Pirelli: Motorsport

Pirelli confirmed as exclusive Formula One tyre supplier from 2011

Thu, 24 Jun 2010 12:00:00 +0200

Pirelli confirmed as exclusive Formula One tyre supplier from 2011 The Italian tyre firm will supply all the Formula One teams from 2011-2013 with six types of tyre: four for dry weather, one for rain and one intermediate tyre.

Pirelli – which has supplied tyres exclusively for the GP3 championship this year – will also supply the GP2 championship from 2011, becoming the sole provider of tyres for the most prestigious single-seater championships in global motorsport.

The Milan-based firm is already present in the World Rally Championship, the World Superbike Championship, the Rolex Sports Car Series in North America, the Motocross World Championship and several other national championships for both cars and bikes.

Pirelli will supply tyres to the Formula One World Championship for a three-year period between 2011 and 2013.

The FIA (Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile), the Teams, represented by FOTA (the Formula One Teams Association), and Formula One's organising body, represented by FOM (Formula One Management) have chosen Pirelli as their exclusive supplier, based on the specific proposals from the Italian company to guarantee technical and operational stability to the competitors.

Following current Formula One regulations laid down by world motorsport's governing body, the FIA, the new contract ensures that Pirelli will provide teams with six different types of tyre for the season: four slicks, with different compounds for various types of dry surfaces, one rain tyre for heavy rain, and one intermediate tyre for damp conditions or light rain.

The current economic climate has led to a realistic and collaborative approach with all the teams, ensuring that manufacturing and logistical costs are shared fairly.

Pirelli's return to Formula One also has a firm eye on the future, as in full collaboration with all the teams, research into innovative new tyre developments is a vital part of this exciting programme.

Pirelli is also proud to announce that it will supply the GP2 World Series – the acknowledged stepping-stone to Formula One – for the three-year period between 2011-2013.

Pirelli's latest participation at the highest levels of single-seater racing make a welcome addition to the celebrated Italian firm's other motorsport activities including, from this year, a tyre supply agreement for the inaugural GP3 series. Pirelli will consequently become the single supplier to all the most prestigious racing championships in the world from 2011.

Pirelli is planning to make important investments in corporate communications, in order to make the most of the high profile and cutting-edge technology that go hand in hand with supplying Formula One, using resources and budget that has already been set aside for this purpose.

This communications campaign will principally help to support Pirelli's increasing profile in emerging markets: Latin America, the Middle East and Asia Pacific, which are all areas frequently visted by Formula One.

Consequently Formula One will become a vital calling card for the Pirelli brand, helping its commercial and industrial expansion without disrupting the company's long-term financial strategy.

The global visibility guaranteed through extensive media interest in Formula One, together with dynamic plans to leverage Pirelli's involvement in an activity central to the company's core business, represents a unique opportunity for the brand to maximise its return on investment.

This new Formula One agreement crowns Pirelli's historic involvement in world motorsport, which dates back to 1907 when the Italian fim won the epic Paris-Peking road race. Pirelli currently exclusively supplies some of the most important World Championships for both cars and bikes, such as the GP3 series, the World Rally Championship, the Rolex Sports Car Series in North America, the World Superbike Championship, and the Motocross World Championship. On top of this, Pirelli also supplies more than 70 other national and international championships. The last Grand Prix victory claimed by Pirelli was the 1991 Canadian Grand Prix, with Nelson Piquet driving for Benetton.

Pirelli will be available to provide further details on the tyre supply agreement tomorrow, 24 June 2010, at 2.30 p.m. CEST during a conference call, in which the Chairman of Pirelli & C., Marco Tronchetti Provera, and the CEO of Pirelli Tyre, Francesco Gori, will intervene. Journalists will be able to participate by telephone, with the possibility to ask questions, by calling the number: +39 06 3348 5042 or +39 06 3348 6868 or +39 06 33168 and then dialing *0 . (Emergency line for problems to connect: +39 06 334844 or +39 06 33444 551).

The presentation will also be available via webcast – in real time – on the website www.pirelli.com in the Media – Press Area section.

