BSB: Pirelli introduce SCX Super Soft Slick tyre for 2021

Bennetts British Superbike teams will have access to Pirelli’s DIABLO Superbike Slick SCX (Super Soft) tyre this season.

The SCX tyre, first introduced in the World Superbike Championship in 2019, is most likely to feature heavily during qualifying and the shorter ‘Sprint Race’ on Saturday afternoons. The tyre will provide better performance over a shorter period.

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However, there may also be some instances when teams and riders opt to gamble on the SCX, rather than choosing the regular SC0 Soft rear tyre. Jason Griffiths, Pirelli UK Racing Manager, explains:

“The introduction to the series of the SCX rear tyre will provide added interest in terms of tyre strategy. The high track temperatures at the recent Donington Park test allowed the teams and riders to evaluate the new tyre over race distance and it is clear that given suitable track temperatures and less aggressive asphalt the SCX option can be used for the full-length races, as we have seen in World Superbikes.”

It’s going to be fascinating to see how the paddock opts to use the SXC tyres this year and which bikes can extract the most from it during the longer feature races. In WSB, Michael Ruben Rinaldi changed the tyre strategy for the majority of the field after winning with the SCX option in the feature race at Aragon last year. 

The introduction of the SCX comes after the series opted to use Pirelli’s larger diameter tyres in 2020. The rear tyre sizes as introduced last year are 200/65R17, whilst the front tyres also provided a wider contact patch, going from a 120 to a 125 section. At the front, riders will have to choose between the SC1 and SC2 (harder) option tyres.

In the event of rain, there are two wet tyres in a soft or harder compound and the Diablo Wet (Intermediate) tyre. 2021 marks Pirelli’s 14th campaign as the sole provider in BSB.

The new season gets underway at Oulton Park on June 25-27. Look out for MCN’s 12-page season preview in next week’s newspaper – out Wednesday June 23.