Pirelli BEST LAP Awards:

SBK Race 1 – Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing Team) 1’28.992 (Lap 6)

SBK Race 2 – Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing Team) 1’28.995 (Lap 4)

Total BEST LAP (SBK): Checa C. (Althea Racing) 3, Biaggi M. (Aprilia Racing Team) 3, Sykes T. (Kawasaki Racing Team) 2, Sylvain Guintoli (Team Effenbert Liberty Racing) 1

WSS – Sam Lowes (Bogdanka PTR Honda) 1’31.097 (Lap 21)

Total BEST LAP (WSS): Lowes S. (Bogdanka PTR Honda) 2, Foret F. (Kawasaki Intermoto Step) 1, Parkes B. (Ten Kate Racing Products) 1, Lanzi L. (Prorace) 1.

After Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) won the first race, the German manufacturer added its name to the list of race-winning makes for the very first time. In race two a classic multi-rider battle ended up in joy and heartbreak for some top riders, as Jonathan Rea (Honda World Superbike Team) came out on top after a final corner melee.

The end result of one of the best days of racing imaginable is that Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing Team) leads the championship with 128.5 points, from double podium man Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) on 123, and Rea on 108. Carlos Checa (Althea Racing Ducati) is fourth on 105.5. The top four championship places are now covered by only 23 points, after five rounds and nine individual races.

Race 1

A truly historic 1-2 for BMW saw Melandri win the opening race with his team-mate Leon Haslam only 0.728 seconds behind. An eventual five rider fight for the podium places provided overtaking and personal duels aplenty as the race order changed multiple times. Tissot-Superpole winner Sykes won a tense battle to go third, with Rea making up places in the final laps to overhaul Biaggi and take fourth. The leading five were covered by only 2.102 seconds at the end of the race. Checa was sixth, four seconds from the win, making it five different manufacturers in the top six at the flag. Melandri’s win also means that six different riders have now won races this year, representing five different manufacturers – and all with nine rounds and 18 races left to go.

Marco Melandri: “It means a lot to me to win this for such a good factory like BMW, it’s history and something I could not dream about when I was young. I just want to say thanks to BMW in Germany, the team on track and everybody involved in the project. We have been working so hard and we never give up even when we found some difficulties. We are working still right now to stay at the top and I am so happy to be here. I had good race pace yesterday and today the tyres have been working very good until the end. We managed the situation well but at the beginning I was not so fast, but fortunately Tom and Leon were fighting a lot so they lost a bit of time and we could catch them again. We are so happy for this win.”

Leon Haslam: “I found myself on the wrong side of Marco, on the right side of him into the Esses and I nearly went into the back off him so I had to let off the brakes and I am disappointed because I did feel quite good up to that point. Fair play to Marco and we got a BMW 1-2 which is fantastic. Hopefully we can make amends in the next one and not make that mistake. I want to dedicate this result to the late Robert Fearnall, who was a big, big friend of the family and Donington.”

Tom Sykes: “A fantastic race, I really enjoyed it and it certainly felt like a long, seemed to go on for many laps. Overall I think we had a very good show, lots of passing, and a little bit too much at some corners, especially at the Foggy Esses, which seemed to claim a few victims. Overall I am very happy to be on the podium and collecting some good solid points again with the Ninja ZX-10R. Unfortunately we seemed to struggle at one particular part of the track and that definitely affected our race performance, but hopefully we can improve on that very small sector and go better in race two. As for now a podium is good enough.”

Results: 1. Melandri M. (ITA) BMW S1000 RR 34’26.736; 2. Haslam L. (GBR) BMW S1000 RR 0.728; 3. Sykes T. (GBR) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1.609; 4. Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1.819; 5. Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 2.102; 6. Checa C. (ESP) Ducati 1098R 4.820; 7. Giugliano D. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 7.520; 8. Guintoli S. (FRA) Ducati 1098R 7.927; 9. Camier L. (GBR) Suzuki GSX-R1000 15.144; 10. Fabrizio M. (ITA) BMW S1000 RR 16.065; 11. Badovini A. (ITA) BMW S1000 RR 19.805; 12. Davies C. (GBR) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 20.170; 13. Berger M. (FRA) Ducati 1098R 21.274; 14. Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 21.517; 15. Laverty E. (IRL) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 26.920; 16. Baz L. (FRA) Kawasaki ZX-10R 35.025; etc.

Race 2

Rea took his second win of the season after an incident-strewn Race 2 at Donington. On the first corner Checa and Eugene Laverty (Aprilia Racing Team) touched and Checa went down, taking out Jakub Smrz (Liberty Racing Team Effenbert Ducati) and Checa’s team-mate Davide Giugliano. Then Laverty himself crashed heading down Craner Curves as eventual third place man Sykes led for most of race distance. He was finally overhauled by a warring faction which included eventual second place man Biaggi plus Haslam and Melandri. After a multitude of overtakes and riders running off track on occasion, Haslam looked to have it won until both he and Melandri ran wide as the Italian attempted a pass into the very last corner and Rea pushed inside as a gap opened up. He and Haslam collided and Haslam fell, knocking off Melandri with his stricken bike as he slid across the track. Rea held on to win by just over half a second from Biaggi, with Sykes two second back in third place. Leon Camier (Fixi Crescent Suzuki) was an impressive fourth.

