Pirelli: Tyres were too slow.

Pirelli tyre's racing manager Giorgio Barbier has admitted that the slower pace of the World Superbike field at Phillip Island during last weekends races, as compared to preseason tests at the circuit, has dumfounded the tyre technicians.

After comparing the times from independent team tests in January and the session times from the weekend, Barbier found the most recent times significantly slower, but is unable to find a comprehensive reason for this fact.

"What we missed this weekend were the results we got in the January Yamaha and Suzuki tests, in terms of the lap time at least and it is the same with Petronas last weekend," he admitted. "In January we had Troy (Corser) doing a long run with 1min 33secs-high and 1min 34secs-low lap times. Even with Petronas we got 1min 34secs-lows! This weekend we never saw this except with the qualifying tyres.

"We are disappointed with this and we cannot explain it, apart from the wind direction changing from Friday and Saturday. So, I am not happy with the grip and performance, of the rear tyres especially," he added.

However Barbier states that the wind might have had some effect on the lap times due to its high strength, regularly blowing the riders off the racing line.

"The wind was at such a level today (Sunday) that we could have stopped the race, and it was hard for the riders to keep the correct lines. The rains brought a lot of dust onto the track as well. None of this helps the grip on the racetrack."

The nature of the changing conditions in the second race did give the Pirelli team some good news as to the usability if the wet weather tyres late in the race.

"In race two all the riders used the softest wets, and they finished the tyre by the end of the race," continued Barbier. "(Yukio) Kagayama told us that he understood now why (Leon) Haslam won in BSB at Brands Hatch last year as a wild card; because even when it is worn you can play and use it and keep the lap time. So we were pleased with that," he concluded.