Now in their third year as sole supplier to the World SBK Championship, Pirelli has already begun reaping the benefits of the hard work they put in during the latter part of last season, and that they kept up throughout the winter test sessions.

_{source: worldsbk.com}

The figures speak for themselves. Compared with race 2 of 2005, total time for Qatar's Losail circuit was 40 seconds down this year. The fastest lap this year was recorded by Haga at 2 m 00.061 s. Compare this to Gimbert's 2 m 01.852 s last year. This 1.8 second improvement was already emerging clearly during testing.

Times have been significantly faster in Australia too. Total time was down by 42 seconds in both legs compared to race 1 of 2005. Bayliss also beat the track record for the race itself and for testing, both set by Corser back in 1999.

These impressive results point towards a record-breaking season for Pirelli. The great thing is that they have been achieved without any reduction in safety, which is one of Pirelli's prime objectives. Also worth noting is the fact that this year for the first time ever, Pirelli's world championship tyres will be made available to the general public under the brand name of Diablo Superbike.