Pirelli brings new addition to Portuguese WorldSBK round
Crash· 337 words · 2 min read
The Portuguese WorldSBK will be a debut weekend for a new Pirelli front tyre, a year on from the beginning of Pirelli's rear tyre updates last year.
Pirelli, which is now in its final year as World Superbike's sole tyre supplier before it moves to MotoGP next year and is replaced in WorldSBK by Michelin, spent much of last year introducing a new construction to its rear tyre range that was largely well received.
That wave of rear tyre updates began at the Portuguese Round in 2025 with a development version of the SC0 tyre. The same development construction was then brought to the SCX and SCQ tyres later in the season.
This year in Portimao, Pirelli will have a new front tyre, though, designated E1164. It's a variant of the SC1 tyre, which is the soft option in Pirelli's range. Pirelli says that both the compound and construction have been changed on the E1164 tyre compared to the standard SC1, and that the updates are concentrated on corner entry performance.
"While at Phillip Island we had two rear development options available, for the first European round of the premier production‑based championship we decided to concentrate on improving our front‑tyre range by developing the E1164 specification," said Pirelli motorcycle racing director Giorgio Barbier.
"This alternative to the standard soft SC1 features an innovative structure designed to enhance stability under braking and on corner entry, as well as a new compound intended to deliver more consistent performance over race distance.
"The Algarve circuit, with its characteristics and its elevation changes that place significant stress on the front tyres during braking, is indeed particularly well‑suited to testing the performance of a new front tyre."
The standard SC1 will also be available to riders in Portimao this weekend (27-29 March), as will the harder SC2 tyre in its standard version. At the rear, there is no SCQ tyre this weekend. Instead, the softest option available is the standard SCX; there are also the standard SC0 and SC1 rear options available.