Pirelli Riviera di Rimini Round – The “Marco Simoncelli” Misano World Circuit seen by the tyres

The 2016 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship is heading back to Italy: after the round at Imola just down the road it is now the turn of Misano Adriatico, the location which will be hosting the bikes derived from standard production from June 17 to 19 for the second and last race in the country this season.

The “Marco Simoncelli” Misano World Circuit truly embodies the love for motor sports that is deeply rooted in this corner of Italy. Designed in 1969 and under private management, the circuit was initially 3488 metres long: after having been approved, activities kicked off in August 1972 with a small support building that hosted the pits and the facilities.

The circuit was fully renovated in the 1990s to make it efficient and suited to host races of international relevance: the track length was increased to a total of 4060 metres during a first extension in 1993. It now has two versions – one short and onelong. Buildings for the pits, technical facilities and press rooms were completed during the second stage of the works in the 1996-1997 period. The 40,000-square-metre paddock area was renovated the following year.

The works continued with the opening of a new access (in 2005) and a new medical centre: the Misano World Circuit was shut down in 2006 to undergo a complete restyling. In just five months works were carried out on the track taking it to 4180 metres in order to reverse the direction of travel, now clockwise. Four new accesses to the circuit were built and the new grandstands were expanded to seat 23,000 spectators. The press room was entirely renovated.

The current configuration was finally completed in 2008 with the construction of the new pit lane parallel to the track: this change led to change the track access and the line into the Rio chicane. Currently, the track has ten rightward corners and six leftward corners, with a minimum width of 12 metres and is 4226 metres long in total.

Approximately 53,000 square metres of asphalt were laid on the Misano circuit in March last year: the new paving was developed using a specific formula to contrast the effects of sea salt and humidity and is more aggressive and abrasive on the tyres as a consequence. The circuit is also famous for its hot climate that can compromise line accuracy and driving precision: for this reason, Pirelli has developed several solutions over the years with variable hardness to ensure good grip and long-term resistance to wear, in addition to high tyre heat protection.

Some of last year's works focused on redefining the run-offs according to DroCAS™ safety calculations and re-profiling kerbs and all bends to improve vehicle dynamics and driving pleasure.

The track is very bendy and the trickiest stretch is most certainly that after the fast wide curve. The series of right-handed bends are demanding on the tyres and determine high mechanical and thermal stress on the corresponding sidewall. On the contrary, the rather short straights mean that high top speeds cannot be reached although there are several braking and acceleration points.  

Both races in 2015 were painted Kawasaki green, with Kawasaki Racing Team Tom Sykes and Jonathan Rea's wins. Sykes won Race-1 ahead of team mate Rea and Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati SBK Team), trailing over 4 seconds behind.
In turn, Northern Irishman Rea won Race -2 with lead of over one second on Davide Giugliano's Ducati Panigale R (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati SBK Team) and of over two seconds on Leon Haslam (Aprilia Racing Team – Red Devils).
At the end of the Supersport race, Frenchman Jules Cluzel (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) cut the finish line in first position followed by Patrick Jacobsen and Lorenzo Zanetti, while the Italian flag flew on all three steps of the Superstock 1000 podium with Lorenzo Savadori's win ahead of De Rosa and Tamburini.