June 2006, Misano (Italy) After a long pause the Championship approaches Misano, in Italy, for the sixth round of the season. A pause four weeks long, but during which few remained idle. Development teams know this better than most, as they were testing in Brno with Pirelli, trying out new tyres which offered incredible results in terms of lap times, as Bayliss comprehensively destroyed the previous records, both with race and qualifying tyres. It also had less welcome aspects. Corser was not there because of a bout of chickenpox, while Supersport leader Charpentier suffered a crash that will put him out for Misano. June in Misano means that the paddock and the track action will be as hot as a crucible. In Superbike Bayliss is aiming to extend his impressive series of victories, while in Supersport the Team Yamaha Germany riders will try to exploit the leader’s absence. These are the major series, but together with the 50-plus degrees of temperature on the tarmac, it will be the races for the Superstock 1000, Superstock 600 and Suzuki Cup classes that will act as warm-up acts for the main events. This weekend there will be a total of 180 riders in the paddock, which for Pirelli means almost 7,000 tyres to be transported and organized at Misano. Superbike riders will count on a selection of 3 front and 4 rear tyres. Many are new, evaluated and approved by the development teams in the previous tests sessions at Brno and Misano. The “A” front is one of these, as well as the two specs of 200mm rear. The presence of the “big tyre” at Misano is nowadays a certainty, after its debut on this track in 2005. Together with these two choices there will also be two “standard size” tyres, known quantities for the riders, and a new qualifying rear tyre (of 190 section), which at Brno allowed Bayliss to set a new track record. The most important news pertains to the World Supersport Championship, in which the new Pirelli Diablo Supercorsa meets the Pirelli Dragon Supercorsa Pro. After the introduction of a new tyre to WSBK in Qatar (Pirelli Diablo SBK) and a new tyre in the European Superstock 600 Championship at Valencia (Pirelli Diablo Corsa III), after a lot of work it’s now the time for the World Supersport Championship to receive its new tyre. The process of development is constant and never-ending, and the results are clear, with lap times improved at every race. This improvement in the Supersport class now has a name, a new tyre debuting at Misano after convincing endorsements of its track performance by the WSS riders. The new Pirelli Diablo Supercorsa enters then into the Supersport arena, and Pirelli has provided a special occasion for such an exciting event. On Monday 26th, after the SBK Round, a few selected journalists will have the chance to test this new tyre in its real environment. That is, the test will occur using the very bikes that are racing in the 2006 World Supersport Championship, and naturally they will do it at Misano, a true World Championship track.