Technology, sustainability and support for young talent – Pirelli states that these are the three cornerstones of its 2022 motorsport campaign. During a live-streamed press conference hosted by Mario Isola, the tyre maker’s head of motorsport, supported by rally activity manager Terenzio Testoni and GT circuit activity manager Matteo Braga, Pirelli set out its plans and priorities for the year.
Pirelli will introduce a new tyre for GT racing next year, the P Zero DHF, and for the first time the one tyre will equip all the main classes in this competition. The DHF will take over from the DHE that debuted in GT3 at the start of last year as well as the DHB used in GT4 and will additionally be used for the GT2 class.
Pirelli supplied its new range of GT tyres to the 2020 Spa 24 Hours, the manufacturer’s “biggest event of the year.” In total Pirelli took 13,000 tyres to the Belgian circuit in a fleet of 34 trucks, with more than 65 tyre fitters working round the clock, underlining the tyre manufacturer’s long-standing commitment to GT racing. The rescheduled event produced a thrilling competition, with multiple changes of weather and lead. The winner was only decided in the closing minutes.
The Orange1 FFF Racing #563 Lamborghini won the final Blancpain Endurance Cup race of the season in Barcelona, helping the team to seal the overall and Endurance Cup titles with 185 points. The crew of Andrea Caldarelli, Marco Mapelli and Albert Costa, who replaced the unwell Dennis Lind, started third on the grid following qualifying, but eventually moved up to first spot to take the chequered flag.
Pirelli is bringing its rubber to Paul Ricard as it plays host to the third round of the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup and the fourth round of the overall championship this weekend. The GT4 European Series and Blancpain GT Sports Club will feature too, both of which also run on Pirelli tyres. The endurance grid will feature 49 cars piloted by 147 drivers during the six-hour race, whichever comes first. There will be 10 manufacturers on the grid: Aston Martin, Audi, Bentley, BMW, Ferrari, Honda, Lamborghini, Lexus, Mercedes and Porsche. All will run on Pirelli’s P Zero DHD2 slick tyres for the dry and the Cinturato WH for the wet.
Silverstone will host the 3 Hours of Silverstone this weekend, round two of the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup, exclusively supplied by Pirelli. This follows the opening round of the Blancpain GT World Challenge Europe, which took place 160km down the road at Brands Hatch last weekend. The Lamborghini Super Trofeo will feature too, and the entire grid will also run on Pirelli rubber.
The opening round of the Blancpain GT World Challenge Europe takes place this weekend at Brands Hatch in the UK, with Pirelli supplying the tyres. It will be the sixth outing of the sprint-format series at the circuit, which will host the event on its 3.9km grand prix layout, including the famous Paddock Hill bend, one of the track’s few overtaking spots.
Following a closely-fought one-hour race at the Nürburgring in Germany, Audi claimed both the Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup drivers’ and team titles, as well as the race win. The overall Sprint Cup drivers’ title went to Stuart Leonard and Robin Frijns, who also won the race overall in the #17 Audi R8 LMS. However, it was another Audi of Belgian Audi Club Team WRT that clinched the overall Sprint Cup team title, with Marcel Fassler and Dries Vanthoor finishing the race 10th to secure the teams’ championship: adding up to a highly-successful weekend for the Ingolstadt-based manufacturer.
The latest round of the Pirelli-supplied Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup was won by the WRT Audi crew of Marcel Fassler and Dries Vanthoor, who stamped their authority on the 60-minute main race, having started from pole following success in Saturday’s qualifying race. The main race was extremely closely-fought, with the top six cars covered […]
Pirelli will bring around 3,000 P Zero tyres to Silverstoe for the second round of the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup and the Lamborghini Super Trofeo. The P Zero DHD will be fitted to the entire Blancpain GT grid, provisionally of 55 cars, while the DH slick will be supplied to the Lamborghini Super Trofeo. With rain a possibility, Pirelli will also bring its WH tyre for all categories.
GRT Grasser Racing Team has won the opening round of the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup at Monza in its #63 Lamborghini Huracan GT3, using the Pirelli P Zero DHD tyre. The drivers making up the team were Christian Engelhart, Andrea Caldarelli and Mirko Bortolotti. In race two of the Lamborghini Super Trofeo, also run on 23 April, Antonelli Motorsport drivers Loris Spinelli and Mikael Grenier emerged victorious.
Pirelli is sole tyre supplier for the 2017 Blancpain GT Series, which commences at Misano, Italy this weekend. The manufacturer has developed its tyre range for the series, including a new P Zero DHD for GT3, the P Zero DH for GT4, and the WH for wet conditions; the latter tyre could see early use as rain is forecast for Sunday in Misano. Pirelli will bring 2,000 P Zero DHDs and 629 P Zero DHs to Misano for a provisional grid of 34 GT3 cars, plus 24 extra cars in GT4 and the GT sports club. The series includes many of the premium and prestige marques for which Pirelli also provides original equipment on the road. In total, eight different models will be represented from seven different automotive brands.
Pirelli will return to the FFSA French GT Championship next year as part of the new-look GT4 European Series promoted by SRO Motorsports Group. As exclusive tyre supplier to the championship, Pirelli will supply two commercially available, 18-inch P Zero fitments: The DH slick tyre for dry conditions and the WH patterned tyre for rain.
Pirelli has claimed its best overall result on a rally since returning to the World Rally Championship last year. Martin Prokop – equalling his own best-ever career result – claimed fourth place, while in the WRC2 category Qatari driver Abdulaziz Al Kawari claimed victory. Simone Tempestini claimed the Production category too, ensuring a win for Pirelli in all the main support categories and the top results for privateer drivers: the focus of Pirelli’s World Rally Championship campaign this year.
Round two of the 2015 Rally World Championship provided testing conditions for the four tyre suppliers – Michelin, Dmack, Pirelli and Hankook – allowing tyre characteristics to take centre stage. Ice, fresh and melting snow, mud and frozen dirt, meant that studs were employed for winter traction – 384 in each Michelin X-Ice North 3, for example. However, this meant that carrying extra tyres made for faster running, Jacques Morelli, manager of Michelin’s World Rally Championship programme, explained.
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