Wednesday, 3 July 2013
Early indications suggest that the all-new Termas de Rio Hondo circuit in Argentina, scene of a two-day test this week, is set to be extremely abrasive for tyres.
The track is practically identical in length to the Twin Ring Motegi in
Japan, although its varying layout points towards an uncompromising
challenge for Bridgestone.
“We have received preliminary data from the circuit designers on the layout and tarmac composition of the circuit and it is obvious that Rio Hondo is a very fast circuit with lots of high-camber corners,” begins Bridgestone’s Masao Azuma.
“We have undertaken performance simulations at our Technical Centre in Japan and expect this track to be one of the harshest events on the calendar for tyres, as there is the potential for very high tyre temperatures to occur. However, at the moment it is winter in the southern hemisphere so track temperatures will be cool.”
During a pre-test press conference on Tuesday, LCR Honda MotoGP’s Stefan Bradl was also quick to note what a challenge the venue should be when it comes to tyres.
“The layout of the circuit looks really fast,” the German commented. “That can be really busy for the tyres because we will be on the edge, accelerating really hard for a long time…probably one of the most important things is that we will be able to find out how the tyres will work.”
With this in mind, safety is paramount for Bridgestone when selecting compounds.
“With so many performance and safety considerations, we have brought numerous tyre options to Rio Hondo,” Azuma continues. “Particularly for the rear slick tyres, we are providing many options; we have symmetric and asymmetric rear slicks in a variety of rubber compounds and have brought each of these options in both our regular and heat-resistant Special Construction specification.
“We will ask the riders to evaluate as many of these tyres as possible to give us a comprehensive data set that will help us develop the right tyres for next year’s race.”
This week’s test will be staged on Thursday and Friday, with the daily running times being 10am-5pm local time (GMT -3) and including a one-hour interval.
“We have received preliminary data from the circuit designers on the layout and tarmac composition of the circuit and it is obvious that Rio Hondo is a very fast circuit with lots of high-camber corners,” begins Bridgestone’s Masao Azuma.
“We have undertaken performance simulations at our Technical Centre in Japan and expect this track to be one of the harshest events on the calendar for tyres, as there is the potential for very high tyre temperatures to occur. However, at the moment it is winter in the southern hemisphere so track temperatures will be cool.”
During a pre-test press conference on Tuesday, LCR Honda MotoGP’s Stefan Bradl was also quick to note what a challenge the venue should be when it comes to tyres.
“The layout of the circuit looks really fast,” the German commented. “That can be really busy for the tyres because we will be on the edge, accelerating really hard for a long time…probably one of the most important things is that we will be able to find out how the tyres will work.”
With this in mind, safety is paramount for Bridgestone when selecting compounds.
“With so many performance and safety considerations, we have brought numerous tyre options to Rio Hondo,” Azuma continues. “Particularly for the rear slick tyres, we are providing many options; we have symmetric and asymmetric rear slicks in a variety of rubber compounds and have brought each of these options in both our regular and heat-resistant Special Construction specification.
“We will ask the riders to evaluate as many of these tyres as possible to give us a comprehensive data set that will help us develop the right tyres for next year’s race.”
This week’s test will be staged on Thursday and Friday, with the daily running times being 10am-5pm local time (GMT -3) and including a one-hour interval.
source : motogp.com
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