Jonathan Rea: “In the last corner there were five guys out there wanting to win a race, most of all Melandri came from a long way back on Leon to create a gap that I went for, me and Leon touched and I’m really sorry that he crashed. But more importantly we’ve won, taken 25 points and I’ve given my team a great reward for giving me a great bike this weekend.”

Max Biaggi: “In race 2 the bike was a little better, I could keep up and race with the guys more than before. When the tyre went off I was struggling and then the last lap was simple, everyone tried to go inside and take my position: Melandri, Jonathan, everybody! I didn’t give up, stayed cool and second place came automatically. I cannot say I’m very happy but the result is OK.”

Tom Sykes: “Yet again we got the holeshot and led for a number of laps, but I was missing a bit of feeling with the wind, which was unfortunate. I managed to stay out front but made one mistake and all the other guys came past at a rate of knots. We didn’t quite have the best setting this weekend but a pole position and two podiums is great for myself and the Kawasaki team. I had the best seat in the house for the last couple of laps, but for me five minus two equals a podium so I’m very happy!”

Results: 1. Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 34’31.847; 2. Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 0.508; 3. Sykes T. (GBR) Kawasaki ZX-10R 2.029; 4. Camier L. (GBR) Suzuki GSX-R1000 4.245; 5. Guintoli S. (FRA) Ducati 1098R 6.595; 6. Badovini A. (ITA) BMW S1000 RR 17.469; 7. Davies C. (GBR) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 17.788; 8. Baz L. (FRA) Kawasaki ZX-10R 21.093; 9. Hickman P. (GBR) Suzuki GSX-R1000 21.866; 10. Aoyama H. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR 22.620; 11. Canepa N. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 26.764; 12. Zanetti L. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 27.043; 13. Fabrizio M. (ITA) BMW S1000 RR 28.390; 14. Aitchison M. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 56.618; 15. Haslam L. (GBR) BMW S1000 RR 1’20.196; etc.

Points (after 5 of 14 rounds): 1. Biaggi 128.5; 2. Sykes 123.5; 3. Rea 108; 4. Checa 105.5; 5. Melandri 97.5; 6. Haslam 89; 7. Guintoli 85; 8. Laverty 65; 9. Giugliano 50; 10. Smrz 44.5; etc. Manufacturers: 1. Ducati 161.5; 2. Aprilia 139; 3. BMW 131; 4. Kawasaki 129.5; 5. Honda 112; 6. Suzuki 40.5.

World Supersport

In winning his first ever WSS race British rider Sam Lowes (Bogdanka PTR Honda) became the fifth different winner in five races this season and the third in a row on a Honda machine. Having struggled on with a stomach bug of some kind since Friday, and suffering a serious finger injury in a fall on Saturday, Lowes had to work hard to resist a late push from eventual second place finisher, Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki DeltaFin Lorenzini). Lowes came within 0.003 seconds of setting a new lap record in his efforts to keep the Turkish rider behind him on the penultimate lap, and is now only six points from Sofuoglu in the championship. Third place today was taken by third ranked rider overall, Jules Cluzel (PTR Honda). Broc Parkes (Ten Kate Racing Products Honda) was in the early fight for the podium places but dropped back to fourth, while Glen Richards (Smiths Gloucester Triumph) finished fifth today and Sheridan Morais (Kawasaki DeltaFin Lorenzini) sixth.

Results: 1. Lowes S. (GBR) Honda CBR600RR 33’43.603; 2. Sofuoglu K. (TUR) Kawasaki ZX-6R 0.678; 3. Cluzel J. (FRA) Honda CBR600RR 3.987; 4. Parkes B. (AUS) Honda CBR600RR 8.088; 5. Richards G. (AUS) Triumph Daytona 675 11.786; 6. Morais S. (RSA) Kawasaki ZX-6R 20.849; 7. Quarmby R. (RSA) Honda CBR600RR 23.795; 8. Debise V. (FRA) Honda CBR600RR 24.094; etc.

Points (after 5 of 13 rounds): 1. Sofuoglu 81; 2. Lowes 76; 3. Cluzel 64; 4. Foret 55; 5. Parkes 42; 6. Baldolini 38; 7. Quarmby 34; 8. Morais 27; etc. Manufacturers: 1. Honda 111; 2. Kawasaki 106; 3. Triumph 51; 4. Yamaha 43; 5. Suzuki 6.

Official Tyre Supplier

“This weekend on English soil provided truly great and heated races for both Superbike and Supersport. The work done during the tests at Imola proved to be very important: in Superbike the R302 solution for the rear, developed from this year’s standard SC1, designed to work at lower temperatures and to prevent cold tearing, was quite popular with pretty much all the riders. In Supersport as well, the R303, also a development of the SC1, was chosen by various riders. For this reason, given the excellent feedback received, we will definitely see these two solutions again in some of the future championship races. The Superbike Championship competition is very tight every year, and this year is no exception: in race two six different manufacturers crossed the finish line in the top six places, which shows just how much Pirelli’s work contributes to placing all the teams in optimum conditions to be able to realistically aspire to the world title. In addition to congratulations to Marco Melandri and Jonathan Rea, respectively the winners of race 1 and race 2, my compliments go to Max Biaggi who had the best lap in both races as well as Sam Lowes, current ranking leader of the Pirelli Supersport best lap awards” – Giorgio Barbier, Racing Director, Pirelli Moto

In qualifying on Friday afternoon all the drivers came out straight at the beginning of the half-hour session, to benefit from the rubber that had been laid down on the track by the earlier Formula One practice session.

