Pirelli introduces another new development tyre for Dutch WorldSBK

Pirelli has announced a new version of its SCX rear tyre for the WorldSBK field at this weekend’s Dutch Round at Assen.

This follows on from a new development SC0 that was introduced at the previous World Superbike round in Portimao, where perhaps what stood out most was that this development option immediately made the standard SCX effectively redundant.

With no SCQ tyre in Portimao, it would have been ordinary to see the SCX be the option in Superpole, not only in the races, but in all of the meaningful sessions – Superpole, Race 1, Race 2, and the Superpole Race – the E0125 development SC0 was the choice of the likes of Toprak Razgatlioglu and Nicolo Bulega who dominated the weekend.

The D0640 tyre that was made the standard SC0 in Portimao remains this weekend, but the E0125 is absent in Assen. Instead, a new development SCX tyre is brought to the Netherlands by Pirelli.

Designated E0126, the development SCX uses the same new casing as the E0125 and is intended to increase grip and longevity compared to the standard SCX.

Riders will have eight of each SCX option, alongside four standard SCQ tyres and five standard SC0s.

At the front, there are nine standard SC1s available to each rider, and eight harder-compound SC2s.

There is also the E0158 development rain front tyre, which was in Portimao but remains untested due to the lack of rain at the Portuguese Round.

“With the allocation of the E0126, we complete an important phase of development that involved the introduction of a new structure designed to increase grip through a greater footprint on the ground,” said Pirelli Motorcycle Racing Director Giorgio Barbier.

“The one used by the E0126 is in fact the same casing as the soft E0125, which we introduced in Portimao where it was widely accepted as it was the most used compound in all three races of the weekend.

“In addition to the casing, this new supersoft also differs from the standard SCX in terms of the compound, which has been developed to further increase consistency of performance over distance.

“With the right temperatures and track conditions, the supersoft is usually the most chosen compound for Race 1 and Race 2, so it will be interesting to gather the riders’ feelings and make a comparison between the standard solution and the new development specification, also in light of the results achieved in Portugal by its ‘sister’ soft compound.

“For the other sessions, including qualifying and the Superpole Race, there will be the extrasoft SCQ, which is now a well-established specification and usually the riders' favourite for overall performance and the short race.

“We know that the weather is always an unknown factor at Assen, which is why we will once again have the development front rain tyre in E0158 specification that we were unable to test in Portimao due to lack of rain.”