The new rubber, which features a slightly stiffer rear construction in a bid to improved durability, was trialled in last December’s post-season test at Suzuka, where teams were given one set each to try.
Off the back of that test, the new tyres have been in use throughout this week’s opening pre-season test at Suzuka.
It follows a spate of punctures in recent seasons, most notably Yuji Kunimoto’s high-speed crash at 130R in last year’s April Suzuka round.
Additionally, Nirei Fukuzumi lost out on a likely victory in the same race due to a deflated tyre, while Nobuharu Matsushita suffered a similar accident to Kunimoto’s at Suzuka in 2020.
“Since the start of last year, we have been working to improve the durability of the tyre,” senior Yokohama tyre development engineer Noritaka Koguchi told Motorsport.com’s Japanese edition.
“Finally, we told everyone at the time of the rookie [post-season] test that the specification would change, and after giving the teams the chance to try…
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