Can Akkaya gives us his opinion about the ContiRaceAttack slicks
We recently caught up with our California Conti Ambassador, Can Akkaya. Can is an ex-pro racer who now owns and operates his own riding school in the California area (Superbike Coach). Here’s what Can has to say about our tires…
“I’m not sure what you know or have been told regarding Continental Motorcycle Tires, but let’s hit the reset button. I recently had the chance to get my hands on a set of Continental ContiRaceAttack slicks for my Ducati 1199 Panigale. Immediately I hit the track at Thunderhill Raceway West to run a few 1-on-4 track drills – here is my first impression!”
“First, you need to know as a coach there’s no time for delays or gimmicks. No time for tire warmers, different air pressures or different suspensions setups. It’s educate – tires on, let’s ride! Hassle and drama free! The experience I’ve had with these tires has actually helped in allowing me to enjoy riding on the track and makes my job as a coach free and easy.”
“Secondly, these tires perform! Prior to taking the track we gave the front 26 and the rear 23 PSI. I remind you, no tire warmers and no warm up time allotted. Continental’s “TractionSkin” , is a revolutionary new micro-rough tread surface, virtually puts an end to tire break-in. Guess what… it truly works. Amazingly I was able to have my knee to the ground at half a lap on cold tires!”
“I can’t confirm what their testers are saying about the front tire, which seem to put them more to work with the steering. At this point I don’t know their counter steering capabilities, but I do know mine. Eventually the way the geometry of my Panigale is set just matched.”
“What I was most thrilled about is their ‘MultiGrip‘ technology. So while other tire manufacturers puzzle 3 grip level rubbers together, which cause failures eventually – Conti goes a better route. They use a homogeneous grip grading with a single compound thanks to temperature controlled curing of the tire during the production process. This means… one piece of tire surface and no transitions to deliver softer sides and harder middles to get more mileage. The tire picture says it all.”
“You also need to know that I use to go way below my pace when I work with riders, but I have my 1-2 laps on each session. So here and then I gave it some aggression into turns, not fully on the limit though. That is the point though, because even going with FORCE- there was still way to go while the front and rear end were totally transparent and neutral. Those tires are an absolute confidence booster and I just can imagine their potential if I would have added drama.”
“It was hot on the track, maybe about 98f. The performance of the tires never changed. I got older and even much more heavy as I was as a fit racer, but I still have and extreme entry and exit phases, and that’s where these Continental tires deliver, while having a smooth and balanced mid turn arc. The corner speed and lean was on the save side, cuz’ I have work to do right- but the grip range signals that there is more.”
“Don’t be a fool and go get some too. The price is right as well.”
“Can’t wait now to do drama :-)”
Headcoach Can Akkaya, Superbike-Coach Corp
Awesome wright up. I’ve known Coach Can for about 5 years now, after all I’ve been shooting his pics for that long, and if he says THESE WORK then that’s good for me… he’s not one to sugar-coat things. When my 2017 FZ-10 is ready, I’ll be considering Continental as my next choice.