Pirelli’s “Big Weekend” of Motorsport
On January 27 Pirelli faced up to what it has called one of the most challenging weekends in its motorsport history, simultaneously competing in two of racing’s biggest events. As well as the Monte Carlo Rally, won by the Citroen C4 of Loeb and Elena, there was the Daytona 24 Hours – which witnessed the success of Montoya-Franchitti-Pruett-Rojas in the PZero Racing -equipped Lexus-Riley fielded by the Ganassi-Sabates team.
The former McLaren-Mercedes and Williams-BMW F1 driver underlined the extreme toughness of this opening round of the Grand-Am series, to which Pirelli is acting as sole tyre supplier between 2008 and 2010 – as is also the case for the WRC. During the Daytona race the lead changed an incredible 60 times, with 15 different cars and 25 different drivers taking it in turns to head the action in front of a chasing pack that numbered 66 competitors at the start.