Bigger and faster: Superbike also gets the Pirelli treatment

It isn’t just Formula One whose tyres have, in Pirelli’s words, undergone a “revolution”. In this, the tenth consecutive season of single tyre supply to the Superbike series – the longest single tyre supply agreement in the history of motorsport – the Italian firm is ready for the switch from 16.5-inch to 17-inch tyres.

Pirelli says the new size “has a profound effect on the overall performance of each bike.” The 17-inch tyres were tried out by the riders for the first time during tests at the Aragon circuit in Spain last July. During this test, an improvement in times of up to 1.5 seconds per lap was recorded.