More information, as well as photographs and videos, are available at: www.pirelli.com/web/media/press_area/default.page

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Porsche Parade 2005

Fri, 28 Oct 2005 00:00:00 +0200

Porsche Parade 2005 Cape Town, 28 October 2005 - The Mother City played host to the 21st annual Porsche Parade from October 19 - 24, with a record 110 Porsches participating from around South Africa.

Drivers, young and old, male and female competed in 11 classes for honours in time trial and autocross events at Killarney race track; top end run and quarter mile sprints at Overberg Air force Base and shine and show at the V& A Waterfront.

The parade was jointly sponsored by Porsche; Porsche Centre South Africa; Wesbank; Mobil 1; Big Foot Express and Pirelli and was organized by the Porsche Club South Africa, Cape Region.

This year's event saw four decades of Porsche cars attending (i.e. early 70's models to the very latest), including a Porsche Super Cup car owned by Toby Venter (MD Porsche Centre South Africa), who set the fastest time of 1.18.47 at the Killarney time trial event. Another of the parade's top attractions was a rare 1973 Porsche 911 Carrera RS, owned by John Atkins, which is understood to be one of few remaining original models in the country.

At the gala awards dinner on the last evening, 118 trophies were awarded to the top three drivers in each class, in each of the five events. The award for Driver of the 2005 Parade was presented to Mike Smyly, who in a 1984 Porsche 944, achieved two firsts and two second place finishes out of the four motoring events.

All of the motor sport events were conducted according to MSA regulations and professional time-keepers were used to ensure accuracy. The combination of good organization, enthusiastic competitors and fabulous weather, resulted in one of the most successful Porsche Parade's ever staged.

In South Africa, Porsche Club has been in existence for 47 years and next year's event, the 2006 Porsche Parade, will be hosted by Porsche Club South Africa, Central Region.

Martinengo & Rudeboy Paul To Race In Monte Carlo

Wed, 26 Oct 2005 00:00:00 +0200

Martinengo & Rudeboy Paul To Race In Monte Carlo Cape Town, 26 October 2005 - Which South African DJ has the most speed? 5FM's Sasha Martinengo and Rudeboy Paul from YFM are going fast & furious in the streets of Monte Carlo this weekend. Join them at Tiger Wheel & Tyre Sandton on Saturday (29 October) from 10am until 12:00, as they go head to head for the annual year-end Pirelli Race-Offs.

Pirelli sponsors three of the most successful teams of the World Rally Championships; so, it made perfect sense for them to be partners in the virtual realm of PlayStation's World Rally Championship Evolved-game.

Sasha and Paul will race against one another on a specialised Italrace station, using the WRC Evolved-game as platform. The Pirelli celebrity race-off track is stage 1 of the Monte Carlo rally, using the Lancer Evolution as the vehicle of speed on the racetrack.

Bring your friends and family along to also compete on Italrace stations from 9am until 5pm across the top 5 Pirelli Performance Centres in Johannesburg (details on www.pirellippc.co.za )

Exciting prizes such as a set of Pirelli High Performance tyres and Sony PlayStation World Rally Championship 5 games are up for grabs. Also, by simply sms'ing the word "Pirelli" to 35456, anybody stand the chance to win additional PlayStation prizes

"Pirelli has confirmed its position worldwide as one of the top players in the motorsport arena; it seemed to me completely natural to combine my last quarter national promotion with a theme revolving around the Rally championship. The response has been nothing short of amazing" says Daniele Carta, marketing manager for Pirelli SA.

The annual race-offs form part of Pirelli's year-end marketing campaign, which also includes the launch of the highly anticipated Pirelli Calendar for 2006. The year's calendar has been shot by revered international fashion photographers Mert & Marcus, following on Patrick Demarchelier's black-and-white masterpiece from last year, and will feature names such as Jennifer Lopez, Kate Moss and Giselle Bnchen.

