Pirelli took over from Dunlop as the exclusive tyre supplier in the Moto2 and Moto3 classes this year, and immediately saw lap records tumble one by one.

At the British GP at the Silverstone circuit last weekend, Ivan Ortola’s victory was 53 seconds faster overall, compared to 2023. That averaged to 3.5 per lap faster.

Let us not forget that even a 0.1-second per lap improvement is already considered a huge deal at this level of competition, let alone 3.5 seconds. That is because 0.1 second multiplied by 15 laps (at Silverstone) equates to a 1.5-second lead at the end of the race.

Over to Moto2, Jake Dixon’s last lap victory over Aron Canet was also a record-breaking affair. His overall time was 12.5 seconds faster than in 2023. That averaged out to 0.7 second faster per lap.

In fact, of the 40 Moto3 and Moto2 sessions thus far, 38 of those have seen faster times than when Dunlop was the supplier.

It also reminds us of what Sam Lowes said many years before while he was riding in Moto2, when Honda was the engine supplier. According to him, lap times had stagnated because of the tyres.

Seeing this sort of achievement in the very first year is nothing short of breathtaking. Pirelli says they will use the data collected this year to make further improvements for the next rounds and beyond.

While most pay almost all attention to the premier MotoGP class, the real battles are in Moto3. The class features some hair-raising up close and personal racing consisting of multiple overtakes and dive bombs that thrill even grizzled observers. And the new tyres certainly gave the riders more grip to play with, translated into faster lap times and new records.