SBK | Pirelli confirms development options for Cremona too

Debut weekend for the Superbike World Championship, which is taking place for the first time on the Cremona track. The Lombardy track will be the scene of the ninth round of the season, a crucial moment that could be key for the fight for the world championship. It will also be a fundamental event for Pirelli, which will see Cremona as an opportunity to get feedback on the development tyres it has introduced this year.

The new features were already brought to Magny-Cours two weeks ago and will be confirmed this weekend after the first positive feedback from the riders. These are the SC1 front and the SCX rear development. Cremona will be an unknown for everyone, having only been on the calendar this year. The debut on the world stage of the Italian track will make everyone start from scratch and it will be essential to also work on the choice and management of the tire.

As for the front, 8 units of the standard SC1 and 6 of the SC2 will be available. To these is added the front SC1 in D0715 specification for a total of 8 units. As for the rear, there will be 8 units of the standard SCX and 4 units of both the SC0 and the SCQ, the latter reserved for qualifying and the Superpole Race. In addition, the other development option is present, the rear SCX in D0820 specification, again in 8 units. In case of rain, the riders will have 3 units of intermediate tyres and 8 of SCR1, both for the front and the rear.

Giorgio Barbier, Motorcycle Racing Director, says: “The Cremona round is an excellent opportunity to get further feedback on the two development solutions introduced at Magny-Cours, the D0715-spec front SC1 and the D0820-spec rear SCX, taking advantage of the fact that the riders still have the sensations they experienced in France and can test them on a different track. Such a close comparison is very useful to consolidate the data on the new solutions and define future development”.

“Having received positive feedback from the riders at their first contact with the new options, we also felt it was important to give the teams some continuity, so as to offer them a good choice on a circuit that presents some unknowns. Cremona is in fact a circuit that we know well, if only because it is an hour’s drive from our headquarters in Milan, but we have never raced there with the World Championship Superbikes and, in preparation for this important event, it has undergone significant improvements. Already in the two tests carried out, one in mid-May and the other in mid-June, we noted that the track, as often happens in these cases, still needs a bit of running-in to reach the optimal level of grip. This means that in the first sessions we could see accentuated wear that will then return to the parameters we are used to over the course of the weekend, as the track gradually cleans and rubbers in”, concludes Barbier.