Assen (The Netherlands),
19
July
2021
|
08:47
Europe/Amsterdam

Pirelli relies on new front solutions for the Assen round of the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship

The WSBK Circus returns to ‘The Cathedral of Speed’, Pirelli brings new development solutions and a wide choice of tyres from the standard range.

After the round at Donington at the beginning of the month, the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship moves to the Netherlands for round five at the historic TT Circuit Assen.

 

The TT Circuit Assen is considered one of the most difficult tracks in the championship and is nicknamed ‘The Cathedral of Speed’ due to the high average speed riders can reach. The circuit was built in 1925 and now measures 4,542 metres with 11 right-handers and 6 left turns.

Although not particularly stressed from a thermal point of view, the tyres must still be able to provide to the rider great precision and a lot of directional stability. The Assen allure lies in this series of long and constant speed turns, slow U-shaped turns with braking and sudden acceleration, fast chicanes and long turns with strong acceleration coming out of them, with the bike still leaned over. The circuit was completely resurfaced in 2020, and this represents a variable in addition to that of temperatures: the Assen round has traditionally been held during spring time, with temperatures as low as four degrees in 2019, while this year will see races happening in summer times, with temperatures that could potentially be much higher than previous years.

 

The solutions for the WorldSBK and WorldSSP classes:

Pirelli brings 4884 tyres to Assen. In the WorldSBK class, there are four front and four rear slick options available to riders. The front options from the standard range are the medium compound SC2 and the soft compound SC1. In addition to those, there are two development solutions: the first one is the development SC1 in A0721 specification, which makes its absolute debut in Assen and features a softer compound compared to the standard tyre, and the second is the development SC1 in A0508 specification, which the riders were able to appreciate at the round in Misano.

As for the rear options, Pirelli offers the riders three standard solutions and one development solution. The riders will therefore have at their disposal the standard tyres in super soft SCX compound, in soft SC0 compound and in medium SC1 compound. In addition to these options, the development solution SCX in A0557 specification will again be present: it made its debut with great success at the Misano round and was chosen for Race 2 by all the riders on the starting grid.

In case of bad weather, Pirelli allows riders to make a choice with rain tyres. At the front, the teams can choose between the standard rain solution and the development solution in A0593 specification, presented at the previous round in Donington and used by several riders. At the rear, in case of bad weather, the choice will fall between the standard rain solution and the development solution in X1251 specification, which features a new compound designed to offer greater grip in wet conditions even at low temperatures.

In the WorldSSP category, riders will have six slick solutions to choose from, three front and three rear. For the front there will be available the new development solution in soft compound A0460, which with a new structure should improve feedback at maximum lean angle, in addition to the standard SC1 and the standard SC2 solutions. For the rear, riders can choose from the following solutions from the standard tyre range: the super soft SCX, the soft SC0 and the medium SC1.

 

The 2019 Pirelli statistics for Assen

  • Total number of tyres brought by Pirelli: 3,672
  • Number of solutions (including dry, intermediate and wet) for the Superbike class: 5 front and 8 rear
  • Number of tyres available for each Superbike rider: 35 front and 41 rear
  • Number of solutions for the Supersport class (including dry, intermediate and wet): 4 front and 5 rear
  • Number of tyres available for each Supersport rider: 21 front and 27 rear
  • Superbike Best Lap Awards won by: Álvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4 R), in 1'34.949 (Race 1, lap 2) and in 1'34.564 (Race 2, lap 13)
  • Supersport Best Lap Award won by: Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing / Kawasaki ZX-6R), in 1'38.417 on lap 10
  • Temperature in Race 1: air 4° C, asphalt 6° C
  • Temperature in Race 2: air 10° C, asphalt 18° C
  • Maximum race speed reached by Pirelli DIABLO™ Superbike tyres: 303.4 km/h, by Álvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) and da Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) on lap 6
  • Maximum race speed reached by Pirelli DIABLO™ Supercorsa SC tyres in WorldSSP race: 262.1 km/h, by Federico Caricasulo (Bardahl Evan Bros. WorldSSP Team / Yamaha YZF R6), Loris Cresson (Kallio Racing / Yamaha YZF R6) and Thomas Gradinger (Kallio Racing / Yamaha YZF R6) respectively on lap 1, 3 and 11