Lotus driver James Calado – the winner of Pirelli’s GP3 scholarship last year – claimed his first pole position after finding a clear lap on the soft tyres, claiming four extra championship points. Championship leader and DAMS driver Davide Valsecchi could only manage seventh on the grid.

The 37-lap GP2 feature race – held after Formula One qualifying – was won by Caterham’s Giedo Van Der Garde from Calado: both GP3 graduates from last year. The Lotus driver started from pole on the hard compound and then changed all four tyres in a pit stop on lap 13, at exactly the same time as second-placed Fabio Leimer (Racing Engineering), who also changed four tyres.

Both were jumped by Van Der Garde at the pit stops, who stopped two laps later and changed only the two rear tyres to take the lead. Third-placed Coloni driver Stefano Coletti also used an effective strategy to boost himself up the order, gaining five places over the course of the race. Leimer subsequently lost track position after his team was judged to have released him unsafely into the path of Calado.

The GP2 sprint race was held in cooler conditions on Sunday morning, with the starting grid formed of the top eight competitors reversed. Tyre management was again the key to a strong result with the drivers all using a new set of hard compound tyres as stipulated by the regulations. Arden driver Luis Razia won from pole position, looking after his tyres effectively to see off the challenge from Racing Engineering’s Nathanael Berthon, who dropped back at the finish.

The GP3 Series, which got underway in Barcelona, only has three sets of the P Zero hard tyre available per car for the weekend. Portuguese driver Antonio Felix da Costa, who starred in pre-season testing, took the first pole position of the season for Carlin in the closing minutes of qualifying on Saturday morning.

The first GP3 race took place straight after the GP2 feature race on Saturday, over 16 laps. Lotus driver Daniel Abt made an excellent start to take the lead from sixth on the grid from pole-sitter da Costa. But both drivers were penalised with a drive-through penalty for a jump-start, handing the lead and the win to New Zealander Mitch Evans. Halfway through the race the safety car came out, closing up the field, but Evans was able to get the most out of his tyres to pull out an extensive lead.

Evans continued to lead the championship by a small margin after an action-packed race two on Sunday morning, while American Conor Daly took his first win for Lotus.

Pirelli’s racing manager Mario Isola commented: “The GP2 drivers and GP3 drivers all coped very well with the huge challenge of Barcelona, which puts plenty of lateral energy through the tyres. The GP2 drivers had never experienced the soft tyre in Barcelona before, as we have only ever tested with the medium tyre at this track – but they adapted to this new experience very well, with Van Der Garde using a different strategy to his rivals to win the race. The challenge for the GP3 drivers was to get the most out of their tyres over an entire race distance, which was not easy with the high temperatures and abrasive surface in Barcelona. Evans was able to manage his tyres perfectly despite the appearance of a safety car in race one. Sunday’s races were held in much cooler conditions, around 10 degrees less than the temperatures we experienced on Saturday, and that obviously had a big effect on tyre behaviour. Again, the drivers in both championships dealt with this different challenge extremely effectively.”

The GP2 and GP3 Series resume in the Principality of Monaco from 23-26 May: the highlight of the calendar for both Pirelli-equipped feeder championships.

Maldonado qualified on pole, but was passed by Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso, who made his first pit stop on lap 11. The biggest winner from the first stint was McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton, who went from last to fourth before switching to the hard tyres on lap 14.

With cooler conditions of 23 degrees centigrade ambient and 32 degrees track temperature, the working range of the P Zero Silver hard tyre came into its own, making it the favoured option for most teams to race on. The other nominated tyre, the P Zero Yellow soft, offered a significant performance advantage, and was used mainly for qualifying and the beginning of the race, with every driver starting on the soft tyre.

The key to Maldonado’s victory was when he made his second stop two laps sooner than Alonso for the hard tyre, which enabled him to put in some quick laps and get past the Ferrari which pitted for the second time on lap 26. From then on, he was able to control his advantage with a three-stop strategy, which was also adopted by Alonso. After his final stop, Maldonado ran the P Zero Silver tyre for 25 laps to take victory by 3.1 seconds as he and Alonso raced to the finish on the hard tyre. Both drivers started on the soft tyre, and then used three sets of the hard tyre.

Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen, who finished third, also made good use of the hard tyre during his final 18-lap stint to close up on the leaders over the last 10 laps, having made three stops. By the end of the race, he was less than a second behind Alonso. Raikkonen used a different strategy to the two drivers in front of him, using the soft tyre twice at the beginning of the race and then completing two stints on the hard tyre.

By contrast, Hamilton was the only person to use a two-stop strategy to finish eighth – a result that was decided on the final lap – from 24^th and last on the grid, after his original pole position time was cancelled for a rules infringement.

Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel finished sixth after four pit stops, including one drive-through penalty, and retains the championship lead jointly with Alonso. This is the closest start to a season since 1983 – which was also the last time a Venezuelan scored world championship points, thanks to Johnny Cecotto. Maldonado now becomes Venezuela’s first grand prix winner.

