Avon Tyres’ VP2 tyres are just the ticket for this season’s trackday addicts, say the experts - including a three-time British champion.
The British-based tyre specialists have the new VP2 range in a wide-variety of fitments specifically designed for today’s sports bikes and trackday machines. They come in three versions: VP2 Extreme for trackday use, VP2 Supersport for road and track and VP2 Sport for road use.
Mike Edwards is a racing legend: a winner of three British championships as well as a Macau GP win. Recently he proved he’s still got what it takes with a superb 13th place in the National 1000 Superstocks championship at Donington Park. He uses VP2s for his trackday coaching sessions and he says: “The Avon VP2s are very good tyres. I did three track days on mine and there was still life left in them. A lot of people tend to ‘go with the flow’ and run the brands of tyre that they see out there racing. At trackdays they see me on the Avons and they don’t know what to make of it, but when they see how fast I go on them it changes their minds! The grip is great and there’s plenty of longevity in them. What more do you want? They get my thumbs up!”
Rob Jones, chief instructor for Castle Combe Race Circuit uses a set of VP2 Xtremes on his Ducati 996 race bike: “I’ve long been a fan of Avon’s sports tyres. I’ve raced a lot on rival brands but I feel the front-end feedback on the VP2s is even better than on a current rival’s race tyre. I see many people using what is literally race tyres on the road or track day, when something like the VP2 is all they would ever need as it would work over a broader temperature range and would be longer lasting. The VP2s are perfect for people’s needs on the road and on trackdays and they’re priced reasonably too.”
Peter McNally, Avon Tyres’ Technical Product Manager for Motorcycle tyres stresses the importance of picking the right tyres for the correct use. He says: “I agree with what Rob says. Many guys on sportsbikes today may well over-tyre their bikes on the road. This means they’re using machines with tyres that are effectively race tyres but using them on the road or on the occasional trackday. The problem being that these tyres may not get up to the proper working temperature, whereas tyres designed for high-performance motorcycles on the road – like our VP2 Supersport and VP2 Sport tyres – are designed to work across a broader temperature spectrum and last better, too.”
