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.
Pirelli announced last month that Benfleet Jet Wheel and Tyres was its 2011 Pirelli Performance Centre of the year. The Essex-based branch was presented with the prestigious award at the Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One team’s Operations Centre in Brackley on 14 February. Pirelli’s 83 Performance Centres are audited high-performance tyre dealerships, allowing Pirelli to direct owners of high performance cars in confidence.
Pirelli has announced that it will sponsor this year’s Village on the Curves at the Le Mans 24 Hours. Formerly known as the Porsche Owners International Village, the Village on the Curves is situated at a spectacular vantage point on the 8.5 mile Circuit de la Sarthe. The cars enter the Porsche Curves in fifth gear, which is a fast but narrow complex of sweeping bends at the very end of the lap with little run-off, making it one of the best places to watch the Le Mans 24 Hours.
Pirelli Tyre’s UK motorsport manager believes that Dorset and Hampshire’s Rallye Sunseeker “marks a new beginning for the British Rally Championship”. While Ford announced that it would join the manufacturers’ championship, the tyre-maker was providing tyres to two-wheel drive vehicles – the only cars eligible for points in this year’s series for the first time since the 1990s. Ireland’s Mark Donnelly took the spoils at an enthralling curtain-raiser, set in the Wareham and Ringwood forest complex close to the rally base in Bournemouth, Dorset.
Two Tyrespot customers have enjoyed an all expenses paid trip to Milan, thanks to a joint promotion run with Pirelli. Graham and Sheila Patterson from Chester-le-Street, County Durham won the prize, including flights, hotel, transfers and tickets to Pirelli-sponsored Inter Milan, having entered the competition by buying Pirelli’s premium tyres at the largest independent tyre supplier in North East England.
2011’s Rally of the Year, Rallye Sunseeker in Dorset marks the opening round of the 2012 MSA British Rally Championship. The rally begins with a ceremonial start at Poole Quay at 18:00 on Friday 24 February, with the main action taking place on 25th, during which crews will tackle 12 stages over 66 miles in the Wareham and Ringwood Forest complex. Pirelli, the official tyre sponsor since 2007, will supply asphalt and gravel specification tyres to the Ford, Citroën, Renault and Skoda crews throughout the prestigious six-round championship.
The latest tyre tests produced by German motoring association ADAC, in partnership with OAMTC (the Austrian equivalent) were dominated by tyres produced by Continental. But there were also surprisingly strong performances from emerging and second line brands such as Apollo and Barum set against a disappointing result for Infinity.
There was a time when four-wheel drive vehicles were direct descendants of hard-nosed ‘working’ and agricultural vehicles – so the choice of suitable tyres was pretty straightforward. These days, though, drivers are faced with what can be a bewildering array of specialist tyres for specific types of 4×4 and SUV – and for an ever-widening range of applications – which makes it challenging for the retailer to stock the answer to every request they’re likely to hear from their 4×4 customers. Stapleton’s seeks to answer these questions with what it describes as one of the widest ranges of on and off-road 4×4 tyres available.
Pirelli has launched its fifth year of partnership with the GT Cup at Brands Hatch. Drivers used Pirelli’s intermediate tyres in damp conditions on the day, using the Indy circuit – the shortest configuration of the track – to test high-speed stability in fast corners such as Paddock Hill Bend and traction coming out of the slow hairpin at Druids. The GT Cup’s first round takes place at Donington Park from 28-29 April.
A recently published report by TechSci Research suggests that the Brazilian replacement tyre market will grow as the country’s increasing prosperity encourages drivers away from retreaded tyres. Karan Chechi, research director with TechSci Research argues: “The Brazilian tyre market is anticipated to grow at a compound annual growth rate of around 13 per cent for the next five years. It is forecast that its replacement tyre market will grow at a much faster pace than anticipated earlier due to the increasing number of automobiles on Brazilian roads, [which is expected] to reach 63 Million units by 2016.”
Pirelli has accumulated several thousand kilometres on Spain’s Jerez circuit in private and official Formula One testing, but the Italian tyre supplier will be hoping for better weather as it moves north to the Circuit de Catalunya. A fortnight ago, varied conditions made testing a challenge, as teams try to simulate the conditions they will face when the F1 season commences in Australia on 16 March. Pirelli has announced that the P Zero White medium compound will be available alongside the P Zero Yellow soft compound, and with the weather colder than expected in Jerez, the former has proved the most popular tyre for testing. Pirelli has also nominated the P Zero White for China and Malaysia, the second and third Grands Prix respectively.
A new report published by TechSci Research suggests that economies of scale will benefit tyre manufacturers working in Russia, with cheaper raw materials, lower energy costs and the availability of cheaper labour factors over the next five years. In addition the country has a developing domestic market for premium tyres as its car parc increases. Karan Chechi, research director at TechSci Research argues: “Economies of scale would benefit the major global tyre manufacturers in Russia by limiting their restraints. The exponentially increasing demand from OEM and aftermarket will continue to drive the Russian tyre industry landscape in coming years.”
Westlake Tyres has signed a contract with Grupo Driver España, the tyre shop and automotive maintenance garage network, to sell and distribute its truck and bus tyres through its Spanish network. Eskay Tyres – part of the Al Dobowi Group and distributor of the brand in Spain – penned the deal, which will commence in February 2012. Grupo Driver España is 51 per cent owned by Pirelli, the remainder belongs to dealer partners. It announced the Westlake tyre deal during its Annual Partners Convention which this year was held in Seville. Miguel Delgado, Grupo Driver’s General Director, said that the deal struck with Westlake “is not exclusive and we will start receiving our first shipment of tyres in early February.”
Pirelli has supplied its first MINI Challenge event at the MotorSport Vision Racing Media Day. Hosted by Brands Hatch on Tuesday, former MINI Challenge champion Lee Allen in a Pirelli-branded MINI John Cooper Works among others demonstrated the tyres to gathered media representatives. For the Challenge’s drivers, this was the first chance to try out the new Pirelli tyres, and thanks to damp morning conditions were able to sample both the Pirelli 225/625-17 WH wet tyre and the 225/625-17 DH slick tyre; the latter used as the track dried out in the afternoon. There are two classes within the MINI Challenge: the turbocharged JCW class and the Club class. The Pirelli RX5 15” intermediate tyre is also used for the less powerful Club class. The first round of the championship takes place at Silverstone on 14 April.
Pirelli has appointed Paolo Ferrari as chairman and chief executive officer of Pirelli’s NAFTA region. He will be tasked with driving the group’s growth and further strengthening its commitment to its US, Canadian and Mexican operations, according to a Pirelli statement. Matteo Battaini will focus on the role of NAFTA region chief operations officer.
Pirelli has announced the first three P Zero slick compound allocations to be taken to the opening Grands Prix of the 2012 Formula One World Championship season. In Australia and China teams will receive the P Zero White medium and the P Zero Yellow soft compounds. The P Zero Silver hard and the P Zero White medium tyre have been nominated for Malaysia.
If you would like the latest news from the Chinese tyre industry in Chinese, visit our partner site TyrepressChina.com. Or click below to continue on Tyrepress.
