Continental Tyres has recently launched the Conti SportAttack 5 sports bike tyre, targeting it towards the fast road rider who throws and occasional track day into the riding mix. paultan.org was invited to Cartagena, Spain, to put the Sport Attack 5 through the paces, both on the road and the Cartagena circuit. The SportAttack 5 is an all-new tyre from Continental, with a new rubber formulation and lay-up. In a move against the norm, the SportAttack 5 does not use multiple compounds in its construction, instead applying a special mix of curing processes and chemical wizardry to provide the rider with a tyre that performs on the road and racetrack. This results in a tyre that is formed from a single compound and features an even warm-up rate throughout the carcass, giving constant grip and performance from the get-go. Continental is confident enough in the capability of the Sport Attack 5 to tell the assembled media during the technical that no tyre warmers would be used during the track session and that tyre pressures would remain the same, on road or on track. All this was laid out during the brief, including an in-depth dive into Conti’s MultiZoneBelt internal construction. A development from the outgoing Continental SportAttack 4 sports tyre, the Sport Attack 5 features a denser steel belt zone in the middle of the tyre, where road loads are the highest, and a less dense belt in the edge offering flexibility for a bigger footprint when the motorcycle is leaned over. This single compound construction gives an even warm rate and more importantly, an even cool down, something road riders, especially those spending time at coffee stops and Lemang Tok Ki, will consider important. During our ride around the mountains in Murcia, we noted the warm up was especially quick during the start, with temperatures hovering around 16 degrees Centigrade on the day. Riding out, the feedback from the front SportAttack 5 was good, giving the rider a very good sense of what the tyre was doing. Mounted on a S1000XR, the bike felt sure-footed, with the front holding the line well, especially during the tight corners of the photo and video shoot stretch. The rear wheel, however, was a slightly different kettle of fish. Pace on the road was extremely quick, and hanging around the rear of the group as we did, meant we sometimes had to be doing speeds that would have attracted attention of police. That we didn’t is neither here nor there, but we then approached that little idiosyncrasy of Murcian roads, the mini roundabout. To those of us used to the mega structures that are Malaysian roundabouts, the ones in Spain are tiny, tight, narrow and meant as a traffic calming measure. This meant hard braking (at our approach speeds), and a very sharp turn-in to navigate the bends. And there were a couple of instances where the rear slipped, not enough to trigger the traction control but enough to wake up a jet lagged rider. No drama from the front, as the tyre held the line, and turn-in was quick but giving the rider full confidence. The SportAttack 5 handled hard acceleration well on the road as well, showing no signs of instability or tendency to step sideways. At the track, as promised, tyre pressures were not adjusted. Needless to say, the first time out we exercised a lot of caution BMWs being expensive to fix if you exceed the limit. A couple of laps showed the grip was there and available at high speeds and low lean angles. Feedback from the front tyre continued to be more than adequate and while the feeling in the back end was a little muted, we trusted in the bike’s software and let it rip. As on the road, straight line stability was impressive, the rear tyre not squirming or giving way under very hard acceleration, with the quick shifter being given a work out. When we came off the track at the end of the third sessio with the sun dropping low, ex-Grand Prix racer Jeremy McWilliams, who was kind enough to give us a private session showing the lines and braking markers at Cartagena, said, “this is an all-rounder tyre and you need to treat it as such. I noticed you were braking late and expecting a quick turn-in.” With those words in mind, the second session was a little better and much faster. The SportAttack 5 feels best with a semi-classic riding style, with a. clearly defined entry-apex-exit. Make no mistake, the tyre will turn quickly, but you will need to use the suspension settings to compensate. Otherwise, use a light touch on the bars, roll-in for the apex and rocket out the other side. So, who needs the new Continental SportAttack 5 in sportsbike sizes? If you’re a sports bike rider who likes attacking corners and canyon strafing, but also needs a tyre that is sensible for day-to-day riding with forgiving handling characteristics, and the very occasional foray on the track, the SportAttack 5 is very worthy of consideration.