent a significant appointment for the title race.
In the second half of the racing calendar, any round now could mark an important milestone in the run-up to the world titles. In WorldSBK the challenge is still open between Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with BRIXX WorldSBK / Yamaha YZF R1), currently first in the overall standings, six-time world champion Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR), just seven points away, and Ducati rider Scott Redding (ARUBA.IT Racing - Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4 R).
One of the highlights of the Catalan capital, the Circuit of Catalunya-Barcelona was inaugurated in 1992 in view of the Olympic Games. It is 4.627 kilometres long and has 16 corners, eight of which on the right and six on the left. Most of the corners are wide and very fast, and are interchanged with straights that allow riders to reach speeds as high as 320 km/h. The circuit is undulating and is considered a very technical track, with several points that can put a strain on the bike and the rider. Among others, it is worth noting the first braking point after the start finish line, at the end of the very long straight, where we will see the bikes engaged in one of the most demanding braking sections of the year.
The solutions for the WorldSBK and WorldSSP classes:
In the WorldSBK class, all riders will have available a selection of development solutions, all previously used, and standard solutions, giving a total of ten options available; five front and five rear.
For the front tyre, the three available slick solutions are made up of a standard option and two development options. On top of the standard SC1 there are the development solution SC1 A0721, which presents a softer compound versus the standard SC1 tyre, and the development solution SC1 in A0508 specification, presented in Misano and also used in Assen, Most, Navarra and Magny-Cours.
As for the rear slick tyre, the riders have two options at their disposal. The first is the development SCX in A0557 specification, which will be the only super soft compound available in Barcelona, while the second option is the soft standard SC0.
The Superpole tyre in Y0449 specification will also be available and will allow the riders to make a quick lap during the Tissot Superpole session in search of the absolute best time to position themselves on the starting grid.
In the WorldSSP category, on the other hand, there will be five dry solutions available to the riders, three for the front and two for the rear. For the front, riders will have the standard soft SC1 compound, the medium SC2 compound, and the development SC1 in A0460 specification. This was presented in Assen and should improve the feedback at maximum lean angle and give more support in corner entry. As for the rear, on top of the standard super soft SCX compound, riders of this category will have available the standard soft SC0 compound.
As always, in case of bad weather, riders of all classes will have rain and intermediate tyres available.
2020 statistics for Pirelli in Barcelona
- Total number of tyres brought by Pirelli: 4.336
- Number of solutions (including dry, intermediate and wet) for the WorldSBK class: 5 front and 8 rear
- Number of tyres available for each WorldSBK rider: 36 front and 40 rear.
- WorldSBK Best Lap Awards won by: Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR) in 1'42.797 (Race 1, lap 2) and Chaz Davies (ARUBA.IT Racing - Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4 R) in 1'42.646 (Race 2, lap 3)
- Temperature in Race 1: air 28° C, track 42° C
- Temperature in Race 2: air 28° C, track 44° C
- Number of solutions for the WorldSSP class (including dry, intermediate and wet): 4 front and 4 rear.
- Number of tyres available for each WorldSSP rider: 26 front and 28 rear
- WorldSSP Best Lap Awards won by: A. Locatelli (BARDAHL Evan Bros. WorldSSP Team / Yamaha YZF R6) in 1’45.869 (Race 1, lap 3) and Isaac Viñales (Kallio Racing / Yamaha YZF R6) in 1'45.907 (Race 2, lap 4)