Pirelli’s motorsport director Paul Hembery commented: “With Pastor Maldonado starting from the front and Lewis Hamilton starting from the back, this was always going to be a fascinating race, and thanks to the tyre strategy as well, it certainly delivered. Maldonado and Williams were quick right from free practice on Friday, having consistently got the most out of both tyre compounds all weekend. The final 10 laps were a fantastic duel between him and Alonso, with less than a second separating them, on similar strategies. Both drivers showed their tyre management skills perfectly, managing to avoid falling off ‘the cliff’ despite pushing hard for the race win. The tyres contributed to an extremely entertaining and tense race, but as official supplier we will always follow the wishes of the teams and the promoter and our future development direction will be dictated by what they want. For the sport, we believe that it’s fantastic to have five races, five winners and five cars – especially when it is as well deserved as the victory that we saw from Pastor and Williams today.”

PIT STOP SUMMARY – 2012 SPANISH GRAND PRIX

The first column denotes the tyres the driver started the race on.
S = Soft compound
H = Hard compound
N = New compound
U = Used compound
NC = Not classified
DT = Drive Through
The last column gives the total amount of pit stops.

***

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For further information please contact
Alexandra Schieren +33 607 03 69 03 alexandra.schieren@pirelli.com
Anthony Peacock +44 7765 896 930 anthony@mediatica.co.uk
**
Francescopaolo Tarallo +39 334 684 4307 francescopaolo.tarallo@pirelli.com
(Head of Product and Motorsport Communication)

Guadalajara (Mexico), 13 May 2012 – The fourth round of sixteen in the FIM Motocross World Championship was a great showcase for Pirelli Scorpion MX as the Mud and MidSoft 32 profiles booted the motorcycles of the first five classified riders in both categories. It was not an easy Grand Prix – run on Mexican dirt for the very first time – as a rough and technical surface was initially dusty and hard but then became rutty and slippery with extra watering. In MX1 Antonio Cairoli picked up his second win of the season with his factory KTM using MidSoft 32 front and Mud rear. The combination was the choice for the other Pirelli riders in the premier class such as Clement Desalle, David Philippaerts, Ken De Dycker and Tanel Leok. Cairoli triumphed thanks to his win in the first moto and third position in the second. “The track was a bit inconsistent,” said the championship leader. “It was slippery in some places and gave good traction in others but my Scorpion MX did a good job and provided me with grip and a decent feeling.” In MX2 Jeffrey Herlings claimed both races to increase his command at the top of the standings and raced using MidSoft 32 front and Mud rear to capture his third double of the season. The second step of the podium went to Tommy Searle, who opted to fit his Kawasaki with MidSoft 32 front and rear with 120/80-19 dimensions for the slick terrain and went 2-2 in the motos. Behind the Englishman were other Pirelli racers Jeremy Van Horebeek, Joel Roelants and Christophe Charlier. The next Grand Prix, on May 20th, will take place at Beto Carrero situated 100km north of Florianópolis, and closes this South American chapter of the calendar.

MX1

Overall Classification:

1.   Antonio Cairoli         KTM   Team Red Bull Factory

2.   Clement Desalle       Suzuki   Team Rockstar

3.   David Philippaerts   Yamaha   Team Monster Energy

4.   Ken De Dycker         KTM   Team Red Bull Factory

5.   Tanel Leok               Suzuki   Team Rockstar

Championship standings:

1.   Antonio Cairoli          KTM   p. 172

2.   Clement Desalle        Suzuki   p. 149

3.   Gautier Paulin              Kawasaki   p. 134

4.   Ken De Dycker          KTM   p. 131

5.   Christophe Pourcel   Kawasaki   p. 129

MX2

Overall Classification:

1.   Jeffrey Herlings          KTM   Team Red Bull Factory

2.   Tommy Searle            Kawasaki   Team Floride

3.   Jeremy V. Horebeek   KTM   Team Red Bull Factory

4.   Joel Roelants              Kawasaki   Team Floride

5.   Christophe Charlier    Yamaha   Team Monster Energy

Championship standings:

1.   Jeffrey Herlings          KTM   p. 194

2.   Jeremy V. Horebeek   KTM   p. 154

3.   Tommy Searle            Kawasaki   p. 153

4.   Joel Roelants              Kawasaki   p. 118

5.   Jordi Tixier                 KTM   p. 107

Pastor Maldonado claimed second on the same tyre: the Venezuelan’s best-ever qualifying result and the highest grid placing for Williams since the 2010 Brazilian Grand Prix.

Qualifying started with a track temperature of 40 degrees centigrade, which was slightly higher than qualifying in Bahrain two weeks ago. This only added to the energy put through the tyres by corners such as turn three: the longest and fastest corner of the whole Circuit de Catalunya.

With most of the teams looking at three stops tomorrow, and three sets each of the harder and softer compounds available as usual for qualifying and the race, tyre management was an important consideration from the very beginning of qualifying.

Maldonado was the first driver to switch to the soft tyre halfway through qualifying one, topping the time sheets to underline the pace he had shown since the beginning of the weekend. Both Red Bull drivers completed one run on the soft tyre towards the end of the first session.

All the drivers used the soft tyre during Q2. Most drivers went out on used softs to keep a fresh set for the final top-10 shoot-out, but while Sauber’s Kamui Kobayashi qualified in the top 10 he was unable to take part in qualifying three due to a mechanical problem: meaning that it was a fight for the top nine.

Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel was the first driver on track in Q3, completing a lap on soft tyres but not setting a time, while Mercedes driver Michael Schumacher went out on hard tyres and also did not set a time. The aborted laps from Vettel and Schumacher means that they will be able to start the race on whichever compound they like, as will Kobayashi.

Vettel was fastest during the final free practice session this morning, setting a time of 1m23.168s using the P Zero Yellow soft tyres, with the Sauber drivers also topping the time sheets for much of the session.

Pirelli’s motorsport director Paul Hembery commented: “Strategy was at the forefront of qualifying today, with a gap of around 0.8 seconds between the hard and the soft tyres, depending on the team. Historically, Barcelona is a race that has nearly always been won from the front row of the grid, but now drivers that have qualified lower down the grid still have a possibility to challenge for victory. There were some surprising eliminations in Q2; however these drivers will feel the benefit of having more fresh tyres, so it will be interesting to see what they can do with them. As Barcelona is so demanding on every aspect of the dynamics of a car, including tyre management, it is normally a very good indicator of the likely form for the rest of the year. With the teams so closely matched this season, and the upgrades introduced at Mugello beginning to take effect, it’s going to be very hard to predict a winner for tomorrow. Particular congratulations to Pastor Maldonado and Williams – who have consistently got the most out of the tyres throughout the weekend so far.”

Tyres used by the top ten qualifiers:

Hamilton: Soft
Maldonado: Soft
Alonso:  Soft
Grosjean: Soft
Raikkonen: Soft
Perez:  Soft
Rosberg: Soft
Vettel:  no time set
Schumacher: no time set
Kobayashi: no time set

Jenson Button set the fastest time during the second session this afternoon, with a time of 1m23.399 on the soft tyre. As expected, temperatures remained dry and warm for both the hour and a half sessions, allowing the drivers to experience the sort of conditions that they are likely to encounter during qualifying on Saturday. For the race, a risk of rain showers has been initially forecast.

With Barcelona being one of the circuits that places heavy demands on the tyres, the teams used the two free practice sessions to assess wear and degradation rates on different fuel loads, and also to establish a base set-up that will suit their likely strategies. With many teams having introduced upgrades at the recent Mugello test, free practice in Barcelona was also another opportunity to see how these worked in conjunction with the 2012-specification Pirelli tyres.

For the first time, there is an entire step in between the two compounds that have been nominated by Pirelli for the race. With a lap time difference of just over a second between the two compounds, strategy will be even more important during the race, putting an emphasis on the data collected by the teams during free practice today.

In the morning session, the teams concentrated exclusively on the P Zero Silver hard before moving onto the P Zero Yellow soft tyre in the afternoon with some further use of the hard compound. The fastest time in free practice one was set by Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso with a benchmark of 1m24.754s.

Pirelli’s motorsport director Paul Hembery said: “It was a very important session today for all the teams, as they aimed to gather as much information as possible in order to prepare their race strategies, which are going to have a big influence on the final outcome of the race. Barcelona is well known for a notable degree of tyre wear thanks to long and fast corners such as turn three, and although we still have plenty of data to analyse, it seems that the frontrunners will be likely to adopt a three-stop strategy. However, with a wider gap between the two nominated tyres than usual – both in terms of compound and performance – we could see some quite different strategies that are capable of springing a surprise. And of course if the rain showers that some people are predicting for Sunday materialise, then the race will take on an entirely new and unexpected complexion. With many of the teams introducing new developments in Spain, it almost feels like we are starting the season from scratch again.”

Tomorrow (Saturday) Paul Hembery will be taking part in a live online chat from the Spanish Grand Prix at 6.00pm local time (+1 hour CET), together with Pirelli test driver Jaime Alguersuari, who has been recently testing Pirelli’s latest development tyres at Jerez in the south of Spain. To join in and stream on your own website please visit: http://streamingf1.pirelli.com/share/
To watch, please visit: https://www.facebook.com/Pirelli/app_234658916574732

PIRELLI NUMBERS OF THE DAY:

Sets used overall:

Hard  53
Soft  25
Intermediates 0
Wet  0

Highest number of laps per compound:

Hard  17
Soft  18
Intermediate 0
Wet  0

PIRELLI FACT OF THE DAY:

Last year, a four-stop strategy proved the key to success for Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel: the only race other than Turkey (which also contains high-speed, high-energy corners) where this was the case. Pirelli nominated the hard and soft tyres last year in Barcelona as well, but this year’s compounds are softer across the board: the 2012 hard compound is similar in character to last year’s medium. However, the teams have plenty of experience of running the 2012 Pirelli tyres in Barcelona through pre-season testing. The final test held in March was dominated by Lotus, which went quickest on three out of the four days, using the P Zero Yellow soft tyre.

Throughout 2012, Pirelli will supply over 10,000 tyres to the GP3 Series, including all the official test sessions. As was the case in 2011, three types of dry weather compound (hard, medium and soft) and one type of wet weather compound will be produced, with just one slick compound nominated for each race. At races, three sets of slicks will be allocated to each car per weekend, along with two sets of wet tyres if necessary. There is deliberately quite a big step between the compounds in GP3, so that the drivers are well-equipped to deal with all the different characteristics of the circuits they race on.

In Barcelona the hard compound will be available to the GP3 drivers. This is one of the most demanding circuits on the calendar, particularly for the front-left tyre, which has to absorb significant amounts of lateral energy. The teams have previously tested at Barcelona with this tyre in March, so they have some idea of what to expect, even though ambient temperatures were lower than they are expected to be this weekend. The weather is another factor that increases the demands placed on the P Zero rubber in Barcelona, along with the abrasive track surface.

