been involved in the DT2-to-DT3
transition in 2014-'15.
"There was some interesting
history to the DT project," Bell
said. "When we transitioned from
DT2 to DT3 several years ago
we found some old mold draw-
ings, hand-drawn stuff, which
was really a blast from the past.
Nowadays we use computerized
3D and auto-cad exclusively,
but these original drawings were
hand rendered! It showed us that
the DT tires had some deep his-
tory, roots that connected what
we were doing at the time to a
lost era. Pretty cool stuff."
Of course, 2016 and 2017
brought change in the form of
new motorcycles from Harley-
Davidson and Indian, new rules
and new racetracks, all of which
provided impetus for the next-
gen tire.
"The sport was, and is, chang-
ing," says Lock. "The bikes are
faster and better. The riders are
training year-round, and things
are super competitive in every
class. And tires are an interesting
and important part of the mix.
The lack of brakes, the need for
a high degree of feedback and
the controlled loss of traction,
etc. Our brief for the Dunlop
folks wasn't necessarily to make
the bikes faster or to lower lap
times, but give riders more
feedback and control so they
can walk that fine line between
traction and the loss of trac-
tion with more confidence, all
of which leads to better racing
and more excitement for riders,
VOLUME 57 ISSUE 6 FEBRUARY 11, 2020 P93
Dunlop has been
the spec tire
supplier for flat
track racing for
decades.
The all-new Dunlop DT4
front tire (above) and rear
tire (below) can be run
with or without tubes.
The new DT4 AFT spec
tires (pictured) on what
was already good with the
previous DT3 tires.
Talk of the need for a new-
generation Dunlop flat track tire
dates to 2015, when Lock first
joined AMA Pro Racing as a
consultant, but discussions took
on more urgency in late 2017
and early 2018, with Buckley
and Lock, who became AFT's
CEO in 2016, expanding the
conversation to AFT's competi-
tion department and Dunlop
engineers. One of those Dunlop
men was Lead Design Engineer
Shawn Bell, who'd been with the
company 15 years and who'd
THE
CHANGE
VICE PRESIDENT MIKE BUCKLEY
