Quote:
Originally Posted by peteremsley
pit stop was because they brought the wrong tires, right? wouldn't last the distance?
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Essentially, yes. Bridgestone doesn't bring every tire they make to each grand prix. They choose a selection from their current lineup and bring the ones they think will be needed, based on past experience. After the race in 2012, the PI track was resurfaced. Bridgestone had some idea of what the new surface was like but guessed wrong on the tire selections they brought. The track was highly abrasive and the tires weren't safe for a race distance. They set a window of a couple laps where riders had to come in and change bikes, that guaranteed that neither the first set of tires nor the second set would go too far. Marquez missed his pit board for several laps and came in one lap late and was black-flagged out of the race.
The other problem Bridgestone often faces is one of temperature. They know what the expected temperatures will be at a specific track and that is another factor in their tire choices. If a race weekend has warmer or colder temperatures than normal, problems can ensue. Laguna Seca has often been a problem track, in that mornings there are cold and foggy, while afternoons are sunny and hot. They can bring tires suitable for the afternoon sessions that simply don't work in first practice, which is generally around 9:00 in the morning, local time.
In the case of PI, the demanding corners are all to the left, so the right side of the tire runs too cool. in 2014, Bridgestone brought a dual compound front that had a softer compound on the right edge of the tire, and a harder one in the middle and on the left side. That gave better grip in the right hand corners, but another problem cropped up. Temperatures dropped in the race, to the point that the center of the tire wasn't giving the usual amount of grip, so a bunch of riders crashed while braking for a corner, notably Cal Crutchlow. To solve that, they changed the design this year to include the softer compound in the center and on the right side, while only the left side had the harder compound. Most riders opted to use it and it worked fine. It helped that Sunday was relatively warm and the wind wasn't as bad as it can be at that track. A rare nice day at Phillip Island...
JR