Pirelli with new details in Austin / Moto2

“Circuit of the Americas” is not only a great challenge for MotoGP pilots and motorcycle equipment. The attractive, deep race outside of the Texas capital of Austin is also more than a specialty for those in the middle and small displacement classes.

Pirelli, traveling with the MotoGP team for the first time this year as the exclusive supplier of Moto3 and Moto2 tires, has prepared for the first show in the United States with two more tricky tests. After a difficult start to the season with the new racing rubber from Italy, Pirelli does not want to make any mistakes on the demanding track.

The official statement from the tire supplier justifies the measure for the lack of experience and the “young” MotoGP track in Texas.

Responsible manager of Pirelli Giorgio Barbier: “COTA is a track that we know very little about because we have never competed there in the international motorcycle championship, so the data available to us is limited.”

According to Pirelli, the specific conditions of the circuit have also made the preventive action necessary: ​​”The circuit has recently been modified to compensate for the holes and imbalances that form again in the circuit due to the soil on which it is built; the tires will certainly have to compete with a surface that is not uniform in terms of from the information we have, we know that it is an aggressive way for the tires, especially the front tires.

To stabilize the front end of the Moto2 machines, Pirelli is now bringing a stiffer, specially developed SC3 variant to Austin. Giorgio Barbier: «Uneven pavement with an arrangement of alternating speed corners with slow corners and high speed can cause the tire to drive with a slight slip, which causes overheating, which leads to increased wear. That’s why, in addition to the standard equipment, we added the most durable front end solution, SC3 for Moto2.”

Given the challenges of light Moto3 racing, further US-specific development has focused on the rear tyre.

“For Moto3, which puts more emphasis on the rear wheel in comparison, we added the additional detail of the C1096, which we had already arranged in Qatar, for Austin,” says Barbier.

Test drivers along the first two GP weekends showed that the new race tires used allow better lap times, but are also more sensitive to wear. After open criticism of the tire’s initial drop in performance, the controversy in Portugal subsided. With many test kilometers, technicians and drivers got a better understanding of the new product from Italy.

Considering that there is no experience with Pirelli in Austin, the US Grand Prix must be the highest priority for the Milan company.