Magny-Cours (France), October 1, 2011 - Pirelli announces that starting from 2013, it will begin supplying all the tires for the World Superbike Championship, which currently are produced in 16.5", in the 17" size. This radical option will allow Pirelli to remain even closer to its philosophy, its unique approach towards competition with its continuous transferring of solutions developed in the racing environment into the hands of motorcyclists and into road going product through technologies and developments coming from the highest level production series World Championship for which Pirelli is the sole supplier.
Pirelli's 16.5" Diablo Superbike tires are currently used not only in the Superbike World Championship, but also in World Endurance, BSB and CIV which have been the reference to date. Until 2004 in fact, the unique supplier agreement did not exist in the Superbike World Championship so Pirelli adapted itself to the sizes offered by other suppliers.
In line with the primary goal of WSBK to showcase in the highest level of racing the products also sold on the market, Pirelli will replace the current 16.5" tires with 17" sized tires which have already been successful in the local Superbike championships in New Zealand, Holland, Belgium, Greece, Sweden, Canada, Malaysia and many other local championships.
The 17” slick tire is the optimal response for those seeking top performance without having to modify the chassis: ultra-high performance without mounting a new set of wheels or changing the bike’s settings.
Over the past three years, Pirelli has greatly accelerated its tire development to meet end users’ needs and the power delivered by new bikes: in 2009, Pirelli introduced the new 190/60R17 size, in 2010 introduced a new high modulus carcass (Pirelli Patent), continuously improving compounds and finally in 2011 introduced the new 200/60R17 size.
Compared to the 16,5” slick tire, the 17" one offers a thicker tread for better handling and consistency, its footprint in mid to full lean is approx 10% wider thanks to a higher profile and a carcass able to endure more side force, all those features will definitely bring great benefits to motorcyclists all over the world.
The Superbike World Championship will be an excellent environment that will allow Pirelli, as sole supplier, to develop the best tires for 17", a size that is now more and more demanded by the market, thus remaining faithful to its motto "We sell what we race" and thus continuing to offer riders the highest quality products developed with the help of the great Superbike champions.
