One tyre for GT racing: Pirelli P Zero DHF

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.

The tyre maker comments that although these categories previously used different tyres, its latest technology enables all classes to now “get the very best” out of the one tyre thanks to a new family of compounds and structures that its engineers have developed over the past year in collaboration with car manufacturers. It adds that the P Zero DHF has been redesigned from the ground up as part of a “long-term plan to bring together Pirelli’s accumulated know-how into a single GT tyre” in order to provide “greater synergy as well as an improved environmental impact.”

More performance & versatility

“In a process of continual development, we’ve optimised all our know-how and production processes to arrive at an innovative new tyre that will be used throughout all the classes in GT racing: the DHF,” comments Matteo Braga, Pirelli’s circuit activity manager. “As well as new compounds, which are entirely redesigned to provide optimal grip and durability over an expanded working range – including in warmer temperatures – we have a new construction that improves the connection between front and rear. The result is more performance, more versatility, and a better feeling for the driver: as well as increased sustainability.”

Pirelli places sustainability at the forefront of its new tyre as part of measures linked to the tyre maker’s environmental roadmap to 2025. The development team extensively employed virtual modelling, the result being an approximately 20 per cent reduction in the production of physical prototypes required. The DHF range also includes new types of renewable materials, and Pirelli points out that replacing several tyres with a single model also leads to a smaller logistical footprint and lower waste.

DHF from 2022

All SRO-promoted championships that use the promoter’s Balance of Performance should be able to use the DHF tyres from next year, as soon as the equalisation formula has been established.

Pirelli states that GT racing is very much at the heart of its activities as this form of motorsport showcases race versions of the roadgoing supercars that Pirelli equips in everyday life. In fact, more than half of all prestige supercars leave the factory with Pirelli tyres as original equipment. This close relationship is carried through to the track, while the lessons learned through GT racing also help Pirelli to develop the latest generation of ultra-high-performance tyres for the street.

The current Pirelli P Zero DHE bows out of the Intercontinental GT Challenge at the final round of the year in Kyalami, South Africa.