Pirelli to supply soft compounds for WorldSBK in Estoril, Portugal

Pirelli will focus on the softest tyres in its range for the third WorldSBK round of the season, the first of two 2022 meets in Portugal. The supplier will offer riders the standard soft SC1 and the development SC1 A0674 on the front. Rear specifications will be the supersoft SCX and soft SC0 tyre, in addition to the SCQ option that can be used in the Superpole session and Superpole Race.

Giorgio Barbier, racing director Bu Moto, explained: “Estoril is undoubtedly a rather demanding circuit that puts a lot of strain on the tyres due to the varied layout and an old road surface that changes from one corner to another.

“The slippery asphalt requires the use of soft compounds that are able to generate the grip that is not naturally offered by the track. Concerning the front tyre, it is necessary to have a sufficiently solid tyre to cope with major braking forces. Using soft compounds will also allow riders to more quickly compensate for the temperature difference between the right and left sides of the tyre, helping the warm-up in left-hand corners.

“Despite these difficulties, we have decided to rely almost exclusively on our standard tyre range that has shown us excellent adaptability to the most varied conditions, and at the front we continue to bring the development SC1 A0674 which performed very well in the first two races of the year.”

Pirelli describes Estoril as one of the year’s most technical and demanding tracks. The particularly varied layout features four left and nine right-handed corners with very different loads. The right-hand corners are quite fast and therefore the tyre temperature in the right

shoulder is high, especially at the rear, while the left-hand corners, including the chicane, are slower and the tyre temperature on the left side is much lower. A long straight in which riders reach considerable maximum speeds is followed by a slow first corner that requires demanding braking. In the long final corner, tyres have to face high lean angles combined with high speeds, while the riders try to open the throttle as soon as possible, to maximise drive onto the finish straight.

The track has a slippery asphalt that dates back to 2006 and could be even more slippery in the case of high temperatures. This is why Pirelli is using soft compounds that can generate more grip.