The GP2 drivers, by contrast, have a choice of compounds: the hard and the soft tyre, just as is the case for Formula One at Barcelona this weekend. However, as usual they will have three sets of the harder compound and only one set of the soft compound available to them – so the drivers will need to consider when to use them very carefully. Only the first GP2 race of the weekend – Saturday’s feature race – contains a mandatory pit stop (during which at least two wheels must be changed) while drivers are obliged to use a new set of the harder compound during the sprint race on Sunday morning, where they race from start to finish on the same tyre. The soft tyre is expected to come into its own during qualifying, and as a key element of the race strategy on Saturday.

Both GP3 races take place without any pit stops, but the drivers still have to know all about tyre management. Pirelli’s P Zero GP3 compounds – which come in 13-inch size, just like Formula One – are designed to deliberately degrade with a specific window of peak performance. This is so that the drivers can learn how to get the best out of them and how to formulate a race strategy.

The GP3 drivers will take to the track for the first time on Friday 11 May, with free practice at 0830 for 45 minutes. They then have qualifying for half an hour on Saturday morning at 0945, followed by race one on Saturday afternoon at 1720. Race two takes place on Sunday morning at 0925. Both races last for 16 laps, with the grid for race two formed of the top eight finishers in race one reversed. There are 10 three-car teams in GP3, all using identical Renault-powered two-litre turbo Dallaras.

The GP2 weekend gets underway with the half-hour practice session on Friday 11 May from 1200-1230. The drivers then qualify from 1600-1630. Race one takes place at 1540 on Saturday, lasting for 37 laps. Race two takes place on Sunday morning before the Spanish Grand Prix, lasting for 26 laps. A total of 13 two-car teams compete in GP2, using a Dallara chassis matched to a normally-aspirated V8 Mecachrome engine, which results in lap times that are close to those of Formula One.

Pirelli’s racing manager Mario Isola commented: “It’s going to be a busy weekend for us in Barcelona, as we have Formula One, GP2 and GP3 racing together for the first time this year. However, this is also a great opportunity for everybody to see how the three championships complement each other, and this was very much the philosophy that we had when designing the tyres for each series, as part of a ladder of talent that can take drivers all the way up to Formula One. The characteristics of the tyres in GP3 are intended to prepare drivers for what they will face in GP2, while the tyres and the regulations in GP2 have some aspects in common with Formula One. The winner of GP2 race one in Barcelona last year was Charles Pic, who is competing in Formula One this year, so that is a good example of the theory working in practice. Barcelona is certainly one of the most demanding tracks of the year that the drivers will face when it comes to managing their tyres, due to the high levels of wear and degradation that we can expect. Both in GP2 and GP3, an intelligent approach to the race will pay dividends.”

Pirelli BEST LAP Awards:

SBK Race 2 – Tom Sykes ( Kawasaki Racing Team), 1’44.707  (Lap 7)

Total BEST LAP (SBK): Checa C. (Althea Racing): 3, Sykes T. (Kawasaki Racing Team): 3; Biaggi M. (Aprilia Racing Team): 1

WSS – Sam Lowes (Bogdanka PTR Honda),  2’00.653 (Lap 16)

Total BEST LAP (WSS): Foret F. (Kawasaki Intermoto Step): 1; Parkes B. (Ten Kate Racing Products): 1; Lanzi L. (Prorace): 1; Lowes S. (Bogdanka PTR Honda): 1

Stk1000 – Fabio Massei (EAB Ten Kate Junior Team), 1’52.272 (Lap 10)

Stk600 – Riccardo Russo (Team Italia FMI), 2’08.231 (Lap 6)

Tom Sykes: “There’s been a lot of commotion today, but to get the win for Kawasaki and the ZX-10R is great for us. The bike was awesome in the race, there were a lot of damp patches, but I had such good feedback I was able to get my head down and go about business in a good way. It’s a shame the race couldn’t go two-thirds distance but, hopefully now we can move on to a very sunny England and have some consistent weather for a change!.”

Leon Haslam: “I think we made the best of a bad day, 14th on the grid wasn’t ideal. It was quite difficult to overtake coming off the dry line, but it worked out perfect. We managed to get second, Tom was too quick from the get-go and by the time I got second he had already gone. A big credit to BMW, I’m happy to just get back onto the podium.”

Eugene Laverty: “We’ve been strong all weekend here at Monza in these conditions but I think we’re all just relieved to get that race over. I’m happy to be on the podium, home safe and sound. When I saw Leon go in front of me because he’s very experienced, I was happy to follow him and let him lead the way because there were some damp patches. Pleased for the podium after a tough day.”

As the race was so short, but beyond the lap count that would mean a restart, only half points were awarded to all the top 15 finishers. Tissot-Superpole winner Sylvain Guintoli (Effenbert-Liberty Ducati) looked like he would be the man to challenge Sykes but his bike stalled on the final warm-up lap and he could not get back to the grid in time to make the start. Leon Haslam (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) and Eugene Laverty (Aprilia Racing Team) headed up a warring group of six potential podium riders, with Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing Team) fifth and Carlos Checa (Althea Racing Ducati) seventh.