New Managing Director For Pirelli Tyre South Africa

Mon, 03 Oct 2005 00:00:00 +0200

New Managing Director For Pirelli Tyre South Africa After an eight year tenure at Pirelli Tyre SA, of which three years were served as Managing Director, New Zealand born Ashley Cooper is to step down from his position at Pirelli to run his own company as a tyre dealer.

On the 1st October 2005, Cooper will be replaced by Italian born Gianluca Lionetto, the 33 year old Sales, Marketing and Logistics Manager at Pirelli SA. Lionetto, who holds an MBA from the City University Business School in London, joined Pirelli at its Head Quarters in Milan in 1999. In March 2003, he was transferred to South Africa as the Marketing Manager. He soon assumed more and more responsibility within the organisation, building a young and dynamic team around him.

In the past twelve months, Pirelli Tyre SA has enjoyed strong growth, something its new MD is most pleased about. "We have worked very hard at Pirelli South Africa to create strong growth and maximise value for our customers. Pirelli is a company which focuses on providing the most innovative offerings to the market and we want to now focus on consolidating our position within the South African market." Say Lionetto.

"Pirelli SA has just been through a heavy restructuring process and there is a very strong focus to continue to maintain strong technological innovation in our offerings. This makes it easier for us to provide the very best products to our customers in South Africa, which is a highly competitive market, where customers demand only the best." He concluded.

Pirelli "Climbs Aboard" The World's Fastest Car

Wed, 14 Sep 2005 00:00:00 +0200

Pirelli "Climbs Aboard" The World's Fastest Car PIRELLI "CLIMBS ABOARD" THE WORLD'S FASTEST CAR THE BRABUS E V12 BITURBO, IN FRANKFURT

PIRELLI TO EQUIP THE EUROPEAN CAR INDUSTRY'S MOST LUXURIOUS MODELS AT THE FRANKFURT INTERNATIONAL MOTOR SHOW. AMONG THE WORLD DEBUTANTS EQUIPPED BY PIRELLI ARE THE BENTLEY AZURE, THE CADILLAC BLS AND THE NEW MODELS FROM LAMBORGHINI, MASERATI, PEUGEOT, AUDI, VOLVO, ALFA ROMEO, FIAT AND AMG
SIGNIFICANT PIRELLI PRESENCE AMONG THE MODELS EXHIBITED BY THE LEADING GERMAN TUNING FIRMS SUCH AS NOVITEC, BRABUS AND ARDEN. THE PIRELLI-SHOD MODELS INCLUDE THE WORLD PREMIERE FERRARI TUNED BY NOVITEC AND THE BRABUS E V12 BITURBO, HOLDER OF THE WORLD SPEED RECORD
THE TYRE SECTOR CONTINUES TO IMPROVE: IN THE FIRST SIX MONTHS OF 2005 OPERATING INCOME UP BY 21% AND PROFITABILITY AT 10.4%.

Pirelli is equipping the Brabus E V12 Biturbo, the world speed record-holding tuned Mercedes, at the 61st Frankfurt International Motor Show, along with the major new models from Bentley, Cadillac, Lamborghini, Maserati, Peugeot, Audi, Volvo, Alfa Romeo and AMG. The Milan-based firm is also equipping the most sophisticated tuned versions of models from Ferrari, Mercedes, Range Rover and Jaguar prepared by the German specialists Novitec, Brabus and Arden.

In particular, among the Pirelli fitted cars making their worldwide debuts are the new Bentley Azure, the world's most expensive convertible, fitted with Ultra High Performance tyres P Zero Rosso in 19'', the Cadillac BLS with P7 and P Zero Rosso tyres, the new Lamborghini Gallardo SE and Spider, the Maserati Quattroporte Executive GT and Sport GT, the Peugeot 407 Coup, the Volvo C70 Convertible and the Alfa Romeo 8C Spider and Brera with ultra-high performance tyres from the P Zero range.

Elsewhere at the Frankfurt Motor Show, Pirelli is also equipping models from Jaguar, Volkswagen, Saab, Land Rover, Ford, Audi, BMW, Fiat with the new Punto and AMG with the new SUV ML 63.

