Tyres play a huge role in motorcycle racing, the wrong choice can be a disaster for the rider - Michael Rutter at Cadwell Park last year anybody? Rutter ran full wets and then the track dried out, so it was game over for him.
Crash.net spoke Chris Valentine who is a Tyre Technician with Dunlop at the Cadwell Park BSB test. Chris is the first port of call for the riders, or their mechanics if they want to know what tyres to run, or if they have a problem with them. It is Chris’ job to note which rider is running what tyre, and then check the tyre temperature when they come back into the pits.
Chris explains “ The tyres have a window of 40ºC that they work at. When the slicks come back into pits they should to be between 90ºC and 130ºC. Wets go up to 70ºC.” Getting the tyres to temperature is the team and the riders job, tyre warmers will take them up to approximately 80ºC and the rest is up to the rider. The other factor that Chris looks at is the times the riders are doing on track on the tyre they are running, he gets these times direct from the team. That way he can see which tyre is giving them the best result and he can advise accordingly.
Track surface and temperature have a big effect on tyre performance too “The compound of the tyre is the part that is affected and as soon as a rider feels a change in grip the tyre will need to be looked at - it’s not worn out, far from it, but it needs to be looked at. Track Temperature makes a big difference especially if cold, as it makes the surface harder,” said Chris. Older tracks like
Thruxton, which have a very rough surface and are very fast pose quite a challenge for all tyre manufacturers “The big problem we have there is the rubber overheating and the tyres melting, but it certainly helps us find the limits of our product.”
