Daytona stumping Dunlop?

Reports from the annual tyre tests at Daytona Superbike trials have been called off due to a series of tyre failures. Dunlop is working frenetically to overcome the difficulties but leading racers are not blaming Dunlop for the failures but rather the condition of the banked Daytona circuit and the power of the Superbikes. “Tyre wear is not the issue or the reason why for the failures.

” Said team manager Matt Mladin. “The problem Dunlop is facing is that they just don’t know why it’s happening. The bottom line is that the speeds and the forces generated on the banking, I don’t think can be replicated in a closed testing environment and that makes it hard.

The banking does have what feels like very sharp holes, what would feel like stutter bumps on a motocross bike, but at 270kph, so is this additional load causing the tyre to fracture. That’s the thing at the moment, we just don’t know.”.