As has already happened very often on the demanding Australian circuit, where the rear tire heats up a lot on the left side in the last corner, there were once again problems with the endurance of the rear tires in both Supersport and Superbike. . The format of Sunday's races is therefore modified.
The decision came as many riders suffered problems during Race 1 in WSBK, including reigning World Champion Johnny Rea, and Yonny Hernandez who crashed when the rear tire of his Kawasaki Pedercini exploded. In Supersport, Kenan Sofuoglu experienced the same mishap during the third free practice session in turn 3.
The Supersport and Superbike races become "flag to flag", with Superbikes stopping in the pits after 12 laps and Supersport after nine laps. It's the same procedure that we experienced at Phillip Island with Bridgestone in 2013 in MotoGP, with Marc Marquez who exceeded the 10 allowed laps.
The Supersport race is reduced to 16 laps and that of the Superbikes to 22 with a change of the rear tire between laps 7 and 9 in Supersport, and 10 and 12 in Superbike if the start is given in the dry.
If the start is given in the wet and a rear tire change for a dry track must take place, the Supersport riders will be able to return to the pits after 9 laps, and 12 in Superbike. The start of the WSBK race will be given with the grid reversed, as usual.
Gregorio lavilla, WorldSBK Sports Director explains: “ Unfortunately, we had some issues regarding tire life. After a meeting with the teams to discuss possible options, we decided the best way was to do a flag to flag race, which fortunately our rules allow. We normally use it for weather reasons, but now we use it for other purposes, unless it rains.”
For the reigning World Champion Lucas Mahias, " I'm angry and I'm afraid. It is not normal for many drivers to blow their tires. Last year, we had exactly the same problem: it still works like that on Phillip Island. I tried before the weekend to persuade everyone to take the safe option. The tire explodes after eight laps, after nine laps, this is not a good solution, it is about the safety of the driver, life is more important than a race. » Have you also had tire problems? “ No, underlined Mahias. “ But I always only drove two, three or five laps, but my teammate Caricasulo also blew the tire. I spoke a lot with Pirelli yesterday, to reduce the race distance, but it is not a solution, not a good solution.”
