Pirelli announces allocation for races and test at the Red Bull Ring

Less than two weeks after the GP held at Silverstone, the Motorcycle World Championship enters the second part of the season with the Austrian Grand Prix, the eleventh of the twenty rounds on the calendar this year, which takes place at the Red Bull Ring circuit. As in the last grand prix, Pirelli has decided to utilise the standard allocation solutions available to Moto2™ and Moto3™ but in greater quantities to facilitate the work of teams and riders and allow everyone to focus on the compounds they prefer, being able to use them in all sessions. Afterwards, on the Monday following the race weekend, there will be a test day for both classes, in which the riders will be able to use the same compounds as the standard allocation.

Giorgio Barbier - Motorcycle Racing Director

We enter the second part of the season with a circuit for us to rediscover

[i"The Red Bull Ring is an almost new circuit for us because, at least in recent years, we have never raced there either with the Moto2™ and Moto3™ classes or with other motorcycle championships of equal prestige such as World Superbike. Although we do not have our own data on which to base ourselves, however, as always, we have indirect information that is communicated to us both by colleagues who manage racing car activities and by teams and riders who have already raced here in the past. We know that it is a very fast circuit with a particular layout that should generate rather high temperatures on the rears but, beyond this aspect, we do not expect any particular stress on the tyres and, for this reason, we have decided to bring the standard allocation, which has proven to be very solid and high-performance in all the races run so far, albeit with a larger number of tyres for many of the compounds present. We had already done it at Silverstone and the goal is always the same: to facilitate teams and riders by helping them if they decide to focus the weekend’s work on a specific compound from Friday. Of course, it remains essential for us to be able to see all the compounds we have in action; therefore, this will not always be the case in the future, but there may be occasions when we continue to bring the quantities of the standard allocation so that, at least in one session, each rider has to try another compound in addition to the one they prefer. Indeed, development remains a cornerstone of our activity in the future as well. The test day on the Monday following the GP will be of little significance for us because the track is not among those representative of extreme conditions, which is why teams and riders will have the same compounds of the standard allocation already used in the race weekend, so that they can work on the possible development of the machines for the second part of the championship and next season, being able to count on tyres that they already know well and appreciate”.[/i]

The Race Of The Tyres

· Race allocation: compared to the standard allocation, for Moto2™ the compounds (soft SC0 and medium SC1) and quantity remain unchanged for the rear while the front quantities increase from 6 to 8 pieces for each of the two compounds (soft SC1 and medium SC2). In Moto3™ at the front 6 pieces for each compound become 8 while the rears go from 7 to 8 for both SC1 (soft) and SC2 (medium). The tyres that can be used over the weekend remain, as per the regulations and for both classes, 8 front and 9 rear. 

· Test allocation: For Monday’s tests, the compounds available will be the same as for the race weekend for both Moto2™ and Moto3™. What will change are the quantities available to each rider: 4 tyres for each compound as well as three sets of wet tyres.

· Fast circuit and peculiar layout: the Red Bull Ring was originally built in 1969 but the current 4318 metre layout dates back to 1995. It is a very fast circuit with short corners plus a mix of climbs and descents with gradients that can reach up to 12% and strong braking areas. The asphalt of the Red Bull Ring offers rather low grip on a low-severity circuit, which is why no development tyres are needed but the standard ones are adequate.