Sykes is the fifth different race winner of the year and race victories have now been taken by Aprilia, Ducati, Honda and Kawasaki riders, after only seven individual race finishes.

Results: 1. Sykes T. (GBR) Kawasaki ZX-10R 14’08.800; 2. Haslam L. (GBR) BMW S1000 RR 9.709; 3. Laverty E. (IRL) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 10.119; 4. Melandri M. (ITA) BMW S1000 RR 10.294; 5. Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 10.527; 6. Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 10.638; 7. Checa C. (ESP) Ducati 1098R 10.899; 8. Giugliano D. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 12.195; 9. Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 13.199; 10. Badovini A. (ITA) BMW S1000 RR 19.372; 11. Aoyama H. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR 24.551; 12. Davies C. (GBR) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 24.655; 13. Berger M. (FRA) Ducati 1098R 24.662; 14. Zanetti L. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 24.668; 15. Camier L. (GBR) Suzuki GSX-R1000 24.810; 16. Mercado L. (ARG) Kawasaki ZX-10R 24.935; etc.

Points (after 4 of 14 rounds): 1. Biaggi 97.5; 2. Checa 95.5; 3. Sykes 91.5; 4. Melandri 72.5; 5. Rea 70; 6. Haslam 68; 7. Guintoli 66; 8. Laverty 64; 9. Smrz 42.5; 10. Giugliano 41; etc. Manufacturers: 1. Ducati 140.5; 2. Aprilia 108; 3. Kawasaki 97.5; 4. BMW 96; 5. Honda 74; 6. Suzuki 20.5.
World Supersport

Jules Cluzel (PTR Honda) won what was only his fourth ever Supersport race, in wet conditions at Monza. He finally held off an exciting late challenge from Sam Lowes (Bogdanka PTR Honda) who passed him going into the final corner, but was forced wide to allow Cluzel to duck inside and claim the prize. Some way back, Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki DeltaFin Lorenzini) was a safe third, ahead of the impressive wet-weather abilities of Imre Toth (Racing Team Toth). Fifth was wild card rider Stefano Cruciani (Puccetti Racing Kawasaki Italia).

Results: 1. Cluzel J. (FRA) Honda CBR600RR 33’08.897; 2. Lowes S. (GBR) Honda CBR600RR 0.312; 3. Sofuoglu K. (TUR) Kawasaki ZX-6R 17.369; 4. Toth I. (HUN) Honda CBR600RR 21.528; 5. Cruciani S. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX-6R 29.469; 6. Baldolini A. (ITA) Triumph Daytona 675 32.214; 7. Roccoli M. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R6 43.577; 8. Antonelli A. (ITA) Honda CBR600RR 43.949; etc.

Points (after 4 of 13 rounds): 1. Sofuoglu 61; 2. Lowes 51; 3. Foret 49; 4. Cluzel 48; 5. Baldolini 34; 6. Parkes 29; 7. Leonov 26; 8. Lanzi 25; etc. Manufacturers: 1. Honda 86; 2. Kawasaki 86; 3. Yamaha 40; 4. Triumph 40; 5. Suzuki 6.

Superstock 1000

Lorenzo Savadori (Barni Racing Team Italia) took the all-new Ducati 1199 Panigale to its first win in this class of racing, on a drying track at Monza. With the previous championship leader Sylvain Barrier (BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet) falling late in the race the championship lead was taken over by Savadori, who has 53 points to Barrier’s unchanged 50. Christoffer Bergman (BWG Racing Kawasaki) was an impressive second, only 1.65 seconds behind, with Eddi La Marra (Barni Racing Team Italia) right behind him. Fabio Massei (EAB Ten Kate Junior Team) was fourth in the 11-lap race with Marco Bussolotti (SK Energy Racing Team Ducati). With his third place La Mara is now only five points from the leader Savadori and two behind Barrier.

Results: 1. Savadori L. (ITA) Ducati 1199 Panigale 21’21.255; 2. Bergman C. (SWE) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1.651; 3. La Marra E. (ITA) Ducati 1199 Panigale 1.884; 4. Massei F. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 3.071; 5. Bussolotti M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 11.194; 6. Gyorfi A. (HUN) Honda CBR1000RR 21.378; 7. Reiterberger M. (GER) BMW S1000 RR 26.047; 8. Baroni L. (ITA) BMW S1000 RR 30.259; etc.

Points (after 3 of 10 rounds): 1. Savadori 53; 2. Barrier 50; 3. La Marra 48; 4. Reiterberger 35; 5. Baz 30; 6. Bergman 28; 7. Massei 23; 8. Baroni 20; etc. Manufacturers: 1. Ducati 61; 2. BMW 59; 3. Kawasaki 50; 4. Honda 23; 5 Aprilia 11.

Superstock 600

Riccardo Russo (Team Italia FMI Yamaha) won the Superstock 600 class in fully wet conditions on his R6, after a deluge of rain forced the start of the race to be put back as full rain tyres were fitted. It was his second win of the year. Gauthier Duwelz (Team MTM Racing) was second on another Yamaha with the first Honda home being the EAB Ten Kate Junior Team CBR600RR of Bastien Chesaux. Michael van der Mark, Chesaux’s team-mate, was fourth and only 3.5 seconds from Russo.

