Pramac Racing Ducati's Andrea Iannone leads fellow riders at Assen
Pramac Racing Ducati’s Andrea Iannone leads fellow riders at Assen2014 Assen MotoGP AnalysisThe 2014 MotoGP Championship headed to the Assen “Cathedral” circuit last weekend for the Dutch Grand Prix.
A mix of wet weather conditions affected not only practice and qualifying, but also the 26-lap GP. But again, Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez showed his talent and patience, the 21-year-old Spaniard going on to win his eighth-straight TT.He was joined on the Assen TT podium by Ducati Team’s Andrea Dovizioso and the other Repsol Honda RC213V pilot, Dani Pedrosa.The weather conditions provided many challenges regarding tire choices. Bridgestone reports that all except two of the 23 starters at the Dutch TT started on soft-compound wet tires. The two that didn’t – Broc Parkes and Yonny Hernandez – started on slicks.But after a third of the race was complete, all competitors changed to their second bikes fit with slick tires.Following is some tire analysis with Shinji Aoki, Manager, Bridgestone Motorcycle Tire Development Department:Q. Conditions for the start of the race last Saturday at Assen were wet but the track dried very quickly. Are you satisfied with how both the slick and wet tires performed?Shinja Aoki says: “The kind of mixed conditions that we experienced for the race are really challenging for the riders. Grip levels can change from corner to corner, so the riders need tires that get up to temperature quickly and have very high grip levels.“The fact that we had almost no incidents during the race and the riders managed to show quick pace on a drying track that still had some patches of water was very positive for us. The wide working temperature range of our slick and wet tires was one of the key factors that allowed the riders to push in the tricky conditions with confidence.”Q. During Free Practice 3 when the track was only slightly wet, some riders left their box on wet tires only to return to the pits after not even completing a single lap. Can you explain what is happening here?Shinja Aoki says: “Some riders like to ‘scrub’ a set of wet tires by doing a lap on them in case they need to be used later in a race situation. The purpose of scrubbing is not to remove some kind of coating on the tire as some people believe; rather it is purely a mental exercise for some riders as perhaps they feel more confident pushing on a set of wet tires that aren’t brand new.“Even when there is no possibility of rain on race day, some riders will still scrub a set of wet tires during the morning Warm Up session in case there is unexpected rain before the race. Technically speaking, a scrubbed wet tire has no advantage in terms of grip compared to a new tyre as our wet tires offer maximum grip at the very beginning of their life.”Q. No Factory Honda or Yamaha riders tried the hard rear slick over the race weekend at Assen. Was this due to the weather conditions or some other factor?Shinja Aoki says: “The weather conditions on the Thursday at Assen were well suited for the hard specification rear slick, but as it was the first day of practice, the Factory Honda and Yamaha riders preferred to use the medium rear slick to assess grip levels and find a base bike setup. This is quite a normal procedure.“Some of the riders planned to evaluate the hard rear slick during practice on Friday, but the weather was much cooler and we had intermittent rain and in these conditions, the medium compound rear slick was the better choice. In any case, the difference between the medium and hard specification rear slicks provided for Assen are quite close, so if track temperatures for the race were towards the forty degree range, some riders would have selected this option.”
KTM RC 390 and Gordon McCall of Quail Motorcycle Gathering
byMotos and Friends by Ultimate Motorcycle
Hello and welcome once again to Ultimate Motorcycling’s weekly Podcast—Motos and Friends.
This week’s Podcast is brought to you by Yamaha motorcycles. Discover how the YZF-R7 provides the perfect balance of rider comfort and true supersport performance by checking it out at YamahaMotorsports.com, or see it for yourself at your local dealer.
This week features Senior Editor Nic de Sena’s impressions of the new KTM RC 390. The entry-level KTM has always been an impressive motorcycle that has sold extremely well, however the factory has now taken the bike to another level, with top-spec features that are typically found on flagship machines. Clearly KTM has realized that even smaller engined machines should have high spec suspension, brakes and electronics packages. Nic tells us how well the new RC 390 is equipped, and what he thought of riding the smaller displacement rocket.
In the second segment I chat with automotive and motorcycle industry icon, Gordon McCall. Gordon is the Director of Motorsports at the Quail Lodge & Golf Club in Carmel Valley, California.
This weekend of Saturday May 14th sees the annual Quail Motorcycle Gathering re-start after its Covid-forced hiatus, and having attended every one of the previous Motorcycle Gatherings, personally I’m very happy that the event is back on the schedule. Gordon chats about the event and a little of what’s happening this year. It’s a great event and if you feel like a trip to the gorgeous Quail Lodge in Carmel Valley, you’ll get to meet Gordon, Roland Sands, and of course a large number of stunning motorcycles too.
From all of us at Ultimate Motorcycling, we hope you enjoy this episode!