WorldSBK is holding its final preseason test ahead of the Aragon season opener this week, with Pirelli publicly debuting a new tyre.
Pirelli brought the SCX tyre to WorldSBK in 2019, when the new Superpole races were introduced. The SCX was designed to last for the 10-lap Superpole race, and not to be used in the full length races on Saturday and Sunday afternoon.
However, engineers engineered, and that resulted in the SCX being used by several riders in the full-length races by the end of 2020. In 2021, the majority of the riders were able to use the SCX.
In response, Pirelli are bringing a new, “SCQ”, tyre for 2022, designed to be used in qualifying and the sprint races.
At the test, there will be two options of the SCQ available to try. Both are still in the development stage, according to Pirelli, with one anticipated to be made available for the race weekend, and the other designed as a purely development-aimed tyre to give Pirelli as complete an understanding as possible about their new compound.
The SCQ has already been present at the private tests that the manufacturers have carried out over the winter, but its appearance this week in Aragon will be its first time on track in an ‘official’ session.
The SCQ, unlike the SCX, will be available only for qualifying and the sprint races, meaning there should not be a risk of the tyre creating the kind of controversy of the SCX, when riders like Michael Ruben Rinaldi were first able to make it last for a race distance while maintaining a competitive pace.
Additionally, Crash.net reported a few days ago that the SCQ was having trouble reaching the 10-lap distance for a Superpole race. So, while it may not be affecting strategy in the full length races, for the riders and teams it will be important to make sure that they are not one of those forced to run the harder SCX tyre for the Superpole race.
Pirelli’s new SCQ will also be a complete replacement for the previous qualifying tyre. Whether this will have a detrimental effect on the qualifying lap times will only be discovered once the season is underway, which it will be from this weekend, on 8-10 April 2022 in MotorLand Aragon.
