End of 16.5" Wheels for Superbikes

Pirelli has announced that tyres for the 2013 WSB and BSB series will be 17" and they will not be supplying 16.5" tyres. It would appear that this will reduce costs and increase revenue, since they'll be able to market their Superbike-spec tyres to serious trackday riders. It will be interesting to see if this has any noticeable effect on lap times since, in theory, the 16.5" tyres provide a larger contact patch at full lean. Probably not but we could very well see a few more mid-corner crashes this season.