Bridgestone slick compounds available: Front: Soft, Medium, Extra-Hard. Rear: Medium, Hard
Bridgestone wet tyre compounds available: Soft (Main), Hard (Alternative)

The next stop on the MotoGP™ calendar is Motorland Aragon; a varied circuit whose smooth tarmac, susceptibility to cool conditions, and combination of slower and faster sections presents a significant challenge for race tyre development.

At just over five kilometres in length, Aragon was added to the MotoGP™ calendar in 2010 and features a back straight almost one kilometre in length and a mixture of long sweeping corners and slower, tighter curves. The varied nature of the circuit requires a special approach to tyre selection, with two softer front slick compounds, the soft and medium options being offered alongside the extra-hard front slick. These three front tyre choices provide suitable options for what could be a potentially wide range of weather and track conditions at the Spanish circuit.

With the 1000cc MotoGP™ motorcycles having their first competitive outing at Aragon, asymmetric rear slicks will be offered for the first time at the circuit to deal with the increased forces generated by the larger displacement machines. The asymmetric rear slicks will be available in the medium and hard options and have slightly harder rubber on the left shoulder to cope with the long left-handers which impose a substantial load on the tyres.

The main wet tyre for Aragon will be the soft option, though as always limited numbers of an alternative wet tyre, which for this race is the hard option, will be made available to riders if required.

Hiroshi Yamada - Manager, Bridgestone Motorsport Department

“Aragon may be a recent addition to the MotoGP calendar but the standard of the circuit and facility means it has been quickly embraced by everyone in the paddock. There has been a significant amount of testing at Aragon this year which has enabled Bridgestone to assess tyre performance around the circuit with the 1000cc machines, while also providing the teams that tested here with valuable setup data for the upcoming race weekend. Based on our data from this year and previous races, we are now providing asymmetric rear slicks at Aragon and I am confident that this will give riders extra confidence around this technical track. The results from the last race at Misano mean that Jorge is well placed for this year’s title, but this season has shown us that anything can happen and with Dani’s strong record at this circuit, I believe the Spanish fans are in for another thrilling chapter in the championship fight.”

Shinji Aoki - Manager, Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development Department

“This will be our third race at Aragon which is an interesting circuit as it features fast, sweeping sections as well as a series of slower corners. The tarmac surface is relatively smooth and slippery compared to other circuits, so the tyres need to provide good grip which suggests softer compounds. However, the long corners and some of the downhill braking points require greater stability and thus harder compounds, so tyre selection at this circuit is a balancing act.

“Generally, ambient temperatures at this time of year in the region are warm, though the elevation of the circuit means cooler temperatures are possible so we must consider warm-up performance when selecting the tyre allocation for this race. With this in mind, we are providing three front tyre choices at Aragon, the soft, medium and extra-hard compounds. The soft compound is available to give riders maximum edge grip and warm-up performance in exceptionally cool conditions. For the first time at Aragon we will also offer asymmetric rear slicks in the medium and hard options. These asymmetric rear slicks feature slightly harder rubber on the left shoulder to provide the required warm-up performance and the necessary stability and durability for the circuit’s faster sections.”

Dunlop to Demonstrate Durability in Aragón Adventure

Dunlop’s Moto2 tyres return to Spain for the third of four visits this season for the Gran Premio Iveco de Aragón which takes place at Motorland Aragón on September 28 – 30.


All out at Aragón

A recent addition to the MotoGP calendar, with the first event taking place in 2010, Aragón was designed by F1-famed designer, Hermann Tilke. The track has an even layout in terms of demands on both sides of the tyres. Incorporating undulation, there are fast downhill sections which include right hand turns. High braking demands are notable, especially for the downhill turns 14/15.

As a new facility, surface abrasion was notable. This diminishes over time so it will be interesting to see how harsh the surface is for its third MotoGP. The circuit is 5.077km long with 17 turns.

Staying Power

Dunlop will unleash the Group C Durability Focused combo of the 3855 & 3838 compounds to withstand the rigours of the Aragon circuit. These two compounds are well suited to high wear circuits affected by local weather conditions such as high temperatures.

