For the first time this season, the Pirelli Extra Soft SCQ development rear was the undisputed protagonist of the 10 laps of the Superbike Superpole race which took place on Sunday morning at Donington Park on 40°C ground.
In fact, no less than 16 drivers out of the 25 present on the grid chose to use it. Among them, we find almost all of the Kawasaki, Yamaha and BMW riders, while the Ducati riders (including Álvaro Bautista) and the Honda riders have opted for the standard SCX Super Soft, the same solution as that already used in the Race 1.
The choice for the front, on the other hand, remains relative to the style of each rider, which is why some opted for the standard SC1 (like reigning world champion Toprak Razgatlioğlu) while others preferred the development A0674 SC1 (like Rea, Lowes, Redding and Bautista).
Toprak Razgatlioğlu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) repeated his Saturday performance in Race 1, also winning the Superpole ahead of Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK). Scott Redding (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team), third on the line, reached the podium for the first time with BMW.
TIRES IN ACTION IN RACE 2
WorldSBK (asphalt: 46°C / air: 30°C)
For Race 2, the drivers confirmed their tire choices from Race 1, so all were on the standard SCX Super Soft at the rear, while different choices were made for the front.
Once again, Toprak Razgatlioğlu was uncompromising, but Jonathan Rea and Álvaro Bautista were not to be outdone and this last race of the weekend was not a walk in the park for the Turkish Yamaha rider. In the end, he managed to win but with an advantage of just over a second over the Spanish Ducati rider and 2,5 seconds over Rea.
WorldSSP RACE 2
(asphalt: 40°C / air: 28°C)
The second Supersport race of the weekend held few surprises, both in terms of tires and results. Like Saturday in race 1, the SC1 at the front and the SCX at the rear confirmed their status as ideal tires for this track and the temperatures recorded, therefore confirmed by all the drivers for race 2 as well. The winner was also the same: Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) took his ninth consecutive victory of the season, leaving Donington Park with a fine double. After yesterday's victory, Lorenzo Baldassarri (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) took a strong second place, while Nicolò Bulega (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team) completed the podium after his unfortunate result in Race 1.
George Barbier, Director of Motorcycle Racing at Pirelli: “ The solutions we chose for this round were all extremely efficient, as demonstrated by the pace of the race and the records broken. The SCQ compound rear tire certainly deserves an honorable mention, chosen for the first time this year by most drivers for the Superpole race. With rather high temperatures and on a track with little grip, the SCQ proved that it could guarantee exceptional performance combined with extremely low levels of degradation. The SCX has confirmed its status as an extremely versatile tire and ideal for long races. Races which were all thrilling until the last round this weekend and with Razgatlioglu's victories, the championship is more open than ever. The next round will take place in Most where we will have some interesting surprises regarding tire allocation. »
