Dunlop tire engineer Jim Allen and his crack team of pyrometer-wielding assistants take the December testing at DIS pretty seriously. The stresses of 180 bhp on the steep banking here make solid construction paramount.

When the riders seem happy with the performance of the tires, the engineers are undoubtedly satisfied.

"We're pretty happy at the moment," Allen said Tuesday afternoon. "The most interesting thing from our perspective is, usually when you come testing here, there's a fair bit of complaining. It's not uncommon, they're not happy with the grip here, but really not much bitching going on, so we're pretty happy."

It's not as if the riders are slacking off the pace, either.

"Race pace last year was high 50s and low 51s ,and they're running that right now," Allen said.

"We've got a hard and a soft that we're testing at the moment for most of the guys," the former racer continued. "We've got a few other odds and ends that we're testing, but basically on the race compound that we're running, most of the guys are going faster on the harder of the two compounds that we're running."

Some of the teams are happier with their progress than others.

"The Honda guys would like to be going a little faster than they are, but I think they're getting there." Allen also commented that certain riders give more useful information than others.

"Here, it's the guys with experience like Miguel (Duhamel) and Doug (Chandler) and guys like that. Mat (Mladin) is always good here. Guys like that are usually the best for feedback because they've been here more. Those guys are the most comfortable here, and the most constructive."

ENDS