Pirelli rolls out larger Diablo Superbike Slick tyres for BSB Championship restart
Pirelli has rolled out a range of larger Diablo Superbike Slick tyres for the Bennetts British Superbike (BSB) Championship. The series will run over six rounds starting at Donington Park on 7-9 August. Each round features three Superbike races. Pirelli has continuously acted as sole tyre supplier to the series since 2008. It supplies approximately 4,000 tyres to each event, as well as offering service and support. The new tyres were developed during the 2019 World Superbike Championship. They now comprise part of Pirelli’s production tyre range, available to racers of all levels.
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Max Kruse scores first on track success on Falken Azenis at Nürburgring
Max Kruse Racing’s Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR scored a class win in the NLS endurance series at the Nürburgring this weekend. The team was competing on Falken Azenis race tyres for the first time. The SP3T pole position and class winner was one of six cars including a Porsche 911 GT3 Cup MR (997), VW Sciroccos, Golfs and Cupra switching to the tyre manufacturer as Falken expands its motorsport customer programme.
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Pirelli to review minimum F1 tyre pressures after Silverstone failures
Formula 1’s exclusive tyre supplier Pirelli has concluded its initial analysis on a number of tyres run at the British Grand Prix. The tyre supplier said it has identified the cause of the tyre failures on both Mercedes and the McLaren of Carlos Sainz in Sundays race. A combination of the long stints the P Zero White (C1) was forced to complete and the “biggest forces” on F1 tyres ever meant the tyres were “placed under maximum stress” for a long period. The resultant wear on the tyres meant that the tyres were less protected from the extreme forces by the end of the race. While Pirelli plans to continue with its plan to supply softer compounds at the second Silverstone meeting, it said it would review the usage prescription for its F1 tyres, increasing the minimum tyre pressures to reduce structural stress.
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Absolute Alignment partners Halfords Yuasa Racing in BTCC
Absolute Alignment has announced a new two-year partnership with the Team Dynamics-run Halfords Yuasa Racing outfit in the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC).
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Pirelli ‘investigating’ failed tyres after dramatic Silverstone British Grand Prix
Lewis Hamilton’s seventh win at Silverstone’s British Grand Prix came in dramatic circumstances after a last-lap tyre failure. The Mercedes driver was able to limp home with Max Verstappen’s Red Bull bearing down on him in a denouement filled with more tension than the rest of the race combined. Hamilton’s team-mate Valtteri Bottas had suffered a tyre failure with two laps to go, preventing a predictable and regulation 1-2 finish for the team, and leaving the Finn without a point despite his team’s domination of the weekend. Tyre supplier Pirelli is conducting a full examination on what led to the tyres’ failure – McLaren’s Carlos Sainz also experienced final lap tyre issues. Initial assessments point to the lengthy stints completed on the P Zero White (C1 compound) tyre, and debris on the track after two early crashes. Tyre strategy was largely dictated by the second crash on lap 12, as many drivers opted to change early to the harder tyre during the safety car period begun.
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Michelin extends Track Connect to amateur racers with Leisure mode
Michelin has developed its Michelin Track Connect motorsport monitoring system with a new Leisure mode. The new mode is the third available in the tyre monitoring system, and the first designed to extend its accessibility to all users, regardless of the type of tyre fitted. The new mode joins Expert mode for track day participants looking for to improve their performance, and Motorsport mode for rally drivers – and soon track competitors too. Both of these modes require the Michelin Track Connect Kit – comprising sensors and a Bluetooth receiver as well as the smartphone app – and connected Michelin tyres, unlike the Leisure mode. The system has recently become original equipment on the new Renault Clio Rally.
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Giti ready to race in VW Fun Cup 2020
With the VW Fun Cup 2020 season ready to commence its reduced calendar of five rounds, Giti Tire has confirmed that it is maintaining its position as Official Tyre Partner. The tyre manufacturer will also participate, racing its fully livered GT Radial car. Ellis Hadley, senior test engineer at Giti Tire, will line-up on the grid alongside seasoned racing enthusiasts from the GT Radial Performance Centre (GTPC) network. The VW Fun Cup will start with a One Hour Sprint Race and a Four Hour Endurance Race on 8 August at Snetterton, before hitting Thruxton, Silverstone and the season finale at Oulton Park on 17 October. All cars in the competition run on GitiCompete GTR2 tyres.