On the tuning scene, Pirelli equips the Mercedes, Range Rover, Jaguar and Ferrari models from all the most important German tuners with ultra high performance tyres. Among those Pirelli's will be fitted to the Novitec Ferrari 430 F1 Supersport which has its world premiere at the show, as well as the F430 F1 Spider Sport and the new 575 with P Zero Rosso tyres as well as the Brabus E V12 Biturbo, an evolution of the Mercedes W211 E-Class, the holder of the world speed record with 19'' P Zero Rosso tyres, all the Arden Jaguar models, in particular the Arden Range Rover Sport fitted with 22'' Scorpion Zero tyres.

These Original Equipment fittings confirm the technological-qualitative leadership of the tyres from the P Zero and Scorpion Zero ranges. Thanks to the performance they offer and the wide range of sizes available, these tyres have long been appreciated by both the leading carmakers and the tuning firms that represent the most sophisticated expression of the automobile. Pirelli is in this way reinforcing its partnerships with Novitec, Brabus and Arden with whom the Company has long collaborated on the development of its products.

The Pirelli presence on the new models from the world's most prestigious car brands confirms the company's positive growth trend in the original equipment sector in Europe and the United States as well as its positioning in the higher market segments.

The company's development partnerships with the major automotive groups with whom Pirelli has always worked extremely closely continues. Among the latest homologations recently obtained are those for the entire Alfa Romeo 159 range fitted with P Zero Nero and P Zero Rosso tyres, the new Audi RS4 fitted with the P Zero Rosso and the P Zero Corsa Asimmetrico and the Peugeot 407 Coup fitted with P Zero Nero tyres.

The company's positive performance is further confirmed by the results for the first six months of 2005, which saw an increase in sales of 8.3% (+7.1% on a like-for-like basis compared with the first semester of 2004), and a 21% growth in operating income with a ROS of 10.4%.

Magnificent Pirelli at the "24 Hours Spa-Francorchamps"

Sun, 31 Jul 2005 00:00:00 +0200

Magnificent Pirelli at the "24 Hours Spa-Francorchamps" Magnificent Pirelli And Maserati 1-2 At The 2005 "24 Hours Of Spa-Francorchamps"

Spa, 31 July 2005 - The 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, the key event of the 2005 FIA-GT Championship, came to an end with an extraordinary Pirelli-Maserati 1-2 and an outstanding victory for the Team Vitaphone MC12 driven by Van De Poele-Scheider-Bartels, who were followed across the finish line by a sister car crewed by Bertolini-Wendlinger-Peter. This excellent result - Pirelli's first 24-hour race win for nine years, since Taylor-Sharp-Pace won Daytona in a Riley-Scott - was reinforced by an optimum fourth place by the Corvette C5R of Kumpen-Bleekemolen-Longin-Hezemans, who climbed back up the field after an accident that had relegated them to the back markers. But the drivers of the other Vitaphone Maserati MC12 on Pirelli P Zero Racing, Babini-Davies-Biagi, did not make the podium as they were forced to retire with a broken gearbox.

Eric Van De Poele, who won the 12 Hours of Sebring on Pirelli in a Ferrari 333 SP nine years ago, was obviously delighted. He said, " It was a very hard race, but everything went marvellously despite the sudden and numerous changes in the weather. The P Zero Racing tyres were excellent in both the unbeatable intermediate and dry asphalt forms" .

Karl Wendlinger was also in good humour after driving his Maserati MC12 into second place for JMB Racing. " The unpredictable weather conditions that characterised this 24 Hours of Spa certainly did not put the P Zero Racing s - in difficulty. I would especially like to underline the performance of the intermediates, which enabled us to make the difference against the opposition, especially in the beginning. The Maserati-Pirelli duo fully merited a result of this importance, that is also proof of the notable quality of the car and the Pirelli tyres" .

As well as the 1- 2 in the GT1 category, Pirelli Competizioni will return from the Ardennes with an excellent second place in GT2, thanks to the Porsche of Camathias-Moccia-Groppi. Franco Groppi, who drove the car over the finish line to take second, explained, " It's a great satisfaction to end up on the podium in such a demanding and historic race. We were able to best exploit the qualities of an excellent car and tyres that performed particularly well in all conditions" .

