New Pirelli Awards Intended to Up the Superbike Ante

Pirelli has served as sole tyre supplier to the Superbike World Championship since 2004 and now the Italian marque has announced several performance awards it says will act as additional incentives for a “faster and more spectacular environment.” Three new types of awards have thus been added to the total prize pool: Pirelli “Best Lap”, Pirelli “Best Jump Forward”, and “Best Lap Winner 2010: Fastest Rider of the Year”.

The “Best Lap” award is to be given after each Superbike and Supersport race to the rider recording the race’s fastest lap. For the Superstock class, the performance awards take on a different approach, as Pirelli will offer instead a “Best Jump Forward” award for each race of the FIM Superstock 1000 Cup and European Superstock 600. “Best Jump Forward” refers to the number of recovered positions from a rider’s starting position on the grid to his final race standing.

“This investment by Pirelli Moto will help accent that which is important to the spectators as well as the future of the series: fast and exciting racing delivered by superior racing product,” commented Giorgio Barbier, racing director for Pirelli Moto. “We ask these talented riders for their constant feedback and efforts to help develop our tyres further. In return, we offer these performance awards for making fast laps and encouraging the young guns to rise to the top.”