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Why is Pirelli supplying different tyres for Silverstone F1 double-header?
Pirelli will supply Formula 1 with two different tyre specifications in the Formula 1 Silverstone double-header. The British Grand Prix this weekend, which is the second event of the year to be sponsored by Pirelli, will have the C1 compound as P Zero White hard, C2 as P Zero Yellow medium, and C3 as P Zero Red soft. The 70th Anniversary Grand Prix one week later will be one-step softer: so C2 as the hard, C3 as the medium and C4 as the soft. This creates Formula 1 history: the first time ever that there has been two different tyre nominations for a double-header at the same venue.
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British GT returns on two new Pirelli P Zero tyres
The 2020 British GT Championship will kick off at Oulton Park, Cheshire this weekend. 21 cars across two classes will run on new Pirelli P Zero tyres, the DHE and DHB in the GT3 and GT4 classes respectively. Jonathan Wells, Pirelli UK motorsport manager, said the manufacturer is “looking forward to finally seeing the new DHE tyre in action, after a long delay to the season start.”
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Hosting F1 grand prix ‘an incredible achievement’ for Portimão circuit – Davanti
Formula 1’s Portuguese grand prix will take place at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve in Portimão for the first time on 23-25 October. The rescheduled 2020 F1 season has put the circuit in elite company, with Silverstone (31 July-2 August and 7-9 August), Spa (28-30 August), Monza (4-6 September), the Nürburgring (9-11 October) and Imola (31 October-1 November) all hosting competitive racing in challenging times. UK brand Davanti Tyres is the official tyre partner at the track, a position it has held since 2017. “This is an incredible achievement for the team at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve,” said Davanti general manager Peter Cross.
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Conti: Extreme E the biggest challenge tyres have faced in motorsport
Continental is a founding partner and, from 2021, the premium sponsor of the Extreme E series. In this role, Conti will fit all race vehicles with tyres for the very challenging action. Indeed, according to the tyre and automotive supplier, Extreme E is the biggest challenge tyres have faced in motorsport. With this in mind, Nico Meier, product designer at Continental, talks about the challenges Extreme E tyres are exposed to in this unprecedented series, the importance of the tyre sidewall in general, and the sidewall design of the Extreme E tyre in particular.
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Colin Turkington track tests Goodyear Eagle F1 SuperSport
Ahead of next week’s Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) opener at Donington, four-time champion Colin Turkington put the latest Goodyear Eagle F1 SuperSport tyres through their paces.
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Four European podiums for new Giti Tire racing truck
Giti Tire’s 2020 racing truck had a very successful debut at the Dekra EuroSpeedway Lausitzring in Germany. The new unit recorded two first and two second place finishes. The 11-12 July event was held behind closed doors with ten teams from the Dutch, British and FIA European Championship. The fully race-prepared and liveried MAN TGX 18.480 secured its four podium positions in two qualification and two reverse grid races.
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Pirelli World Rally Championship tyre testing begins in Sardinia
Pirelli has begun its 2021 World Rally Championship campaign with two days of private tyre testing in Sardinia. The first day is devoted to gravel and the second day on asphalt. At the wheel of Pirelli’s uniquely-liveried Citroen C3 WRC test car will be Norway’s Andreas Mikkelsen, co-driven by his compatriot Anders Jaeger. The former Volkswagen, Citroen and Hyundai factory driver will be spearheading the development of the latest-generation Pirelli Scorpion tyres for gravel and P Zero tyres for asphalt, which will be supplied exclusively to the World Rally Championship from 2021 to 2024. The new tyres will eventually join the studded Sottozero Ice already displayed at the 2020 GP Ice Race in January in the manufacturer’s WRC tyre line-up.
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Michelin to pursue sustainable motorsport despite Formula E exit
Michelin motorsport director Matthieu Bonardel has given his reaction to the announcement of a changing of the guard in the world’s premier battery-powered single-seater racing series. Despite Hankook’s move to replace Michelin as Formula E tyre supplier after the 2021/2022 season, the French manufacturer continues to believe that “sporting competition and sustainable mobility are inextricably linked.” Michelin was the tyre inaugural supplier to Formula E, which began in 2014/15, and has actively shaped the series as exclusive tyre partner ever since.
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