Pirelli provides two additional options for the COTA unknowns

Pirelli has chosen a dedicated tyre allocation for the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas, which next weekend hosts the third round of the 2024 Motorcycle World Championship, the Grand Prix of the Americas.

For Pirelli, in its debut year in the Moto2™ and Moto3™ World Championships, this track is among the lesser-known ones and the Italian tyre manufacturer has decided to combine the options present in the standard allocation planned for this year with two additional compounds, the front SC3 for Moto2™ riders and the C1096 specification for Moto3™ riders.

This choice is dictated by the characteristics of the circuit and by the recent resurfacing of several sections.

Giorgio Barbieri - Motorcycle Racing Director

A new track for us with some unknowns

“COTA is a circuit we know very little about because we have never competed there in an international motorcycle championship, therefore the data available to us is rather scarce. Add to this the fact that it has recently been partially resurfaced to level out potholes and bumps that cyclically reform due to the soil on which it is built; the tyres will certainly be called upon to face a non-homogeneous surface regarding the type of asphalt. From the information we have, we know that it is a rather aggressive track for the tyres, particularly for the front. The uneven asphalt, in addition to the configuration of fast corners alternating with slower curves and high peak speeds, can cause the tyre to slide very slightly, generating anomalous overheating which causes thermal degradation and accentuated wear. For this reason, alongside the standard allocation for 2024, we have added a more resistant additional front solution, the SC3, for Moto2, which according to what we have seen in the first two GPs tends to be more aggressive on the front, while for Moto3 which loads the rear axle more, we added an extra rear option, the C1096 specification, which we had already foreseen in Qatar. It should not be forgotten that we do not use prototypes but a regularly marketed range of tyres, so the challenge is considerable. After the Friday sessions, we will certainly have more information on which to base ourselves to evaluate the behaviour of all the compounds from a race perspective"

The Race Of The Tyres

· Tyre allocation: the standard allocation for the 2024 season includes SC1 (soft) and SC2 (medium) compounds at the front for both classes, and SC0 (soft) and SC1 (medium) compounds at the rear for Moto2™ and SC1 and SC2 for Moto3™. Then there is the DIABLO Rain wet solution in SCR1 compound for both the front and rear. In addition to this allocation, for the Grand Prix of the Americas, the Moto2™ riders will have an additional option on the front in SC3 compound (4 tyres per rider), while the Moto3™ riders will have a development rear compound in C1096 specification, 4 tyres per rider. In both cases, these are more resistant compounds to use if significant wear is encountered with the other solutions.

· Asphalt: The sections that have been resurfaced are turn 2, the part between turns 9 and 11, turn 12 and the section between turns 16 and 19. The circuit must be resurfaced regularly due to the type of very soft soil on which it was built. A clayey soil of high plasticity, tending to expand when moist and contract during drying. In the past, for this very reason, the track has been resurfaced several times already.

· Climate: The circuit is located southeast of Austin not far from what is called the Texas Hill Country, an area where three or four different biomes meet: swamps to the east, desert to the west, sea to the south, plains to the north. Austin’s climate is subtropical with often sudden variations. At this time of year, air temperatures above 25 degrees Celsius can also be reached but temperature variations can be significant.

· A mix of tracks: COTA, which features 20 curves and a total altitude difference of 41 metres, was designed by the famous architect Hermann Tilke who was inspired by the most iconic curves of some tracks: the Maggotts-Becketts-Chapel sequence at Silverstone (section between turns 3 and 6), the arena turns at Hockenheim (12 to 15), and turn 8 at Istanbul (turns 16, 17 and 18).