De Paul Gozzi / Corsedimoto.com
How does the Spanish make the difference? Overpressuring the tires could be the key. Now it's no longer a secret, will the others adapt?
THE LIMIT IMPOSED IS 1,6 BARS
In 2018 there were several episodes of rear tire failure which Pirelli said were due to pressures below the recommended limit of 1,6 bar. The most sensational at Misano, when Michael van der Mark found himself off the track, missing a possible victory. For this reason, from this year, races with pressures above 1,6 bar are no longer a “recommendation”, but a specific “obligation”. So much so that before each start, three motorcycles are checked and the one caught under 1,6 bar is forced to return to the pits, inflate the tire and start from the pit lane.
Now that Bautista's "secret" is in the public domain, it is easy to assume that other teams will adapt en masse and experiment with the overpressures already successfully tested by Ducati. Will this become a trend? We will find out at Imola, not so much during testing as over the race distance. The Kawasaki, with Jonathan Rea 53 points behind Bautista and still without a victory, will obviously be particularly watched.
NEW ARRIVALS PIRELLI
The sole supplier confirmed, largely, the same distribution as in Aragón and Assen. There will be nothing new at the front, but the introduction of a new rear marked Y0446, with SC0 carcass and very soft rubber. This would be useful if the weather was very warm, but on Saturday (race 1), cloudy skies are expected, with a maximum temperature of 23°C. Sunday (sprint race and race 2), rain possible, with a maximum of 15°C. C and minimums of 9° C. Pirelli also brings a new SCX, the hybrid solution designed for the Superpole Race, with only around ten laps. Until now, this type of tire has not offered the expected performance and has not been used by any pilot.
