PIRELLI SCORPION MX LEADS THE FIM MX WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

Pirelli rubber established its credentials at the second round of the FIM Motocross World Championship at the fast and hard-pack circuit of Sevlievo in Bulgaria by maintaining control of both of the principal classes. In MX1five times World Champion Antonio Cairoli managed to keep a high and effective pace around the Bulgarian hills even though the track is not one of his favourites on the calendar. The Sicilian steered his works KTM with aScorpion Pro front and a MidSoft 32 rear in both of the motos and finished 4^thand 3^rd in both sprints. Tony had to concede victory to Gautier Paulin and second spot to Christophe Pourcel, the latter riding his Kawasaki withMidSoft32 and on a damper track through watering in the afternoon elected for the MidSoft 454. Fourth overall and using MidSoft 32 front and rear was KTM rider Ken De Dycker, while 2011 vice-champion Steven Frossardhad to withdraw from the event after twisting his knee in qualification. MX2 was the domain of Pirelli with the first five positions running the MidSoft32, and current world number two Tommy Searle going 3^rd and 1^st in the two motos for his maiden victory of 2012. At this side on the podium was Jeffrey Herlings, in second spot, and thenJoel Roelants who ran away with the opening moto for the first chequered flag of his career. Following in the overall classification was second KTM rider Jeremy Van Horebeek and then Max Anstie.

PEERS & MARKETS

The main European stock markets were down in the week from the 16th to the 20th of April 2012 (Milano +0.3%, Londra +2.1%, Francoforte +2.5%, Parigi 0.0%, Madrid -2.9%). After a positive start, following the good placement of 12/18 month yield Bonos (2.09 €bln and 1.09 €bln respectively), trading discounted the renewed fears about Spanish debt, supported by non-performing loans data released by Iberian banks.

The European Auto & Parts sector (+0.2%) was flat in the week.

Pirelli stock ended the week at 8.705€ down by 0.7% with an average daily volume of approximately 4 million shares. The year-to-date performance of the stock is still positive: +33.8%, +13.4pp vs Stoxx Auto.

TYRE STRATEGY THE KEY TO AN ACTION-PACKED CHINESE GRAND PRIX

Nico Rosberg completed a perfect weekend for Mercedes, during which both the German driver and his ‘Silver Arrows’ team managed their allocation of the P Zero White medium tyre and P Zero Yellow soft tyre perfectly. Having claimed a dominant pole position by half a second, Rosberg took his debut victory and the first win for Mercedes since the 1955 Italian Grand Prix, using a two-stop strategy. Rosberg’s pace at the beginning of the race was enough to ensure that he was able to complete his first pit stop without losing the lead and from there on he was able to control his advantage, completing the race on the medium tyres.

Tyre choices and pit stop strategy set up a duel in the closing stages of the race, as McLaren’s Jenson Button on a fresh set of P Zero White medium tyres attempted to chase down the leader, on an older set of the medium tyres. Although Button – who stopped three times – was delayed by a problem during his final pit stop, he was just one of many drivers to mount a spectacular charge during the final stint in Shanghai. With four laps to go, Button passed Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel to claim the runner-up spot.

Vettel chose a two-stop strategy, but was forced to defend from the McLaren of Lewis Hamilton, who claimed the final podium place on the penultimate lap, despite making one more pit stop than the reigning world champion. Hamilton now leads the drivers’ championship, with McLaren having adopted a different strategy to most of their rivals. The Englishman was one of the few drivers to stick with the soft tyre during his second stint, while the majority of other drivers went to the harder tyre on their first stops.

Pirelli’s motorsport director Paul Hembery commented: “Many congratulations to Nico and to Mercedes for this thoroughly well-deserved victory, during which they exhibited a perfect understanding of how to get the most out of both compounds in challenging circumstances and keep the tyres within the optimal performance window. As expected, we saw a high degree of tyre degradation in the tough conditions of China, with the front-left tyre in particular coming under particular stress. This gave the opportunity for the teams to try out a wide variety of different strategies, which resulted in spectacular yet clean wheel-to-wheel racing that if anything surpassed even last year’s Chinese Grand Prix. I’d also like to congratulate our former test driver Romain Grosjean, who claimed his best-ever finish with sixth overall for Lotus.”