Around the famous Isle of Man TT course, things can be decided by the finest of margins – every part of the bike has a role to play, and that goes for tyres too!
Tyre wars may be a thing of the past when it comes to the likes of MotoGP, but at the world’s most famous road race, they’re very much alive and well.
Dunlop are the most successful tyre manufacturer around the Mountain Course, and their tyres have helped riders to the top step of the Senior TT on 13 consecutive occasions to date, with lap records continuously falling too.
The first of this impressive string of victories was recorded by John McGuinness in 2005, with an average lap speed of 124.342mph. Fast forward to 2018 when Peter Hickman broke the 135mph lap record barrier, and his average lap speed was an incredible 131.7mph – representing a 6% gain in speed, thanks in part to Dunlop’s commitment to continuous tyre development.
Dunlop’s latest graphic highlights the gradual increase in average Senior TT winners lap speeds since McGuinness took that win back in 2005:
Dunlop’s Road Racing Event Leader, Pat Walsh explains Dunlop’s success at IOMTT:
“Every one of the Senior TT wins has been incredible. We have seen a mixture of manufacturers winning in this period including BMW, Suzuki, Honda and Yamaha. It shows Dunlop’s adaptability and commitment to success at one of the toughest races on the road racing calendar.
“One race that stood out for me was John McGuinness breaking the 130mph barrier on Dunlop tyres in 2007, that record stood for three years.”
Sebastien Montet, Dunlop’s Technology Director, outlined the contribution that tyre innovation has made to the gains in pace:
“At the beginning of this incredible run of Senior TT success we had just introduced MultiTread technology to our road racing tyres. This allowed us to use a mix of compounds to boost durability and grip at the same time. In the middle of the last decade we introduced several new technologies. Our NTEC technology features highly reinforced casing and allows riders to run lower inflation pressures. This ensures more of the tyre footprint is in touch with the road for more of the time and, most importantly in the case of Road Racing, the extra compliance from the casing allows the tyre to recover its shape from impacts with bumps, jumps and contours of the TT circuit.
“At the same time, we introduced Dunlop’s Jointless Belt Construction (JLB) which gives riders smoother handling, straight-line stability and reduced ‘weave’ effect. This, combined with our Jointless Tread, was derived from our World Championship Moto2 tyres. More recently, we’ve focused on temperature control. Our Heat Control Technology was used in recent TTs. This advanced tread construction features different layers of compound, where the base compound can be tuned to either generate or reduce heat build-up in order to optimise the performance of the top layer of compound. This year Dunlop has focused on a compound that heats up quicker, essential to boost rider confidence on a chilly morning before racing down Bray Hill after the start line.”
