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Latest Pirelli facility showcased in presidential visit

It’s been 150 years since the unified Kingdom of Italy was formed, and to mark the occasion Pirelli presented the country’s head of state with a Formula One tyre resplendent in the tricolour of Italy’s national flag. The presentation took place during a March 19 visit by the President of the Republic, Giorgio Napolitano, and his wife to the Italian tyre maker’s new facility in Settimo Torinese, Turin Province. Escorted by Pirelli chairman Marco Tronchetti Provera and Pirelli Tyre CEO Francesco Gori, Italy’s president toured the new site, which will reach full operational status during the year and be officially inaugurated before the end of 2011. Accompanying Mr. Napolitano and Pirelli’s senior management were a number of regional figures, including the president of the Piedmont region, Roberto Cota, the president of the Turin province, Antonio Saitta, the mayor of Settimo Torinese, Aldo Corgiat Loia, the head of Turin’s prefecture. Alberto Di Pace, and the rector of the Politecnico di Torino, Francesco Profumo.

21st March 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Pirelli’s Hembery made Richard Burns Foundation trustee

Paul Hembery, Pirelli’s motorsport director, has become a trustee of the Richard Burns Foundation, established in memory of the 2001 world rally champion. “Richard was the first world champion I worked with and he set the bar in terms of being a highly motivated and competitive athlete, while remaining a very grounded, decent person and I was proud to call him a friend,” said Hembery. “Taking on the role of trustee for the Richard Burns Foundation is a privilege.”

15th March 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

New Bridgestone CI a “diversification” of the brand

As was reported at the beginning of March on tyrepress.com (see related news link below), Bridgestone celebrated its 80th year with a new corporate identity – altering its logo and tagline, and “refining” its corporate philosophy. Communications manager at Bridgestone UK, Andy Dingley says the evolution undergone in Bridgestone’s corporate lifespan created the need “to reflect those social changes” in its branding.

14th March 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

De la Rosa returns to McLaren; Pirelli to announce new F1 test driver

Pedro de la Rosa, who last September stepped in to replace Nick Heidfeld as Pirelli’s Formula One test driver following the German’s unexpected and ultimately short-sighted departure, has rejoined the McLaren F1 team as official test and reserve driver. De la Rosa originally joined McLaren back in 2003 and worked with the team for more than seven seasons, helping develop cars that scored 29 victories, not to mention the drivers’ world championship with Lewis Hamilton in 2008.

10th March 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

F1 tyre testing options boosted by regulation amendment

Amendments to the Formula One Sporting Regulations announced by the World Motor Sport Council on March 8 give tyre supplier Pirelli the option of evaluating new types of tyre during race meetings this year. The amendment states that “at certain events, one additional specification of dry weather tyre may be made available to all teams for evaluation purposes.” The Italian tyre maker adds that the option to try out new tyres “will be entirely at the discretion of the FIA, together with Pirelli, and it will only be exercised if the correct opportunity arises.”

9th March 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Cooper Avon launches British GT, F3 seasons

Today was the joint launch day for Cooper Avon’s biggest UK motorsport series – the British Formula Three, supplied in its 60th season by Cooper Tires, and the British GT, once again supplied by Avon Tyres, which announced this week that it had signed up to the championship until “at least 2014” – the same period for which Cooper is signed up with F3. Hosted at Silverstone, the event marks a special occasion for Cooper Avon in British F3, as this season marks the 30th anniversary of its first association with the championship, when Avon supplied the tyres to such giants of motor racing as then-future Formula One champions Ayrton Senna, Mika Hakkinen and Jenson Button. Cooper took over the tyre supply to the series in 2008, though the tyres are still manufactured at Melksham, Wiltshire – the company’s European motorsport base.

8th March 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Pirelli, F1 teams return to Barcelona for further tests

The cancellation of the Bahrain Grand Prix has prompted the arrangement of an extra Formula One test session, and today Pirelli returns to Barcelona along with the 12 teams competing in this season’s championship. Tests will take place over a five-day period, with each team testing for a maximum of four days each. This test period will bring the teams’ total number of pre-season test days up to the agreed upon 15 days.