Pierluigi De Cancellis, Circuit Manager of Pirelli Competizioni, said, " This exceptional overall result of Pirelli's confirms that the front row of the grid taken by cars on P Zero Racing was no coincidence, because the same cars won this extremely neck-and-neck race. It is also a result that enables Pirelli to monopolise the top places in all three championships, with a first place in the drivers table, Vitaphone topping the teams' list and Maserati the constructors title chase" .

Final results - Spa-Francorchamps FIA-GT Race 2005:

V.D. Poele-Bartels-Scheider (Maserati MC12) , in 24h00'34''160
Bertolini-Peter-Wendlinger (Maserati MC12) +2 laps
Gardel-Bouchut-Mollekens-Vosse (Ferrari 550 Maranello) +9 laps
Kumpen-Longin-Hezemans-Bleekemolen (Corvette C5R) +13 laps

Download the Press Release (PDF, 20Kb)

Pirelli Honored With Ford's 2004 World Excellence Award

Mon, 09 May 2005 00:00:00 +0200

Pirelli Honored With Ford's 2004 World Excellence Award Milan, May 9th , 2005 - Pirelli Tires Company received Ford Motor Company's Gold World Excellence Award for its superior performance in 2004.

The World Excellence Awards provide annual recognition based on quality, cost and delivery performance. Fifty-two suppliers from 21 countries won awards in various categories, but just 17 suppliers have been awarded with the 'Gold' one.

" For achieving the highest level of performance, we gratefully recognize Pirelli Tires Company for its exceptional contributions and effort" said Tony Brown, Ford senior vice president, Global Purchasing. " Tonight we recognize the best of our best suppliers. You are an impressive Group, proving us with a wide range of outstanding products" .

There are three types of World Excellence Awards - Gold, Silver and Recognition of Achievement. The Gold and Silver Awards are given to suppliers that excel in quality, delivery and cost.

Pirelli: Official Partner and Supplier to European and Brazilian Maserati Trophy

Wed, 23 Mar 2005 00:00:00 +0200

Pirelli: Official Partner and Supplier to European and Brazilian Maserati Trophy Milan, March 23 2005 - Pirelli will continue in its important role as official partner and supplier to the Maserati Trophy in 2005, in addition to the campaign on this year's FIA GT Championship. In the last few months, Pirelli technicians have developed several new tyres uniquely created for the brand new Trofeo GranSport, Maserati's new car for the 2005 Maserati Trophy. Pirelli Competizioni's new P Zero rubber will offer the Maserati Trophy's drivers a significant step forward in terms of speed and handling.

Pirelli Competizioni's chief circuit racing engineer, Pierluigi De Cancellis, said: "The remarkable synergy between Maserati and Pirelli has given us a lot of opportunities and promising results in terms of research and development. We have been presented with an excellent chance to create a brand new range of tyres that offer greater performance in all areas."

The new P Zero tyre that will be fitted to the powerful Trofeo GranSport is the most recent fruit of the extremely close collaboration between Pirelli Competizioni and Maserati. This successful partnership has gone from strength to strength since the start of the very first Maserati Trophy in Europe, which took place in 2003.

Pirelli is delighted offer its support as a tyre supplier and consultant to all drivers and technicians during the entire 2005 Maserati Trophy season. The Italian tyre manufacturer is already engaged in the Brazilian Maserati Trophy, a championship held in a country that has always been an extremely important market for Pirelli. The long-established Pirelli presence in Brazil includes a factory in Campinas and a research and development facility in Taubat.

For more information and pictures on Pirelli's motorsport activities visit: www.pirellicompetizioni.com

Pirelli monopolises podium on rally Mexico!

