The 2011 British Superbike Championship was the closest ever with the prestigious title going to Tommy Hill on the last corner of the last lap of the final race of the season!

Long time Pirelli rider Tommy Hill fulfilled his Superbike dream by an incredible 0.006 seconds and two points from ex GP star John ‘Hopper’ Hopkins at Brands Hatch.

Local hero Tommy was besieged by thousands of fans as the culmination of an injury strewn career was realised. After winning the inaugural R6 Cup, Tommy became an integral part of Pirelli’s racing R+D programme with Virgin Yamaha before the BSB ‘control tyre’ introduction in 2008. Tommy was pushed all season by a stellar cast of racers including Shane Byrne, Tommy’s teammate Michael Laverty and fast Aussie Josh Brookes.

Jason Griffiths, Pirelli Racing Manager commented, “What a fitting end to a sensational season! Congratulations to Tommy who has spent many years with Pirelli and also to Shaun Muir and the Swan Yamaha team. Hopper and the Samsung Crescent Racing squad could not have come any closer to winning the title and played their part in an awesome spectacle. We’re really pleased with the fantastic lap times set by Josh Brookes in qualifying and the new lap record set in Saturday’s race which highlighted the performance of the Pirelli Diablo Superbike slicks. Thanks from Pirelli to the riders, teams and all the people involved in making the BSB ‘show’ happen throughout the season.”

The new Pirelli World Superbike spec tyres are available for all competitors and trackday customers in 2011. The new compounds of the Pirelli Diablo Superbike tyres come with SC1 and SC2 front options and SC0 and SC1 rear, with ‘0’ being the softest and ‘2’ the hardest solutions. The tyres are designed for sustained performance and high grip characteristics.