SBK, Barbier: "3 different title-winning bikes in 3 years: if you want to win, the tyres are no obstacle”

SBK, Barbier: "3 different title-winning bikes in 3 years: if you want to win, the tyres are no obstacle”

The Pirelli Motorsport Director is pleased: "In Indonesia the asphalt was an issue at first, but then we set a new lap record"

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17.11.2022 ( Aggiornata il 17.11.2022 13:03 )

The Mandalika round and title win for Alvaro Bautista are still on everybody’s mind, particularly for Giorgio Barbier who, as Motorsport Director for Pirelli, can say he has won another battle. In Indonesia, the Milanese company took on a track that was in a critical condition and came out on top.

“The asphalt was finished less than two weeks before the race weekend”, comments Barbier, “so at first it was very dirty with no rubber down and that meant it was ‘eating’ the tyres very quickly. Luckily, as the sessions went on, the situation improved and what had looked like an insurmountable problem on Friday turned out to be surmountable. In FP1 riders were lapping six seconds slower than last year, then with similar times in FP2, before Saturday saw Toprak set a very impressive time and lower the lap record by more than a second. I didn’t expect such quick times in Sunday’s races, considering the heat, but it all went better than expected.”

When the track is in such a condition, is it more of a challenge or a risk?

“Both. When you’re on the other side of the world, it’s hard to patch things up at the drop of a hat. The tyres for this round were shipped in July so the only way is to carefully studied the previous year’s data and the development carried out between then and now. For example, I chose to bring the A0843 development SC1 after using it on aggressive asphalt. At European rounds, we saw how it offered more grip than the SC2, or rather the tyre we took to Indonesia last year, so we took this decision, and it proved to be the right one. Time is always tight, in two weeks’ time the cargo will be shipped with the tyres for next year’s first round. I wouldn’t mind seeing further improvement (he smiles)”.

 

Barbier: "Bautista deserved the title"


Over the course of the weekend, Bautista complained that the front tyre options didn’t include the A0674 development SC1.

“When we loaded the tyres, that was the one that few riders considered but then, round by round, the riders changed their opinion and now it’s likely to be the SC1 of reference next year. If we’d brought the standard SC1 and the 674, we’d have had two solutions with the same compound, so I decided to bring the 843. On Friday morning I spoke to Alvaro about this, telling him that I’ve seen many champions over the years and that he was very much doing his part to win the title, aside from the fact that Ducati provides him with a great bike. I told him that if he were to win the title in Indonesia, no one could use the tyres as an alibi, and he did very well”.

How would you judge his Indonesian weekend? Did he deserve the title?

“As I’ve said, he did really well. He showed his stuff on both Saturday and Sunday, taking risks and battling with Toprak in race 2, the Turk also doing a fantastic job. Alvaro undoubtedly deserves the title. I’m pleased that in the last three years, three different riders have won with three different bikes. This showcases the value of the championship and the product we supply, as well as proving that, if you want to win, the tyres are no obstacle.”

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