WorldSBK in Portugal would be the debut weekend for Pirelli’s new entrance tires, one 12 months after Pirelli began updating its rear tires final 12 months.
Pirelli, which is getting into its ultimate 12 months as World Superbike’s sole tire provider because it strikes on to subsequent 12 months’s MotoGP and replaces Michelin in WorldSBK, spent a lot of final 12 months introducing a brand new development to its rear tire vary, which was largely well-received.
The wave of rear tire updates started with a growth model of the SC0 tire on the 2025 Portugal spherical. The identical growth construction was launched to the SCX and SCQ tires later within the season.
Nonetheless, for this 12 months’s Portimao, Pirelli will likely be becoming a brand new entrance tire known as the E1164. It is a variation of Pirelli’s mushy possibility SC1 tire. Pirelli says the E1164 tire has each compound and development modifications in comparison with the usual SC1, with updates centered on nook entry efficiency.
“At Phillip Island we had two rear growth choices, however for the primary European spherical of the production-based Premier Championship we determined to focus on enhancing our entrance tire line-up by growing the E1164 specification,” mentioned Giorgio Barbier, Pirelli Motorbike Racing Director.
“This substitute for the usual mushy SC1 options an progressive development designed to extend stability beneath braking and nook entry, and a brand new compound aimed toward delivering extra constant efficiency over the race distance.
“The Algarve circuit is especially appropriate for testing the efficiency of recent entrance tyres, because of its traits and elevation modifications that place excessive stress on the entrance tires throughout braking.”
The usual model of the SC1 will even be provided to riders in Portimao this weekend (March 27-29), as will the usual model of the more durable SC2 tire. There will likely be no SCQ tires on the rear this weekend. As a substitute, the softest possibility accessible is commonplace SCX. Commonplace SC0 and SC1 rear choices are additionally accessible.