Sun, 13 Mar 2005 00:00:00 +0200

Pirelli monopolises podium on rally Mexico! Lon (MEX), March 13th, 2005 - Pirelli drivers have finished first, second and third on the all-gravel Rally Mexico, the first time that Pirelli has monopolized the podium since the 2002 Rally Great Britain. Subaru- Pirelli driver Petter Solberg claimed his second consecutive victory of the year by 34.5 seconds, after taking the lead from the start and winning six out of the 14 stages on round three of the World Rally Championship.

The Pirelli -equipped Peugeots of Marcus Gronholm and Markko Martin finished second and third, underlining a dominant performance by Pirelli in the hot and tough conditions. The Italian rubber won all but four of the stages, moving Solberg into the lead of the drivers' championship while Peugeot now heads the constructors' series.

The Mitsubishis of Harri Rovanpera and Gilles Panizzi, also running on Pirelli tyres, finished fifth and eighth - making it five Pirelli drivers in the top eight places.

Road conditions on the rally were unusually hard and free of loose gravel on the first day of the rally, but softer and more gravelly for the rest of it. Despite these difficult and changeable surfaces, Solberg claimed Pirelli's 137th World Championship victory on the debut of the brand-new Subaru Impreza WRC2005 - highlighting the perfect partnership between car and tyres.

Pirelli brought three different types of tyre to Mexico, which the teams had to nominate in advance according to World Rally Championship regulations. Subaru used the latest evolution of the P Zero XR3 tyre on the hard surfaces of the opening day, before switching to the more open pattern of the KP2 tyre in order to disperse the loose gravel which characterized the remaining two days. Peugeot used the KP2 throughout the rally, while Mitsubishi made use of the more closed pattern K2 tyre on the unusually clean surfaces of the opening leg

Fiorenzo Brivio, Pirelli's Rally Manager, commented: " Petter's use of the XR3 tyre on the opening day was instrumental in helping him to a momentous victory. This tyre was traditionally used for rough gravel events, but it has now been developed to be equally effective on medium to fast gravel. The KP2 tyre was used most often on this rally, and the fact that we have five cars in the top eight places is the best testimony to its performance. Congratulations to everybody!"

Rally Mexico (round 3 of 16) - Final classification

1 Solberg-Mills Subaru Impreza WRC 3h41m06.2s
2 Gronholm-Rautiainen Peugeot 307 WRC +34.5s
3 Martin-Park Peugeot 307 WRC +1m38.3s
4 Loeb-Elena Citroen Xsara WRC +3m51.1s
5 Rovanpera-Pietilainen Mitsubishi Lancer WRC +3m58.1s
6 Gardemeister-Honkanen Ford Focus WRC +4m05.6s
7 Warmbold-Orr Ford Focus WRC +6m01.0s
8 Panizzi-Panizzi Mitsubishi Lancer WRC +6m01.7s
9 Schwarz-Wicha Skoda Fabia WRC +8m05.3s
10 Duval-Prevot Citroen Xsara WRC +16m14.2s

Next round: Rally New Zealand (8-10 April, 2005)

Record of Pirelli fitments at the Geneva Motorshow

Fri, 04 Mar 2005 00:00:00 +0200

Record of Pirelli fitments at the Geneva Motorshow Milan, March 4th, 2005 - Pirelli has registered outstanding results in terms of presence on the car's models presented at the 75 International Geneva Motorshow. The presence of the Italian brand at the Geneva Motorshow has continuously grown since 2002 and has the leading exposure in its sector this year.

Among the Geneva Premires, Bentley Continental Flying Spur, Ferrari 430 Spider, Lamborghini Concept S., Mercedes M Class, BMW Serie 3, Saab 9-3 SportCombi, Audi RS4 and A6 Station Wagon, Volkswagen Passat, Alfa Romeo 159 and Alfa Romeo Brera, Fiat Croma and Lancia Ypsilon Sport, Ford Focus ST are equipped with Pirelli PZero ultra high performance tyres and the Land Rover Discovery 3 and Range Rover Vogue with Pirelli Scorpion Zero Asimmetrico tyres.

The Pirelli top presence on many of the most prestigeous cars brands worldwide confirms the Group's positive growth trend on the Original Equipment sector in Europe and in the United States, as well as its strong positioning on the market's higher segments.