Pirelli Aims for New Heights at Adria

Following a GT2 class second place for Babini-Malucelli-Ruberti at the Le Mans 24 Hours race, Pirelli says it is entering the third round of the FIA GT Championship aiming for GT2 class victory. The international FIA GT Championship resumes at the twisting Adria circuit near Venice, Italy for the third round of the series. As was the case last year, the two-hour race will take place during the evening, getting underway on Saturday 21 June at 7:50pm. Pirelli reports it will attempt to repeat the excellent results achieved during the first two rounds of the championship with the PZero Racing-equipped Ferrari 430 GTCs, which saw a third place ranking for Malucelli-Ruberti (BMS-Scuderia Italia) in GT2 at Silverstone and fourth for Babini-Davies (Scuderia Ecosse).

A second in class result for the BMS-Scuderia Italia Ferrari 430 GTC, running on Pirelli tyres, at the Le Mans 24 Hours last weekend is a good omen for Saturday’s race at Adria, Pirelli believes. For the latest FIA GT encounter, Pirelli will bring the latest evolutions of rubber that were tested with positive results at Monza in May. As well as the two Scuderia Italia Ferraris, Pirelli will also supply PZero Racing tyres to the similar car of Scuderia Ecosse, the Porsche 997 GT3-RS of Trackspeed Racing, and the RB-Immo and PeKa Racing Saleen S7-R in GT1.

Fabio Babini, one of the GT2 drivers that achieved a very respectable second place at Le Mans, commented: “At Adria I am driving alongside Jamie Davies in the Scuderia Ecosse 430 GTC as usual, and I’m convinced that we will be able to fight for the class win. Our Pirelli tyres have always been very competitive on this circuit, because the latest developments on the car and the rubber have yielded extremely good results, and because myself and Jamie form a very well-balanced crew that is capable of maintaining a fast but consistent pace throughout the entire two hours of a race.

“The fact that we will be running at night can only help the tyres’ wear and performance. Having said that, it’s true that as we are racing in June and starting just before 8pm, there will still be natural light for most of the race – unlike last year, when this event was held in September. The weather conditions will be quite decisive, because on a short and twisty track like Adria it’s vital to start towards the front. In order to do this you need to find a good race set-up that will also work well in qualifying. This wasn’t possible in Monza, for example, where we had heavy rain in qualifying but dry conditions for the race.”