FIM ENDURANCE WORLD
CHAMPIONSHIP
& ROAD RACING
INTRODUCTION
TO 2015
Road Racing is fundamental to Dunlop
– nowhere else can the crossover
between race and standard tyres be
seen more clearly. In fact Dunlop’s
commercially available ‘off the shelf’
tyres have won many races.
Likewise, Endurance Racing is also
important in tyre design so Dunlop’s
involvement in the FIM Endurance World
Championship (EWC) provides an open
competition arena for Dunlop to
benchmark performance. Hours of tyre
performance data from various race
teams is fed back to Dunlop’s design
department where new technologies,
compounds and constructions for the
next generation of Road Racing tyres are
developed.
PAST SUCCESS
Dunlop has competed at every Isle of Man TT
event held since the first race in 1907. What’s
more, Dunlop has helped many riders to not
only win races, but to break countless
records. 2014 saw John McGuinness take his
42nd podium, a record in itself to add to his 21
race victories. Of the 18 single rider current
lap records and race records, Dunlop tyres
have carried all 18 men and women into the
record books. Those records include the
fastest lap set by Bruce Anstey in 2014 and all
six fastest sector times held by Michael
Dunlop, Steve Plater and Michael Rutter. It’s
not just the TT that has been a road racing
success; Dunlop tyres and both the Ulster
Grand Prix and the North West 200 have
proved to be winning combinations too.
On track, the EWC has produced many
Dunlop Champions. Dunlop has helped
teams win 14 of the last 21 titles and 40 of the
73 races held since 2002. While the Isle of Man
TT is thought by some to be the ultimate test
of endurance, the 24 hour races of the EWC
certainly challenge for that accolade.
Several riders have crossed from the TT
discipline to EWC and no-one finds it easy.
Both formats are extreme tests with different
demands. The constant is that Dunlop
provides the tyres to enable riders to give their
all. There’s no holding back.
10-16 May
30-12 June
North West 200
Isle of Man TT
ROAD
RACING
• Superbike - 1000cc race bikes; slick/race tyres
• Superstock - 1000cc production based bikes;
homologated treaded tyres (road legal)
18-19 Apr
25-26 July
Le Mans 24 Hours
Suzuka 8 Hours
22 Aug
19-20 Sept
Oschersleben
8 Hours
Bol d’Or 24 Hours
(Paul Ricard)
• Supersport - 600cc production based bikes;
homologated treaded tyres (road legal)
• Isle of Man TT Superbikes tend to have new tyres
every two laps (75.5 miles/121.5km) unlike the
production based bikes, for which wheel changes
lose more time than can be gained on fresh rubber.
03-08 Aug
Ulster Grand Prix
• For safety reasons the TT is not run in wet conditions,
unlike the NW200 and Ulster Grand Prix where
intermediate and rain tyres can be used.
• The TT is time trial based – riders start at 10 second
intervals. Riders in the NW200 and Ulster GP race in
waves/small groups from a grid format released
every 15 seconds.
ENDURANCE
WORLD
CHAMPIONSHIP
• Tyre restrictions in EWC necessitate double stinting
in dry races. All races in 2014 were disrupted by
rain so while some teams chose to double stint
last season, 2015 is the first season where all
competitors’ tyre durability is truly tested – subject
to dry weather.
TECHNICAL
SPECIFICATIONS
PARTNERSHIPS
For road and race success Dunlop works
in partnership with the motorcycle
manufacturers. By partnering with teams
in open competition, tyres can be
developed to get the best performance
from a particular chassis. By competing
in this way, technologies, compounds
and constructions are advanced which
in turn feed back to commercially
available tyres. Current road racing and
EWC motorcycle partnerships include
Honda, Suzuki and Yamaha.
D212 GP Pro is a road legal race tyre, developed from Dunlop’s
racing experience available to buy. The same tyre has won at the
IOMTT including Supersport, Superstock and Lightweight TT races.
John McGuinness also chose the D212 GP for the front of his Mugen
bike to win the 2014 TT Zero race, paired with a racing slick rear tyre.
