What is it about Phillip Island that stresses the rear tyres?
“We saw a lot of TV coverage and slow motion clips of bikes sliding through the turns, especially the left handers at the end of the lap. This looks spectacular and is a very impressive display of bike control by the riders, but it is tough for the tyres! It is this spinning and sliding of the rear tyre that generates significant temperature in the rubber, especially in the left shoulders given the number of fast left handers at Phillip Island, and this is the reason that we developed the more durable asymmetric rear tyres for this grand prix. As a tyre spins, the friction between the rubber and the track generates heat. The more it spins, the higher the temperature. Above its optimum operating temperature, the hotter a tyre gets the less grip it has and so the more it will spin, and so on. This is why it was important to strike the right balance of heat durability to prevent this happening whilst maintaining a good level of overall grip, and I think that the lap times and the overall
