actually make it work.
The cooler conditions didn't get
much better that afternoon and so
I decided to throw on two sets of
SC1s on for the afternoon's races,
picking up two third places and
nearly a win, except for the fact I
completely messed up my braking
and almost took out my friend Troy
Siahaan in the process.
The good news was the speed
was coming, now down to a 31.4,
and with warmer weather scheduled
for Sunday, that would be the time
to give the SCXs their best shot.
With some new SCXs bolted on,
it was yet another third place but
the bike felt quite different. We'd
swapped the rear from a 180/60R17
to the wider 190 that's commonly
used in WorldSBK, and as such the
turn-in speed wasn't as quick as on
the 180. The flip side of that was
better edge grip under acceleration,
and as long as I had the confidence
to really mash the Kramer's ride-by-
wire throttle, the SCX proved to be
the correct choice.
We swapped out the rear SCX
for a freshy for race two and kept
the same SC1 at the front, and the
result was as hoped. A win and
a drop into the 1:30s (just) was a
nice way to end the weekend, but
the good news was the SCX's grip
level never faded over the six laps
of Laguna Seca, with my fastest lap
coming on my last.
The SCXs offer absolutely
blistering grip but only in the right
conditions. If you run them when
the ambient temp is not hot enough
or track temps drop a little too
much, they won't come into their
working zone and they'll start slid-
ing around, just like I experienced
in qualifying.
Also, they need heat. Lots of
heat. Hence the reason why we'd
put them on the warmers early and
leave them there until the wheel
rim got mega hot. You can't do
that with Dunlops or Bridgestones,
which have their own warm-up for-
mulas you need to follow. I am yet
to try the equivalent Dunlop super-
soft slicks, which would make for a
good comparison as Dunlop has so
much data in American racing.
For short club races here in
America, the Pirelli Diablo Super-
bike SCXs should hold you in good
stead so long as your bike is setup
correctly. Get 'em hot and hold on!
Rennie Scaysbrook
P118
PRODUCT REVIEWI
Cooler conditions
meant the SCX didn't
work as hoped on
Saturday.
