“The most common problem we have is simply the rider not liking the tyre!” said Chris “It either won’t have the level of grip that they wanted or they feel it is moving around too much for them.” There is always talk about certain riders getting special treatment but Chris assures us that isn’t the case, “We do focus on the top teams like GSE Ducati, Cresent Suzuki, Hawk Kawasaki and Karl Harris on the Honda, but we do make a point of trying to see everyone.The theory is, if they don’t have a problem with the tyre then no one else should have.”
Dunlop are currently supplying the bulk of the paddock with tyres which means on a race weekend they need three thousand tyres. To put that in perspective, it takes four of the Dunlop trucks to get them to the circuit. The usual break down of tyres is three front specifications, four rear specifications, and seven or eight of each spec will be available to the riders. They also need to supply qualifiers and wets which come in two different specifications. That is an awful lot of tyres!
At Cadwell, since it was a test day, Dunlop supplied John Reynolds with ten different front tyres to test and they had brought a total of fifteen hundred tyres with them. “On a race weekend we have similar tyres for everyone 300-400 of each spec,” explained Chris “That is why we need four trucks per weekend.”
The weather at Cadwell was mixed but apparently that isn’t a big problem “Rain on a test day isn’t a problem, we could do with a bit of both,“ said Chris “But it is up to the team, they might not run if it’s wet, as they don’t want to risk a crash.”
As a qualified Design Engineer, when he isn’t track side, it is Chris’ role to put everything he has learned from a race weekend into the new tyre design. Computer software is used to simulate changes in the tyre during the design process and if Dunlop discover something vital at a test day or on a race weekend, the change can be implemented and fitted to a race bike within three weeks.
