News 17 Mar 2017

YRT opts for Pirelli tyre package at Wakefield Park

Yamaha ASBK team transfers brands during second round.

Image: Keith Muir.

Yamaha Racing Team (YRT) will use Pirelli tyres this weekend in round two of the 2017 Yamaha Motor Finance Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK) presented by Motul Pirelli.

Factory team duo Glenn Allerton and Wayne Maxwell trialled Pirelli tyre options during the pre-race test earlier this month and will remain on them for the race weekend.

While YRT is keen to keep a lid on its high-profile switch, the decision has swept through the Wakefield Park paddock following Friday’s first practice session. It’s not official whether the change is final following round two.

Unable to directly comment on the transfer from Dunlop to Pirelli, three-time ASBK champion Allerton said he’s working on refining the set-up of his YZF-R1M considering the conditions and differing tyre characteristics.

“Track time is crucial right now in what have been really tricky conditions,” Allerton told CycleOnline.com.au this morning. “I started on the wet bike on wet tyres, trying to maximise how the bike feels in the wet, because we’ve got a few changes to our package overall.

“After that I rode the dry bike, which is the one I crashed at Phillip Island and it’s my favourite bike. I felt comfortable, started to push, but not really hard because of the mist in the session. It’s been a positive start and the bike felt really good. These could be the conditions we race in on Sunday, so getting laps is important.”

Practice one of the Wakefield Park round saw Dunlop-equipped Robbie Bugden (Kawasaki BCperformance) top the time-sheets in mixed conditions at 1m00.256s, trailed by Pirelli-shod Allerton and another Dunlop rider in Cru Halliday (IPONE/YMF/YMI/Yamaha) third.

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