David Wax Museum performs at Long's Park Summer Music Series [photos]
Aug 22, 2023From gamblers to Garland to game show host, local theater stages offer variety in August
Aug 18, 2023World Series champion Don Wert, a former Tigers third baseman, is 85 [video]
Aug 08, 2023Pirates and Phillies meet in series rubber match
Aug 10, 2023Phillies play the Marlins with 2
Aug 06, 2023Pirelli intermediate tyres for Rea’s return to victory
Unstable weather and Pirelli DIABLO Wet intermediate tyres were the protagonists on the first day of the FIM World Superbike Championship, held this weekend at the Most circuit, in the Czech Republic. Winning WorldSBK Race 1 was six-time world champion Kawasaki rider Jonathan Rea, breaking a dry spell after 252 days absent from the top step of the podium. Rea, like the other riders on the podium, gambled on intermediate tyres for the race and was rewarded, unlike the other riders who opted instead for wet tyres.
It was a dry race for WorldSSP, with the riders using standard SC0 and SC1 tyres at the rear and front respectively, won by Nicolò Bulega on Ducati.
Another spectacular race in the 300 class, won by German rider Lennox Lehmann (Freudenberg KTM – Paligo Racing) who, after starting from the 22nd spot on the grid, stayed on slicks despite the heavy rainfall that began at mid-race, taking home a well-deserved victory.
Intermediate tyres the key to success in Race 1
“We watched some unusual races today, influenced by the unstable weather and where tyre strategy was fundamental. Heavy rain began to fall during the 300 race, the first of the day, forcing the riders to return to pit lane in order to change tyres. It then tapered off gradually, but at the WorldSBK Race 1 start, the track was still wet and it was still raining a bit. In this case, we can definitely say that tyre choice decided the fate of the race. Those who gambled on the intermediate tyres and on the possibility that the track would progressively dry out gained the upper hand over those who decided instead to put on rain tyres and then were forced to pit to switch out. However, it is worth mentioning that, even after the mid-race point, with the track quite dry, the intermediates continued performing extremely well, with about a two-second difference in performance compared with the slicks, which was not enough to allow the riders who had switched to slicks to make up for the time lost in the pit stop. So, the intermediates were the protagonists in WorldSBK, whereas the slicks performed respectably in Supersport, especially in the 300 race which Lehmann won in the rain, managing his slicks on the wet track in an exemplary fashion. Congratulations to Rea and all the race winners today!”
More details on the tyres used in the race are available on the technical sheets attached to this release.
Pirelli DIABLO Wet intermediate tyresFIM World Superbike Championship,Most circuit, in the Czech Republic. six-time world champion Kawasaki rider Jonathan ReaWorldSSPNicolò Bulega on Ducati300 classLennox LehmannIntermediate tyres the key to success in Race 1Toprak Razgatlioğlu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK)standard SC0 at the rear and the standard SC1 at the frontRace 1Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) Nicolò Bulega (Aruba Racing WorldSSP Team)new track record with a time of 1’34.479the standard SC0 tyre at the rearAt the front, everyone used the standard SC1 in the 120/70 sizeRace 1standard SC0 for the rear and the standard SC1 in the 120/70 size for the frontNicolò Bulega (Aruba Racing WorldSSP Team) More details on the tyres used in the race are available on the technical sheets attached to this release.