I think there is a huge difference between Gary and Timmer doing the times they were doing and ............ most trackriders
Shawnery, I hear your point and understand, and while acknowledging the differences in rider experience/skill, in the case of the performance I personally experienced from actually being out there riding on the Q2's on track, I am 100% confident that there's no shortcoming in these tires that would surface specifically due to them being used by less experienced riders (B-Group, C-Group, etc).
To the contrary, the extremely good grip right out of the pits, in totally unwarmed (no tire warmers in use) condition; actually makes these tires (in my opinioin, from actual experience on them) potentially BETTER for less experienced riders to not get bit by the "cold tire crash gremlin". This excellent level of baseline grip, while not really heated up to track temps, being an attribute that's often superior in tires that are engineered with "street" use in mind (like the Q2's).
I'm sure most people could ride the track just fine with the tires your talking about but confidence is paramount when on your bike and the first thing I depend on beyond my machine are my tires.
Agree totally on the "confidence" aspect. Whenever anyone (including myself) tries anything new or different (like tires), there's always going to be that transitional phase where some gradual devoloping slope of trust will need to occur. Monday was just such a day for me at T-Hill, on the Q2's. I started my 360 miles of riding only trusting the tires to about a 70% level, knowing of their "street" stigma. Easing into raising the pace, and cornering loads on the tires, in gradually incrementing baby steps over the course of each session out on track, was my approach.
With each click up the ladder in dropping lap times, the waters were tested and the results kept coming back as "no issue". By the afternoon the earlier lack of confidence in the tires had completely disappeared, and running laps at a front A-Group pace (likely low 2.0x's) were done without any worries or doubts in what the tires would .... or could do.
I've come to really like those Pirelli trackday slick pro's on the rear compared to the other tires I've tried
That's totally cool that you have found a brand/model of tires for your trackday use that you have that all-important "confidence" in, and performs up to your requirements. If they work great for you, and the cost fits your budget, by all means stick with them if you wish.
However I can't help but point out that if a person has never put in actual full day's riding at speed on track to personally test the waters of the performance of a different tire (the Q2's in this case), any opinion they have can at best be valued as speculation. Basing an opinion on what a tire can, or can't do, based on a blanket classification of the tire (i.e. "street", etc.), without having put in the hard time out on track to actually acquire first-hand, real world experience, just doesn't carry much weight (in my opinion).
If one can get 2 sets of these Q2's (as I just purchased this week) for $399 delivered, and each set can provide 4-5 normal (130-150'ish mile) trackdays worth of use at an A-Group pace, that's up to 10 trackday's worth of use for under $400. In reality the above mentioned wear benchmark is only in reference to the more quickly abused "rear" tire.
Looking at the extremely light level of wear on the front after over 300 miles of hard A-Group pace use at T-Hill, I suspect that one front could nearly live as long as 2 rears ..... making for a 10 trackday window on the fronts, for the under $100/tire cost of a front Q2!
If one looks at those potential Q2 numbers in a direct comparison to a set of $350 (or more) race-compound tires, even if they're claimed to provide an astronomical 5-6 equivalent trackdays at a fast A-Group pace, the more expensive tires still come up way short on the $$-to-laps-of-use equation.
Anyone who's using more expensive race-compound tires for their C-Group, B-Group, or even A-Group trackday use; is happy with their performance, OK with their cost, and is not interested in the thought of trying something different that would greatly drop the cost of their trackday junkie habit, is totally welcomed to stick with what they've got.
The idea of bringing this whole real world experience from running the Q2's at the track this week out into the open on the forum, was just to give those that do (or potentially would) have an interest in a large cost savings change to their trackday riding, know that such an option does exist out there, and that it can come without compromising their actual on-track performance requirements.
Drink the Kool-Aid, or be willing to look beyond. The choice is for each rider to make.
