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Pirelli Responds to WorldSBK Tire Woes with Change

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The Misano round of WorldSBK was dominated by talk of tires. As such, following a weekend fraught with failures, Pirelli will revert to an older specification of tire for the Laguna Seca round. The move sees Pirelli at a crossroads, after a series of high profile incidents during the scorching weekend in Italy.

This includes Michael van der Mark’s crash from the lead of Saturday’s race, after a tire failure saw the Dutch rider robbed of his chance to claim his first podium for Yamaha.

One has to remember too, Jonathan Rea also crashed out of the lead at the previous round in Donington Park, as it was a shock to see the previously robust Pirelli fail once again.

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Spoiler

WorldSBK: Pirelli Explains Race 1 Tire Failure at Misano

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Michael van der Mark suffered a rear tire failure during the closing stages of Race 1 at the Misano WorldSBK round.

The Dutch rider was leading the race at the time, and had a firm chance to claim a first career victory in the class, when his rear tire suddenly failed and pitched him off the bike through the series of fast right-handers at the end of the lap.

For Pirelli, it is the second round in a row where they have seen a tire failure affect the outcome of a race, after Jonathan Rea suffered the same fate at Donington Park.

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WSBK

The WorldSBK Season So Far: Yamaha & Honda

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While it has hardly been surprising to see Ducati and Kawasaki maintain their position as the dominant forces at play in WorldSBK, the battle for best-of-the-rest has been an interesting subplot for 2017.

Over the course of the opening three rounds of the campaign, the form of Honda and Yamaha has been marked by their stark contrast in fortunes.

Last year, Honda had been a podium and front-row regular as the season moved into the European swing, and Yamaha looked to be clutching at straws and looking for any positives they could find on their return to the series.

This year has seen their roles have reversed, with Yamaha consistently the best-of-the-rest and in position to fight for a rostrum finish. Honda on the other hand have had a disastrous start to the campaign with an all-new Fireblade.

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News

World Superbike Season Preview – Part 2

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Our trained World Superbike reporter, Kent Brockman, has his eye on the World Superbike Paddock, and is ever vigil for the next big braking breaking story.

Submitting a lengthy preview of what to expect from the 2017 WorldSBK season, we have broken it up into two parts in order to make more money whet your appetite ahead of this weekend’s season-opener at Phillip Island.  

If you missed it, you can read Part 1 of his WorldSBK season preview here, other continue on for Part 2 of this opus. -JB

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WSBK

Improvements Give Pata Yamaha Confidence in WorldSBK

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After their return to World Superbike in 2016, Yamaha did not shy away from admitting that there is plenty of work to be done to turn the YZF-R1 into a front-runner.

That work was certainly being undertaken at this week’s Jerez test, with Michael van der Mark and Alex Lowes the busiest riders on track over the two days.

The pair completed a total of 283 laps of the Spanish circuit, and with a host of new parts on the bikes, it’s clear that the R1 should be more competitive in 2017.

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WSBK

Magny-Cours World Superbike Debrief – Saturday

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The decision on whether to be conservative or aggressive with your choices wasn’t the key in Magny-Cours, rather it was just about having belief in your convictions.

With a drying track, Chaz Davies was one of the few riders to start the race with intermediate tires, and the gamble proved worth the risk for the Ducati rider, as he romped to victory.

In the early stages, with a wet track, Davies was a sitting duck to riders with more grip from full wet-weather tires. The Welshman even said afterwards that “I was so slow that I wouldn’t have been surprised if someone had hit me!”

When the track started to dry, the race came to Davies, and rather than being a sitting duck he became a shark and picked off his rivals. It was an inspired race by Davies who rarely seemed to have push but instead kept calm and allowed the race to come to him.

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