Car. In 1901 Pirelli filed the patent for its first automobile tyre: the “tipo Ercole”. A few years later, in 1904, the “semelle” tread pattern with anti-skid function was also registered.

Towards the end of the decade carbon black was also introduced into the compounds: this was the “tipo Neroferrato”. In 1907, the team of Borghese, Guizzardi and Barzini, in an Itala with Pirelli tyres, won the Peking-Paris raid.These were 17,000 very tough kilometres that consecrated the three Italians and their Pirelli-shod Itala

Motorcycle. 1900 - 1920:  Pirelli Motorcycle tyres are already successful in not only racing, but also several prestigious World Records.

Car. In 1913 the French driver George Boillot, in a Peugeot 5.6 lt. fitted with Pirelli tyres, won the French Grand Prix. This was the "prehistory" of Formula 1 (the first World Championship was only in 1950).

In the meantime research and testing continued on materials and tread patterns: the most important invention was the rubberized fabric "unwoven cord", which enables uniform rubberising of the tyre fabric and therefore a more reliable tyre.

Motorcycle. 1900 - 1920: Pirelli Motorcycle tyres are already successful in not only racing, but also several prestigious World Records.

Car. In 1924 it was the turn of the Pirelli Superflex low-pressure tyre. With these tyres the Alfa Romeo P2s of Antonio Ascari and Giuseppe Campari began a long season of victories for the team formed by Alfa Romeo and Pirelli. In 1925 Gastone Brilli Peri – again in an Alfa Romeo – won the first Grand Prix World Championship at Monza.

The Twenties were to be extremely important for the development of tyre technology. In 1929 it was the turn of the Superflex Stella Bianca car tyre: the first product resulting from technology developed in motorsport

Motorcycle. 1920's and 1930's: The legendary Stanley Woods dominates the Isle of Man TT with Pirelli Corsa motorcycle tyres. Pirelli new "Moto Cord" motorcycle tyres were used to set the World Speed Records in 1935, 1937, and 1938 by Taruffi, and by Ombono Tenni in 1938.

Car. These were the years of Tazio Nuvolari, of Borzacchini, Varzi, Biondetti, Taruffi and Villoresi.

Their Alfa Romeos fitted with Pirelli Stella Bianca tyres raced and won in the most important competitions on racetracks and roads. Nuvolari won the Mille Miglia in 1930 and the Targa Florio in 1932 and various Grand Prix races during the Thirties.

Again around the second half of the Thirties, the difficulties of procurement of raw materials gave an impetus to the development of synthetic rubber. Rayon fibre began to be used as carcass fabric

Motorcycle. 1920's and 1930's: The legendary Stanley Woods dominates the Isle of Man TT with Pirelli Corsa motorcycle tyres. Pirelli new "Moto Cord" motorcycle tyres were used to set the World Speed Records in 1935, 1937, and 1938 by Taruffi, and by Ombono Tenni in 1938.

Car. The reopening of the Monza autodrome, in 1948, marked Pirelli's return to strength in motorsport.

The leading cars were again the Alfa Romeo 158s of Farina and Varzi and the Maserati 4CL and 8CL of Villoresi. At the end of the decade, in 1949, the Ferrari 125s appeared with the talent of Alberto Ascari, the son of Antonio. The tyre of reference was still the Stella Bianca, which was soon followed by the Pirelli Stelvio

Motorcycle. 1940’s:  Pirelli is the major supplier to the Italian motorcycle industry with the “Moto Cord” tyre.  During this period Bruno Ruffo and Nello Pagani used the Pirelli Corsa to win many Grand Prix’s.

Car. In 1950, with Giuseppe Farina in an Alfa Romeo 158 with Stelvio tyres, Pirelli won the first Formula 1 World Championship. The Stelvio racing tyre was to win another 5 championships with Juan Manuel Fangio in ’51 (in an Alfa Romeo), in ’54 and in ’57 (Maserati) and with Ascari (Ferrari 500) in ’52 and ’53.

At the end of the 1956 season Pirelli announced its retirement from Formula 1 to devote itself to the development of the new Cinturato tyre. Commitment in motorsport continued in the races nearer to mass production such as the Mille Miglia or the emerging rally series

Motorcycle. 1950’s: Pirelli Corsa race tyres were used by many Grand Prix riders such as Carlo Ubbiali, Fergus Anderson, and Bill Lomas to win many GP races, as well as victories at the Isle of Man TT.  Pirelli riders were also successful in long distance events such as the Milano - Taranto, Milano - Cape Town, or Motogiro Italia races.

Car. In 1973, with Achim Warmbold in a Fiat 124 Abarth, Pirelli won the first race of the World Rally Championship in Poland. Previously, from 1970 to 1973 it had been called the “International Championship for Manufacturers”.

The Pirelli rally team fielded Fiats and Lancia Fulvia HFs. In 1974 Lancia produced the revolutionary Stratos Rally, which was entrusted to Sandro Munari. To make the most of the power of the new car, Pirelli developed the P7: the first superlow-profile tyre (/50 series).

With Pirelli the Stratos won the World Championship in 1974, ’75 and ’76. There followed the triumphs of the Fiat 131 Abarth of Alen and Röhrl. After presenting the P7 road tyre and the P6, in 1975 Pirelli patented the P3 with a zero degree nylon belt developed in rallies: a technology later adopted by all the tyre producers in the world because it ensures the integrity of the tyre and therefore safety.

Motorcycle. 1972: Pirelli wins the famous 24 Hour of Montjuich race in Barcelona that year.

Car. Winning the British Lombard Rally in an Audi Quattro, Stig Blomqvist gave Pirelli the 50th victory in the World Rally Championship.

Returning to Formula 1 with Toleman in 1981, Pirelli won the French Grand Prix in 1985 with the Brabham-BMW of Nelson Piquet. The next season, in 1986, it won the Mexican Grand Prix with the Benetton of Gerhard Berger. In 1987 Pirelli presented the ultralow-profile P Zero with an asymmetric tread pattern derived from rallying which was fitted on the powerful Lancia Delta S4.

Car. In 1991 Pirelli won the F1 Canadian Grand Prix with Nelson Piquet’s Benetton. In the same year it announced retirement from its commitment to F1.

After the P600 and the P700, in 1995/96 Pirelli presented the new P6000 and P7000. Specifically for high- and medium-powered cars, these represent the third generation of high-performance low-profile tyres. Sales totalled a record 120 million tyres worldwide.

In the USA the Pielli-shod Ferrari 333SP of Fermin-Velez won the World Sportscar Championship. In 1997 the victory of the late Colin McRae in a Subaru Impreza at the Safari Rally in Kenya brought Pirelli victories in the WRC to 100. And with the victories of Sainz (1990 and 1992) and McRae (1995) the number of world titles won by Pirelli in the World Rally Championship rose to 17.

Car. From 2004 cooperation between Pirelli and Maserati resumed intensely, after almost fifty years. The experiments on the MC12 prototype led in 2005 to victory in the FIA GT Championship.

On the rally front, in 2003, it was the turn of world title number 18 won by Petter Solberg in a Subaru Impreza.   From 2008 to 2010 Pirelli has been the exclusive supplier of tyres for the WRC.

The month of June 2010 marked the return of Pirelli to Formula 1 as sole supplier for all teams of the World Championship for the seasons 2011-2013.

Car. The new decade has started with new, important successes