Here's Bridgestone's usual post-race press release discussing tire performance after the latest MotoGP round at Silverstone:
British Grand Prix debrief with Hirohide Hamashima
Round 6: British GP – Post-race debrief
Silverstone Circuit, Tuesday 14 June 2011
Bridgestone slick compounds available: Front: Soft, Medium. Rear (asymmetric): Medium, Hard
Wet compounds available: Front: Soft. Rear: Soft
The 2011 British Grand Prix was the second to be run at the new Silverstone circuit, remodelled for its return to the MotoGP calendar last year after an absence since 1986. The circuit remained the same this year, but the use of the new pit and paddock complex meant that the start/finish line was changed, giving the riders a new first corner to negotiate. The weather threw everything it had at the riders during the weekend – Friday morning was dry, the afternoon was wet but drying, Saturday was warm and dry but Sunday was soaked after relentless rain all day. Standing water claimed three of the front-runners in the race: Ben Spies, Jorge Lorenzo and Marco Simoncelli. Casey Stoner dominated to take his third consecutive victory, ahead of teammate Andrea Dovizioso and Colin Edwards who broke his collarbone just over a week ago in Catalunya.
Hirohide Hamashima – Assistant to Director, Motorsport Tyre Development Division
Bridgestone brought a revised front slick tyre compound selection to Silverstone this year – was the new selection better?
"Yes, I am happy with our revised front tyre options this year as we saw that on Friday morning and Saturday many riders preferred the soft compound slick which we didn't have at Silverstone last year. Feedback was good for both options and the laptimes on both were also fast. Last year Silverstone was a new circuit for everyone so that made tyre selection very difficult and theoretical, whereas this season we last year's race data which allowed us to make a much more accurate and, I believe, more suitable selection. It's part of continually learning, analysing and using that data to develop and improve in the right direction."
Even on Friday morning the laptimes looked fast compared to last year, and then on Saturday they were markedly faster. Why do you think this was?
"Even on Friday morning the fastest lap was just 0.2seconds from the existing lap record so all weekend, when the track has been dry, the laptimes have been fast. Then during qualifying Casey was 1.5seconds faster than the lap record which is a significant amount. I think this is down to a combination of bike development since last year, the fact that the circuit was brand new to riders last year so now they've had more track time, and weather conditions which were slightly better on Saturday than last season. We have also improved our rear slick tyre compounds since last year, particularly the medium compound asymmetric rear which at Silverstone this season featured our extra soft compound in the left shoulder for improved warm-up performance."
On Sunday the rain didn't stop and the race was fully wet – how was wet tyre performance?
"The biggest challenge for the wets on Sunday was the amount of standing water on the circuit. Durability and consistency were both reasonable, but some riders were caught out by aquaplaning which is when there is too much standing water or the puddles are too deep for the tyres to disperse all the water, leaving a film of water between the tyres and the tarmac. Overall though, Casey in particular was able to demonstrate great performance in what were very slippery and difficult conditions so I am happy with the way our wet tyres dealt with the conditions and with the cold temperature."
