Known for its style, speed and performance marketing values, Pirelli & C. S.p.A. is a multinational company based in Milan, Italy, listed on the Milan Stock Exchange since 1922, with a temporary privatization period by the consortium led by the Chinese state-owned enterprise ChemChina.
Good news for owners of McLaren's MP4-12C production car – Pirelli has developed bespoke versions of the P Zero and P Zero Corsa tyres, for road and track use, respectively, for the supercar. The tyres are the result of collaboration between Pirelli researchers and McLaren engineers at Woking.
Lotus GP2 driver Esteban Gutierrez has won the inaugural Pirelli Trophy for tyre management, which was presented to him by Pirelli's racing manager Mario Isola at the GP2 prize-giving ceremony in Paris recently.
Gutierrez, who also won the 2010 GP3 title – the first year that Pirelli returned to single-seater racing – was judged to have used his tyres in the best way all year by a panel of 50 international Formula One and GP2 journalists, who were tasked with voting for a winner.
Pirelli will take its hard and soft tyre compounds to India when Formula One visits the Buddh circuit for the second time this weekend, just like in 2011, though this year the P Zero Silver and P Zero Yellow tyres are softer compared to their equivalents last year. The tyre supplier says a better knowledge of the circuit and some real data have allowed Pirelli to be less conservative this time, and the brand is confident that these tyres should lead to even closer racing. Last year, the performance gap between compounds was around 2 seconds. Another factor affecting tyre strategy is the 600m pit lane – the longest in F1 – which adds considerable time to pit stops.
Pirelli takes its P Zero and Cinturato branded Formula One tyres to the USA Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas between 16 and 18 November, and has been preparing for its first visit to Austin, Texas using simulation work. The data for its preparation was obtained from a visit to the track during its construction; the track will only be opened officially this weekend 20-21 October. While practically every circuit was new to Pirelli last season, the circuit is one of only two – and since the other was the thoroughly established Hockenheim, the Circuit of the Americas could be seen as the brand’s biggest challenge of the year. (While it had not raced at Bahrain before, the Italian firm had tested there in the past, and had plenty of information to fall back on.)
Pirelli shares news of the full marks its Scorpion Winter received for certain tests conducted by TÜV SÜD Automotive. The Italian manufacturer’s tyre was pitted against four major rivals, and is said to have scored 100 per cent in the test’s snow handling, traction and braking categories.
Michelin has won two prestigious Tyre and Fast-Fit (TAFF) awards at this year’s ceremony held by the National Tyre Distributors Association (NTDA) held on 10 October in Manchester. The company picked up both the Industry Advertising award and the Product Innovation award at the association’s annual dinner hosted this week in Manchester.
With tyre demand said to be down between 2 and four per cent, financial analysts at Deutsche Bank confidently reported that the tyre companies under its coverage “should record strong results in the third quarter due to a still positive pricing environment”. Or in other words because manufacturers are said to be doing their best to maintain prices. And this is said to be coupled with a reported raw material tailwind.
Pirelli has announced the tyre nominations for the final three Grands Prix of the 2012 Formula One season. All three races – in Abu Dhabi, USA and Brazil – will feature the P Zero White medium compound tyre; the visit to the UAE will also feature the soft P Zero Yellow, while at F1’s first visit to Austin, Texas and the season-ending meeting at Interlagos Pirelli will include its P Zero Silver hard compound.
Pirelli’s original equipment supply to BMW already involves fitments for the 1 Series, 3 Series, 3 Series GT, 5 Series, 6 Series Gran Coupé and 7 Series, as well as the current X1 and X3 SUV. The Italian tyre maker has now added the X5 and X6 to this list following BMW’s decision to choose the P Zero as original equipment on its most powerful 4x4s, the X5 and X6 (E70).
Cafmin, the holding company which is currently controlling shareholder of Italian tyremaker Pirelli, launched a fixed-rate 150 million euro ($194.14 million) bond on Friday 11 October. The bond is convertible into 5.85 per cent of Pirelli shares.
Shane Byrne recorded a hat-trick of victories at Brands Hatch to win his third British Superbike Championship. The Kentish rider entertained a large crowd, pushing hard for the three wins, including a final race overtake on series runner-up Josh Brookes, despite a safe points cushion. The series’ tyre supplier, Pirelli pointed out that the man known as “Shakey” had completed victory on the 20th anniversary of the Japanese manufacturer’s last title in 1992. Pirelli also took part in BSB history across its twelve 2012 rounds, making a foray into Europe at Assen. With new power and budget equalling regulations as well as single tyre supply, Pirelli argues that the series has never been more open and level, producing an incredible eight different winners during the year.
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Three UK moto series supported by Pirelli-owned bike tyre brand Metzeler came to an end on the weekend of 13-14 October at Brands Hatch. The company supplied tyres to the Superstock 1000 and 600, in addition to the Triumph Triple Challenge in 2012. Metzeler Product and Marketing manager Jim Worland commented: “Once again our three Metzeler supported Championships have supplied fantastic racing, large fields of riders and most importantly supplied a great route for young racers to progress through the ranks. The Metzeler Racetec Interact tyres have helped give fast, consistent lap times and give excellent feedback to the riders.”
Welshman Elfyn Evans has become the second-ever winner of the Pirelli-supported WRC Academy, a series attached to the FIA World Rally Championship and designed to identify future champions by pitting young drivers against each other in identical Ford Fiesta R2 rally cars. When Evans took his fourth consecutive win this year on the all-asphalt Rallye de France, his table tally rose to a level that put the title mathematically out of his rivals’ reach, despite there being one round of the Academy left to go this year.
Criminal activity has been ruled out in the investigation into the death of Pirelli employee George Falder. Tests show that the 48-year old employee at the tyre maker’s Carlisle factory was not assaulted before he died inside one of the plant’s autoclaves.
Although the World Superbike Championship is switching to 17-inch tyres for the 2013 season – a change promoted as one that will aid in the motorsport-driven development of road-going motorcycle tyres – the British Superbike Championship will continue for one further year on Pirelli’s 16.5-inch tyre.
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