It was a pleasurable weekend for racing for Pirelli at the Nürburgring with clear skies and air temperatures around 15°C, although track temperatures varied from 25°C in Race 1 and 37°C in Race 2.  Pirelli made available 4 front and 4 rear tyre solutions for the SBK grid.  Of these, the new SC1 special compound “A” rear was popular with 80% of the grid, with SBK teams opting between the SC1 compound “A” or new SC2 special compound “C” on the front.  The SSP class was given a choice between 3 front and 2 rear tyres, of which the new “A” rear tyre was selected by 100% of the grid.  From the first qualifying sessions, the SBK lap times proved an excellent performance of the new DIABLO SUPERBIKE solutions, with Checa (Ducati) registering a new best lap, broken on Saturday with Biaggi’s (Aprilia) Superpole time of 1’54.595, nearly a second below the time set two years before.  Rea (Honda) was the fastest in race scenario, beating his own lap record from 2009 by a second and taking the Pirelli Best Lap award in both races. The versatility of the new solutions were evident: 7 manufacturers in the top 7 positions for Race 1 and 5 manufacturers in the first 5 for Race 2, with a strong performance by Kawasaki’s Tom Sykes who tied his best finish of the year (5th). Impressive improvements also with respect to overall race time, with Race 1 finishing 22 seconds faster than the previous year and 18 seconds faster in Race 2.  Local Pirelli Superstock Series winner from Heidelberg, Jan Bühn (Yamaha), was awarded a wildcard in the Superstock 600 and managed to qualify and finish in tenth position.

Arriving back at the legendary Silverstone Circuit with its newly revised layout and surprisingly stable weather conditions, an armada of British riders filled the podium in both races. A stunning double victory went to Yamaha whose local rider Cal Crutchlow took the team’s first two wins today. Cal logged his fastest lap on the penultimate circuit in Race 2, having already set the circuit record of 2’05.259 on lap 13 in Race 1, showing in both cases the durability of Pirelli Diablo Superbike tyres to the race end. It is also fitting the popular tyre choice out of the 4 front and 3 rear tyres offered this weekend are available also in the British Superbike series that nurtured the talented pool of UK riders. The two Superbike race durations stopped the clock just one second apart, for an impressive consistency returning to Silverstone. It’s pleasing to see four different manufacturers across the Superbike race podiums. Honda’s performance in Supersport was absolute, taking the top three positions which included Intermoto Czech privateer team, whose 20-year old rider Gino Rea took home his first Supersport podium. Congratulations to BMW Motorrad Italia who made its first season perfect, winning the Superstock 1000 championship with Badovini at the helm and Diablo Supercorsa SC2 tyres beneath him