By: Kenn Stamp

All good photos by: Catherine Wedmore of Trackpilots.com
All other photos by: Kenn Stamp



I was able to join Pirelli at Daytona for their 08 season tire testing this year. Due to scheduling conflicts I was only able to attend on Tuesday instead of both Monday and Tuesday. This really was no problem as I wanted to mostly go to get some photos and video clips, plus maybe learn a little bit about tires. Turns out I also learned where the Daytona Security office was and managed to royally piss off the "tower" (this is where ALL decisions concerning security and track safety come down from); more on that in a little bit.

I met Peter Jones, my contact for Pirelli, for the first time, face-to-face, that Tuesday. In this world of mass globalization, where more and more business is conducted via email and phone, it is always nice to have that personal contact.

Peter and I were talking about who was riding on what size tires and such, when I learned something that I didn't know before; the overall radius is the same whether the rider chooses to use a 17" or 16.5" rim. The tires for the 16.5" rims are more "peaked" in the middle to allow faster side to side transitions, while the 17's are more rounded. Some riders that ride in multiple classes use the 17" rim/tire combo across the board as 16.5" rims are not legal in all of the AMA classes. I found this interesting as I never really gave much thought to why some riders chose 16.5" and others chose 17". I assumed it had to do with handling but didn't know the details. See, you're always learning new and fun facts.

Now to the juicy security story you all have been waiting for. During my email conversations with Peter he said that they basically "own" the track for the 2 days they are there so there would be no extra paperwork or hoops to jump through. When I arrive at the gate just tell them who I am and I'll be on the list.
Well this sounds easy enough, doesn't it? I arrived at the Turn 4 tunnel gate and spoke to the security guard there. This is basically how that went;

Me ~ "I'm here for the tire tests."
Guard ~ "Did you sign in yet?"
Me ~ "No. Where do I do that?"
Guard ~ "Right here. (hands me a clipboard with a sign in sheet on it). OK here is your pass so you can come and go without me hassling you (said with a smile).
Me ~ "Thanks!" And I drove right in.

When I got inside and found Peter I told him about the woeful lack of security, since anyone could make up a company name, sign a fake name to the sheet, and have full access to the pits and everything. He agreed and said that Pirelli wasn't too happy about it. After talking to Peter for a while I told him that I was going to wander around and take some pictures. He told me to let him know if I had any questions and off I went.

Now here is where it gets interesting. For those of you familiar with Daytona's layout, I walked all the way to the end of the pit row towards the exit that leads you from pit row to the International Horseshoe. I climbed over the wall, and stuck close to it as I made my way around the curve a little bit. My goal was to get some shots of the riders entering turn one. While I was squatting there against the wall, well out of danger from being hit by an errant bike and rider, I felt a tap on my shoulder from behind. I looked back and up and there was a security guard crooking his finger at me telling me to follow him. As I walked behind him he asked (very curtly) what I was doing. I told him very politely who I was and who I was with ("I'm the editor of 2wf.com and I'm with myself") and he held out his hand for my green pass. He then asked me what I was doing taking photos at that spot, so I explained that I wasn't told by either Pirelli or the guard at the gate about any restrictions and was merely working off the theory that as long as I wasn't a hazard or in danger of being hit, I could take photos anywhere. He told me that "tower" was extremely pissed off (he repeated that 3 times) and beckoned me to get into the truck. As it turns out, there was a photographer meeting on Thursday that laid out the entire plan of where you can take photos from.

Over the course of our drive back to the security office the guard's demeanor changed drastically (must be my charming personality) and he was really a great guy. We walked into the office and he gave me a map and took the time to give me a thorough briefing on the rules about where to take pictures from. Apparently, I was inches from getting booted from DIS and might have been if a different guard had come to get me instead of the one that did. Do you see the risks I take to bring you exciting stories about exotic locales? I hope your grateful.

I was able to talk a little bit to some of the teams, although getting info out of them was like pulling teeth. They all were reticent to discuss the tires they were trying and which ones were working the best for them. Understandable as they knew that I was going to be writing an article about what they told me.

I did find out that a certain team that is going to run a Buell 1125R in Moto-ST (with a restricted throttle to limit HP) was having some issues getting the bike to settle down and handle well in some of the corners. Pirelli asked them to run a set of Corsa III's (the stock tire) and see if it was a tire issue or suspension issue. Turns out that it was a suspension issue apparently as the bike was still having issues. As an interesting side-note to this; if you look at the pictures of the 1125R you can see a steering dampener nestled between the forks. I remember listening to Erik Buell confidently say that the 1125R did NOT need a steering dampener. It makes me wonder if the steering dampener was partially responsible for some of the handling woes. Not sure how it would be, but if a bike is designed specifically not to have one (not just that one was left off) then adding one might upset the balance slightly. Again, not saying this is the cause, and I don't know how it would be the cause, I'm just pointing out an interesting side note.

There are a lot more pictures in the 2007 photo gallery so click here to go and see them.