8th March 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Firestone brand to exit Indycar

The Indycar series is held in equal high esteem by US motor racing aficionados as Formula One is in other parts of the world, and as has been the case for the Bernie Ecclestone run championship, vehicles racing in Indycar have been fitted with tyres produced by Bridgestone companies for a good number of years. But the similarities do not end there; more than a year after the withdrawal from Formula one was announced, Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations (BATO) stated it has “mutually agreed” with Indycar to end the sponsorship and supply contract for its Firestone brand – a partnership it describes as “one of the most successful in all of motorsports” – at the end of the 2011 season.

7th March 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Pirelli signs agreement with Genan for recycled tyre rubber reuse research

Pirelli has announced that it has signed a research agreement with Danish tyre recovery company Genan to find ways of reusing industrial raw materials in tyre production. Managing director of Pirelli Tyre, Francesco Gori said: “Being able to reduce the dependence of the production cycle on natural rubber by 10 per cent could produce considerable savings”. Gori also said the use of materials recovered from tyres could become a necessity based on “sustainability”.

2nd March 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Pirelli F1 progress “fantastic”: Williams technical director

Following Jarno Trulli’s less than complimentary assessment of the current Pirelli Formula One tyre (see link below), Williams technical director Sam Michael has countered that “from a time period point of view, Pirelli have done a fantastic job.” Michael pointed out the continuing development Pirelli is completing and the fact that the inevitable differences in the tyre is a challenge the teams will need to engage with, since the change of supplier at the end of the 2010 season.

25th February 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Trulli tells Autosprint: Pirelli F1 tyres “aren’t balanced yet”

Jarno Trulli, driving for the Lotus team in the 2011 Formula One season, has suggested that sole tyre supplier Pirelli’s PZero Formula One tyres have “[missed] something in development, because the tyres aren’t balanced yet.” While Pirelli has stated its satisfaction with the current tyre and the quicker wear-rate so far experienced is a deliberate feature to encourage more tactical tussling between the teams. However, veteran driver Trulli believes that: “tyre wear is secondary compared to the tyre's balance problems, because at the moment you get on the track with a new tyre that initially is understeering, and after three laps the behaviour is the opposite, that is impossible oversteering."

24th February 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Low Barca temperatures led to different F1 tyre characteristics: Hembery

Pirelli’s motorsport director Paul Hembery has noted the different characteristics of the company’s Formula One PZero tyres in unusually cold Barcelona testing last weekend, admitting that “ambient temperatures were not what we hoped to see”. Tests started in temperatures as low as only 6 degrees centigrade, and Hembery made the point that Grands Prix will be run in temperatures “of at least 15 degrees”. Nevertheless, Hembery was pleased with the attention being paid to the tyres, as Pirelli makes its debut in Formula One’s modern era.

22nd February 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Pirelli announces compounds for first four F1 races

Pirelli has announced that it will take its hard and soft slick compounds to the first four Grands Prix of the 2011 season. Pirelli’s motorsport director Paul Hembery suggested the compounds would offer the best racing for both spectators and drivers in Bahrain – currently under threat due to ongoing political protests, according to the sport's UK broadcaster the BBC – Australia, Malaysia and China. The manufacturer said the decision had been reached on the back of data collected in 18,000km of private testing in Europe and the Middle East, as well as three group tests to date.

17th February 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Chennai tyre shop looks to the future with TAC-Scan technology

News, Product News

Remember the TAC-Scan technology RL Automotive and Tire Profiles Inc launched at SEMA 2008? (see related links below) T&A mentioned at the time that a machine capable of predicting tyre wear sounds like science fiction. But what was first put to use in top-flight motorsport applications such as Formula One, has now landed in tyre retail in India it may surprise you to learn that some of the most discerning technicians in the tyre business are already using prototypes based on exactly the same technology.

15th February 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

JK Tyre launches Asian race series

In a move it refers to as the “biggest announcement in Indian motorsport in recent times,” JK Tyre has officially launched the JK Racing Asia Series, a championship sponsored by the tyre maker and managed by Motorsport Asia, the region’s largest promoter and organiser of motorsport events. The series gets underway in April and the 2011 season will consist of 18 races held over six weekend events in Malaysia, Korea, Indonesia, China, Singapore and India. On three occasions the JK Racing Asia Series will support the Formula One Grand Prix.

14th February 2011/by Tyrepress Editors