Silverstone 2012: slick rear tires and no dramatic Bridge

MONTMELO, SPAIN – JUNE 04: Casey Stoner of Australia and Repsol Honda Team heads down a straight during the MotoGp Tests In Catalunya at Circuit de Catalunya on June 4, 2012 in Montmelo, Spain.

This weekend, the 2012 MotoGP World Championship will take place in Great Britain at the Silverstone Circuit. It is the third year that the circuit hosts the British Grand Prix and it is the sixth round of this season.

Expectations are high as Silverstone is known to be one of the most challenging circuits on the calendar, especially in terms of tire development. The 5.900 long track is fast and besides that, it is sensitive to cold weather, which is very common in Great Britain.

The high-speed parts of the circuit require good stability of the tires for cornering and braking. At the same time, the cold weather conditions make proper warm-up performance necessary. For this reasons, Bridgestone has chosen to provide two slick rear tires for the race that are medium-soft and medium. For the front Bridgestone will provide soft and medium compounds.

In 2010 the circuit was adjusted to incorporate the new complex of corners between Abbey and Brooklands. Several riders are already looking forward to the British race. Casey Stoner, for example, is eager to race on the track again, but wishes that the dramatic Bridge wasn’t removed. “I’m definitely looking forward to going to Silverstone, it’s a track that I really do enjoy.” Says the Honda rider.

“I wish that we still went through the old part of the track; unfortunately we don’t go through there now and the new section is very, very tight. The rest of the track is fantastic, though – it’s fast and makes the heart beat very quick!” Stoner continues.

“The Monday test in Catalunya was a positive step for us, but we’re still far from perfect. We definitely made some progress with reducing the chatter but we will have to wait until we get on-track on Friday to see if what we found also works at Silverstone. Again, we’ll be hoping for dry weather so we can maximise every minute of track time to prepare for Sunday’s race.”

The 2012 MotoGP British World Championship race will take place on the 17^th of June at 13:00 O’clock.

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