Pirelli has served as sole tyre supplier to the British GT Championship since 2016 and has announced its return for a fifth season in 2020 – with a pair of new-spec tyres. Competitors in the GT3 category will race on the Pirelli P Zero DHE tyre this season, a product that replaces the prior-generation DHD2. Cars in the slightly less powerful GT4 category will wear another new tyre, the Pirelli P Zero DHB, successor to the DH.
It was a glaring omission from an illustrious who’s who of the tyre world – the Pirelli P Zero was nowhere to be seen amongst the list of finalists for the Auto Bild summer 2020 tyre test. Its combined result in the preliminary round’s wet and dry braking tests only sufficed for 25th place from 50 tyres, a result that Auto Bild called “disappointing”. Pirelli isn’t leaving this stain on the P Zero’s reputation unanswered.
Pirelli has announced that its new P Zero Experience supercar track day, run in association with Salon Privé, will take place between 2 and 3 June 2020 in the UK. The event features driving, premium hospitality and of course and exquisite cars. Initially launched in France 10 years ago, the events now take place at Italy’s famous Mugello circuit, the Yas Marina track in Abu Dhabi and the famous Hockenheimring in Germany. This year the home of British motorsport, Silverstone, joins the line-up.
In mid-October Pirelli introduced its Pirelli Tyre Hotel concept to Dubai. The temperature-controlled facility at Pirelli’s P Zero World in Dubai is fitted with custom-designed racks designed to enhance health and longevity of tyres. The concept was first introduced by Pirelli at its Tyre Performance Centre in Burton-on-Trent, England.
Pirelli has presented the tyre that will equip the new Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo from the 2020 season onwards in all four Ferrari Challenge championships. The tyre is the Pirelli P Zero DHA, the product of some seven months of close collaboration between Pirelli and Ferrari engineers. The P Zero DHA is available in size 275/675-19 at the front and 315/705-19 at the rear.
Track Adrenaline is a new product from Pirelli’s Cyber Technologies department, which was launched at the Geneva Motor Show roughly a month ago. Pirelli says this system is aimed at “absolute petrolheads only”, which is why – for the time being at least – it is only available on P Zero Trofeo R tyres.
The new-generation BMW M5 will come to market in the spring, and in exchange for upwards of £90,000 proud new owners will receive a 592 bhp (441 kW) twin-turbo V-8 saloon with BMW’s xDrive four-wheel drive system and an eight-speed semi-automatic transmission. And custom-made P Zero tyres.
Pirelli prides itself on its leadership of the prestige sector and also continues to increase its presence in the premium category. Central to this is the ongoing success of the P Zero, the latest version of which was introduced last year, 30 years after its debut. The objective was to meet the growing demand for performance, reliability and safety, and to reinforce Pirelli’s Perfect Fit strategy, which means a made to measure tyre for each model of car.
Pirelli will supply a record number of tyres this weekend in Daytona, for the first Ferrari World Finals held in USA. The event, which brings together the European, North American and Asia Pacific editions of the Ferrari Challenge to elect a champion of champions, has previously taken place in Italy and Abu Dhabi. Pirelli adds that it has provided 15,000 tyres across this year’s 18 Ferrari Challenge events on nearly 700 cars on three continents. The World Finals comprises a series of races in equal Ferrari 458 Challenge Evos, and will mark the biggest presence Pirelli has ever had in the competition, with 5,382 tyres being supplied. As well as the Ferrari Challenge cars, there will be an appearance from Ferrari’s Formula One stars and a display of both historic and modern F1 cars.
Lewis Hamilton won the last grand prix run on the current Pirelli Formula One tyre range in Abu Dhabi, but was pipped to the drivers’ championship by Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg, who finished second, using identical two-stop strategies. The tyre supplier called the Yas Marina-hosted grand prix “the last race in the era of deliberately high tyre degradation”, with its latest, larger range of P Zero slicks and Cinturato wets unveiled in the emirate before the weekend’s racing began. The final development test for the 2017 will begin on Tuesday, 29 November, with Mercedes, Red Bull, and Ferrari appearing on track together in modified 2015 mule cars.
As far as the best-known Italian tyremaker is concerned, 2016 will be remembered as a very significant year for Pirelli with the company launching its all-new P Zero, continuing its involvement in Formula 1, sponsoring the Prestige and Performance Competition at Salon Privé once more, as well as completing the Cinturato family with the all-new Cinturato Winter.
The new P Zero was launched back in April at Estoril circuit in Portugal, and this was followed by a UK launch in May at Silverstone reinforcing the track to road concept of Pirelli tyres, which is at the heart of the company’s philosophy.
Following its global launch in Portugal this April, Pirelli has now introduced its newest P Zero to North American dealers ahead of SEMA 2016. The new P Zero is available in three variants tailor-made for specific cars, applications and performance levels: The P Zero for luxury saloons, P Zero for sports cars and the P Zero Corsa, a slick-like motorsport tyre with an “aggressive” tread design.
