Bridgestone MotoGP Preview: Circuit of the Americas

The second round of the 2013 MotoGP season takes place at the state-of-the-art Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas as the championship welcomes a new venue to the calendar.
 
At 5.515 kilometers in length, the Circuit of the Americas is a technical track featuring big changes in elevation, a combination of slow and fast corners and a 1200 meter back straight - the longest on the MotoGP calendar - which starts and ends with tight hairpin corners.
 
The Americas Grand Prix is the first event of the season in which CRT and non-CRT riders will be allocated different specifications of rear slick tyre. Although there are fewer right-hand corners compared to left-hand corners at this circuit, the presence of several mid to high speed right-hand corners creates higher tyre temperatures on the right shoulder of the tyres. As a result, asymmetric rear slicks with slightly harder rubber on the right shoulders will be offered at this race. A total of three rear slick compounds the soft, medium and hard options will be offered at Austin, with CRT riders able to use the soft and medium options, non-CRT riders the medium and hard.
 
Front slick compounds are the soft and medium options to give riders the highest levels of front-end feel through the twisting sections of the track which feature numerous changes of direction, while the main wet tyre for the Circuit of the Americas will be the soft compound option.
 
Hiroshi Yamada - Manager, Bridgestone Motorsport Department
 
“The United States is a very important market to Bridgestone and to increase our presence in this region with a third race on the calendar is welcomed, particularly at such an amazing venue as the Circuit of the Americas. The first race in Qatar was a thrilling contest and I am sure that at this circuit, which is an unknown quantity for many of the riders, we will witness another exciting race. I am pleased that a new collection of American fans will get to witness what a great motorsport series MotoGP is, and I hope they turn out in large number to support their home-grown heroes Ben, Colin and Nicky and also to cheer on the two American wildcard riders, Blake Young and Michael Barnes”
 
Shinji Aoki - Manager, Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development Department
 
“Austin’s Circuit of the Americas welcomes MotoGP for the first time and its impressive layout created a real challenge for tyre development. Like the other American circuits on the calendar it is run in a counter-clockwise directions, and the track is technical with a mix of tight, slower corners and faster, more open sections. These features combine to place a great importance on front-end feel as maintaining good corner speed is critical at this track, so our front tyres need to provide excellent grip characteristics with plenty of stability, while the rears must give good drive out of the corners.
 
“Our data from testing shows that the faster right-hand corners at the circuit require slightly harder rubber on the right shoulder of the rear slicks for greater stability and durability, so we will bring asymmetric rear slicks at Austin. Front tyre compounds for this race will be soft & medium, while the rear slick compounds for CRT riders will be soft and medium, and for non-CRT riders, medium and hard.”