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| | | MotoGP : Sepang new tarmac brings worries about tyres |  Written: 18/10/2007 : 14:12. Read 5634 times (4/day). | This year, Sepang race track was once again the place of winter tests for MotoGP.
But after these, the track was entirely resurfaced. Teams are now back to zero point on a track which is predicted very abrasive.
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Sepang race track was built in 1997-98 in 14 months (cost : 75 M EUR), its 50Km south of Kuala Lumpur, near to the International Airport.
Its one of fastest and modern track of the MotoGP circus. The longest ( 5,548 km) and widest (25 m). He is also good for overtakings and pure speed. Four slow corners followed by two long straights and four fast corner make Sepang a very good race track often used for winter tests.
High temperatures and tropical weather make also this track impossible to ride, when strong rain fall flow the track under water.
But added to the weather problems, the major worrie is about the new asphalt that was fitted after the formula one GP.
Now whole new the tarmac is predicted abrasive and brings some serious worries for life of race tyres...
Jean-Philippe Weber, Michelin’s director of motorcycle racing :
“The main factor this weekend is that the circuit has been entirely resurfaced, which changes everything from a tyre point of view. A new surface and high temperatures usually makes life very tough for the tyres, so it will be a challenging weekend for all the tyre companies. Also, to further complicate matters, the surface has recently been patched up because the tarmac they laid after the Malaysian F1 GP was quite bumpy. Obviously we have already got some basic information about the character of the tarmac, but no one knows what it’s really like until we’re actually there, so it will be a bit of a gamble. The last two newly surfaced tracks we have been to were very different – Laguna was very demanding on tyres but Misano wasn’t. Anyway, usually new tarmac means hard tyres.
“There are a lot of long corners at Sepang, through which riders spend a lot of time on the side of the tyres, so edge grip is vital. This is the big thing we’ve been working on with our new construction rear tyre, which give riders better stability in the middle of the corners, which helps them to exploit faster corner speed and then quicker exits."
Same comments were made by Hiroshi Yamada – Bridgestone Motorsport - Manager, Motorcycle Sport Unit, the japanese manufacturer makes also a cautious approach :
”Sepang is the longest track of the year with two straights of around 1km at the start and end of the lap, which require a lot of outright engine power and good braking stability from the machines as riders brake from speeds in excess of 300km/h. The length of time spent on the central part of the tyre is considerable at Sepang while the extreme temperatures we usually experience – with track temperatures around 50°C - will mean we run harder compounds for both front and rear tyres. The track has also been resurfaced recently so in the first sessions on Friday we will also be looking at the effects on tyre performance of the new asphalt as we carry out the usual initial assessment of our available specifications.”
Things will be more clear after friday tests, but for now, you probably should know that at this moment, riders have already set the seal of their future weekend. The tyre choice is to make the day before the first practice session...
Article : Aurélien Filippi
Photo : Google
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(not translated yet) le mot de Remasy