USAGE
MULTI-TREAD (MT)
TECHNOLOGY
JOINTLESS BELT (JLB)
CONSTRUCTION
Years of success in global
Superbike, Endurance and
GP championships have
resulted in the development
of a pioneering multicompound, which is
transferred to many of our
current track and road
products. By mixing
compounds, the same tyre
can display different
performance properties
when at maximum leaning
angles than when upright
during straight line speed.
All our street tyres are designed
using a combination of
Computer Aided Design (CAD)
technology and Finite Element
Analysis (FEA) as well as
JointLess Belt (JLB) construction
(either front or rear). JLB
construction eliminates the belt
overlaps resulting in smoother
handling and a more stable
contact patch with the road.
NTEC
JLT
Dunlop’s ingenious NTEC
pressure adjust system
allows the rider to optimise
the tyre by adjusting
inflation pressure. For dry
track days, deflating the
tyre will deliver predictable
and tenacious handling on
the limit. Back on the road,
re-inflating to the
manufacturer’s
recommended pressures
will reward the rider with
class-leading levels of grip
and performance.
Jointless Tread (JLT)
strip-winding technology
allows multiple compounds
to be precisely positioned
on the tyre to achieve
advantages in durability,
wear resistance, grip from
the tread centre to shoulder
and high-speed tyre
stability.
CONSTRUCTION
KR106/KR108 is Dunlop’s commercially available slick tyre,
developed for track day riders but also a winner back on track in
competition.
USAGE
TECHNOLOGY
CONSTRUCTION
TECHNOLOGY
F/R
RIM
SIZE
COMPOUND
SPEC
L/S
CODE
F/R
RIM
SIZE
COMPOUND
SPEC
CODE
F
17
120/70 ZR 17
9743
MS1
(58W)
633806
F
17
120/70 R 17
9743
MS1
633782
F
17
120/70 ZR 17
9813
MS2
(58W)
633807
F
17
120/70 R 17
9813
MS2
633803
F
17
120/70 ZR 17
9854
MS3
(58W)
633808
F
17
120/70 R 17
343
MS3
633804
F
17
120/70 ZR 17
9838
MS4
(58W)
633809
F
17
120/70 R 17
302
MS4
633805
R
17
190/55 ZR 17
H064
MS1
(75W)
634495
R
17
195/65 R 17
H064
MS1
634502
R
17
190/55 ZR 17
H998
MS2
(75W)
634494
R
17
195/65 R 17
H998
MS2
634501
R
17
190/55 ZR 17
H667
MS3
(75W)
634493
R
17
195/65 R 17
H677
MS3
634500
R
17
190/55 ZR 17
H886
MS4
(75W)
633813
R
17
195/65 R 17
H886
MS4
634499
R
17
200/55 ZR 17
H998
MS2
(78W)
634505
R
17
195/65 R 17
H997
MS5
634498
R
17
200/55 ZR 17
H886
MS4
(78W)
634504
Press Officer
Dunlop Motorsport
Philippa Neilson
[email protected]
Dunlop Motorsport’s website
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“There is a lot of speculation about
when the first sub-17 minute lap of
the TT course will happen. Our
experience has led to us working
with a wide variety of teams and
we endeavour to provide tyres that
meet everyone’s needs.
Undoubtedly to break that
particular record the team would
be looking for one of our softer
compound race tyres which are
capable of achieving that time –
it’s a case of the rider putting an
amazingly accurate lap together
on the day to achieve that. I’ve
seen times drop year after year
and we strive to make sure the tyres
can more than match the
improvements in bike and rider.“
Pat Walsh
Sales Manager
motorsport.dunlop.eu/media
(Motorcycle Race)
[email protected]
www.dunlop.eu
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/DunlopMoto
@DunlopMoto
“While the TT is mainly about
outright speed, in the EWC we are
looking for consistency and
durability. We need our tyres to
perform well to the last lap of a
double stint to enable riders to be
fully committed to the end of their
stint. Last season we had great
race wins with both Suzuki and
Honda and hope to have many
more in 2015.”
Roland Wozniak
Event Manager
(Endurance Racing)
[email protected]