Results: 1. Russo R. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R6 13’18.546; 2. Duwelz G. (BEL) Yamaha YZF R6 1.694; 3. Chesaux B. (SUI) Honda CBR600RR 2.307; 4. Vd Mark M. (NED) Honda CBR600RR 3.509; 5. Vitali L. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R6 6.211; 6. Calero Perez N. (ESP) Yamaha YZF R6 6.254; 7. Cove a T. (NED) Kawasaki ZX-6R 10.982; 8. Schacht A. (DEN) Honda CBR600RR 16.186; etc.

Points (after 3 of 10 rounds): 1. Russo 61; 2. Vd Mark 54; 3. Calero Perez 50; 4. Duwelz 42; 5. Chesaux 26; 6. Egea 24; 7. Vitali 20; 8. Schacht 18; etc.

The teams were allowed to use whichever tyres from their testing allocation of 100 sets per car per year remained to them, trying out all the slick compounds, including some runs on the supersoft during the final day. The allocation of 100 tyres also includes the young driver test at the end of the year.

Heavy rain on the opening day also meant that the drivers got the chance to test the Cinturato Green intermediate and Cinturato Blue full wet, but the bad conditions limited the amount of overall running on day one. The weather was much better on Wednesday and Thursday, allowing teams to complete their test programmes, which were aimed at evaluating aerodynamic and other upgrades, as well as increasing their understanding of the 2012 Pirelli tyre range.

Many of the third drivers also got to sample the current Pirelli tyres for the first time at Mugello: a circuit that tests every parameter of a tyre’s performance, thanks to the wide variety of speeds and corners contained within the lap. Mugello has quite an abrasive surface, with long medium to high-speed corners as well as a tight hairpin bend and several quick changes of direction.

The fastest lap of the test was set by Lotus Romain Grosjean on Thursday, using the P Zero Silver hard tyre to post a time of 1m21.035s. By way of comparison, the lap record for Mugello, which dates from 2004, is 1m18.704s – set using different regulations and different tyres.

Pirelli’s motorsport director Paul Hembery said: “With so few testing opportunities available over the course of the year, this was a valuable chance for the teams to expand their knowledge of the characteristics of our tyre range, as well as try out different upgrades before the European season begins next weekend. This is traditionally a time when teams introduce new parts, and with the competition now being closer than it has ever been before, understanding how the tyres interact with the latest car developments will be key to establishing an advantage. The opening day at Mugello was something of a wash-out, but the teams were able to complete some longer runs over the last two days with our medium and hard tyres in particular, enabling them to collect plenty of useful data. This will be extremely valuable when it comes to planning race strategy in future.”

Testing facts:
The teams completed 405 laps on day one, 1005 laps on day two and 1134 laps on day three. This is approximately equivalent to 43 grands prix.

Ambient temperatures ranged from 13 to 24 degrees centigrade over the three days test, while track temperatures ranged from 15 to 37 degrees centigrade.

Testing numbers:
Total number of sets brought to Mugello: 366 sets
Of which Supersoft tyres: 25 sets
Of which Soft tyres: 50 sets
Of which Medium tyres: 107 sets
Of which Hard tyres: 118 sets
Of which Intermediate tyres: 35 sets
Of which Wet tyres: 31 sets

Total amount of sets used: 207
Of which Supersoft tyres: 3 sets
Of which Soft tyres: 20 sets
Of which Medium tyres: 69 sets
Of which Hard tyres: 92 sets
Of which Intermediate tyres: 15 sets
Of which Wet tyres: 8 sets

Longest run:
16 laps on the Hard compound
14 laps of the Medium compound
13 laps on the Soft compound
6 laps on the Supersoft compound

Tyre summary:
Day 1
1. Alonso: 1’22’’444 on Hard New
2. Webber: 1’23’’648 on Medium Used
3. Vergne: 1’23’’891 on Medium New

Day 2
1. Grosjean: 1’21’’603 on Hard New
2. Kobayashi: 1’21’’603 on Soft New
3. Vettel: 1’21’’825 on Hard New

Day 3
1. Grosjean: 1’21’’035 on Hard New
2. Vettel: 1’21’’267 on Medium New
3. Alonso: 1’21’’363 on Hard Used

For further information please contact:
Alexandra Schieren +33 607 03 69 03 alexandra.schieren@pirelli.com

Anthony Peacock +44 7765 896 930 anthony@mediatica.co.uk
***
Francescopaolo Tarallo +39 334 684 4307 francescopaolo.tarallo@pirelli.com
(Head of Motorsport and Product Communications)

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“For Pirelli this is our home race, since our headquarters are just a few kilometres from the Monza National circuit. This track is historically probative for tyres: the extreme length of the straight stretches, the sustained high speeds and the violent braking zones stress the central part of the tyre section in a way that no other track in the World Superbike Championship does. Basically, the thermal energy developed and null lean angle both in acceleration and in braking is about 5 times more than that developed at Assen. And then there is the thermal stress on the right shoulder where, especially on the Biassono curve, the tyre stays leaned over for a long time at high speeds in acceleration, reaching thermal energy values on the shoulder that approach the record values of Phillip Island. For this reason we have decided to bring 4 solutions for the rear for the riders to choose from: an SC0 and an SC1 with an oversized 200 profile like the ones already seen during the Australian round. The third solution is also SC1 and last, but not least, the fourth solution is an SC2, both of which are in the standard size. The SC0 and the two SC1 solutions have a reinforced central section which uses an SC2 compound, precisely for the reasons described above.”

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