3855 is a new medium compound for 2012 for Moto2. Tested and used in the FIM Endurance World Championship at Qatar. 3838 is the harder option core compound. High wear resistance with good consistency over distance. Both rear tyres are in the ATR05 construction and are joined by the season-familiar front allocation of the 717 and 302 compounds.

Dunlop’s Moto2 Operations Manager, Clinton Howe:

“Aragón has presented us with some interesting challenges in the past. We’ve tested there and seen extreme track temperatures of up to 56˚C, which is as hot as we’ve seen anywhere in the world. For the 2010 event we experienced track temperatures of 16˚C – a massive 40˚C cooler.

“This prior experience means our tyre allocation choice very difficult as we could be faced with the hottest track of the season, or the coolest.

“The layout itself has long corners which put high forces through the tyres and create a lot of energy as the construction and compounds react to this energy, which creates heat. This is intensified if there are very high ambient and track temperatures, of the likes we experienced at the 2010 test.

“If the track temperatures are much lower, and you have a scenario where the tyre compound does not work as it should have this can cause high levels of wear through abrasion.

“This means you need a tyre allocation capable of reacting to a range of conditions, which is quite a tough request. In this regards the Group C Durability Focused allocation should serve us well, especially with the ATR05 construction which showed well at Aragón last year, despite a 20ºC difference in track temperature seen over the course of the weekend.”

Moto2 Rider Quote: Nicolas Terol, Mapre Aspar Team Moto2, Suter:

“I like Aragon very much. It´s a very wide circuit, combining fast sections with slow ones. The fast corners are very important. Then it is also important the ‘corkscrew’ because after that it comes a very fast corner, you have to be clever, otherwise you can lose many time. In the last corner of the circuit bike slides very much, so you have to be confident with the rear tyre. The track has much grip, so the only think we can ask to Dunlop tyres is durability, in order to arrive at the end of the race with good feelings. Yes. To be honest my beginnings with Moto2 were quite hard, but my adaptation has been great. I have always ridden with Dunlop and it´s the best tyre I can use.”

Moto2 Tyre Allocation: Aragon

Front Moto2 slicks per rider

120/75R17 Moto2: 4 x 302, 4 x 717


Rear Moto2 slicks per rider

195/75R17 Moto2: 5 x 3838 (ATR05), 4 x 3855 (ATR05)

Wet Moto2 tyres per rider

3 x Front 125/80R17 KR191 414 (4 tyres allocated if all practice sessions are wet).

3 x Rear 190/55R17 KR393 414 (4 tyres allocated if all practice sessions are wet).

Moto3 Tyre Allocation: Aragon

Front Moto3 slicks per rider

95/75R17 Moto3: 5 x Medium, 3 x Hard

Rear Moto3 slicks per rider

115/70R17 Moto3: 6 x Medium, 3 x Soft

Wet Moto3 tyres per rider

3 x 95/70R17 KR189 WB (4 tyres allocated if all practices are wet).

3 x 115/70R17 KR389 WB (4 tyres allocated if all practices are wet).



Vendredi:
13:15 - Essais Moto3 (45mn) (LIVE)
14:00 - Essais Moto GP (1h) (LIVE)
15:00 - Essais Moto2 (1h) (LIVE)

23:15 - Essais MotoGP (45mn)

Samedi:
10:00 - Essais MotoGP (1h) (LIVE)
11:00 - Essais Moto2 (1h) (LIVE)

13:00 - Qualifications Moto3 (45mn) (LIVE)

17:15 - Qualifications Moto GP (1h)
18:15 - Qualifications Moto2 (1h)
19:15 - Qualifications Moto3 (30mn)

Dimanche:
05:00 - Qualifications Moto2 (1h)
06:00 - Qualifications Moto GP (1h)

10:45 - Moto3 (1h30mn) (LIVE)
12:15 - Moto2 (1h40mn) (LIVE)
13:55 - Course MotoGP (1h35mn) (LIVE)