Beto Carrero (Brazil), 20 May 2013 ­– The FIM Motocross World Championship is approaching the halfway stage and the Pirelli Scorpion MX still continues to dominate. On this occasion victory was celebrated at the Grand Prix of Brazil thanks to Antonio Cairoli and Jeffrey Herlings, in front of more than 40,000 spectators over two days at the circuit located next to a popular theme park. The narrow and twisty track was surrounded by grandstands and the red dirt was softened by rainfall during Saturday night that saw most Pirelli riders opt for a tyre combination of Scorpion MidSoft 32F front and Scorpion MidSoft 32 rear with the exception of the factory Suzuki duo that chose dimensions of 120/80-19 on the rear and 110/90-19 for the front end in the search for the best traction on the slimy surface.

Antonio Cairoli returned to the top step of the MX1 podium in Brazil after a gap of two years, by winning the first MX1 moto and then the Superfinal for his third double of the season. The rostrum was rounded off by other Pirelli riders Clement Desalle and Kevin Strijbos who both fill third and fifth positions in the championship standings respectively.

Success was also enjoyed in MX2 as leader and world champion Jeffrey Herlings continued his undefeated Grand Prix streak, although a crash in the Superfinal saw Jose Butron beat the Dutchman for the first time in 2013. On the podium was team-mate Jordi Tixier with third position and ahead of another Dutchman Glenn Coldenhoff who is now closing-in on third place in the standings. At Beto Carrero the Pirelli Racing Service benefitted from excellent support by Pirelli Brazil that seamlessly integrated with the Grand Prix operation headed by Giovanni Gatti. After a fortnight break the FIM Motocross World Championship will reconvene on June 9th at Ernee for the Grand Prix of France.

Grand Prix of Brazil, Beto Carrero circuit: Temperature 24°, Humidity 64%

MX1 overall classification:

MX1 Championship standings (after 7 rounds):

MX2 overall classification:

MX2 Championship standings (after 7 rounds):

Milan, May 20, 2013 – As has been the case for the last two years, the P Zero Yellow soft and P Zero Red supersoft have been nominated for the Monaco Grand Prix: the two softest tyres in Pirelli’s range. Monaco is the slowest and most twisty circuit on the calendar, where it is hard to overtake, so this makes rapid warm-up and high levels of mechanical grip from the tyres essential. Nonetheless, wear and degradation is also the lowest of the year: meaning that a maximum of two pit stops per car should be the norm. Unlike every other grand prix, free practice takes place on Thursday rather than Friday, which has a consequent effect on track evolution – as the track is still open to normal traffic at certain points during the grand prix weekend. In the past it has also rained at Monaco, meaning that the Cinturato Green intermediate and Cinturato Blue wet tyres could also come into play. 

Paul Hembery: “In Monaco we’d expect an average of two pit stops per car, because in complete contrast to the last race at Barcelona, Monaco has very low tyre wear and degradation. This doesn’t make the race any less strategic however, as in the past we have seen drivers trying completely different strategies yet ending up very close to each other at the finish. The last race in Spain was won from lower down on the grid than it has ever been won before, so it will be interesting to see if this pattern can repeat itself in Monaco: a track that is renowned for being difficult to overtake on. Because of this, strategy will become even more important than usual, with teams trying to use tactics to improve on their starting positions.”

Jean Alesi: “Monaco is a circuit that I’ve always absolutely loved: I think I’ve been on the podium three times, set two fastest race laps, and in my first race there I finished second, behind Ayrton Senna. My first taste of the Monaco circuit was actually with Pirelli, when I was driving for Tyrrell in 1990 and we had qualifying tyres. Driving on them was so much fun and the whole place is simply magical. When you were out on a qualifying lap the crowd used to just erupt…Qualifying as high up the grid as you can is important, but maybe not quite as important as it used to be. We’ve seen many times this year that the race is much more important, and with a good strategy you can overcome a grid position that is not so good. So even if qualifying isn’t perfect there is still the opportunity to do something special and that is a big advantage that Pirelli has brought to Formula One. Tyre wear and degradation is low in Monaco but it is still something you have to think about because the circuit gains massively in grip over the course of the weekend: perhaps more than anywhere else all year. You always use the soft tyres at Monaco so you can push hard, which is a great feeling.” 

The circuit from a tyre point of view: 

So far, there have been no safety car periods during the 2013 season. The tight confines of Monaco, with its never-ending Armco and very little run-off means that this is statistically likely to change. Along with Singapore, Korea and Canada, Monaco has one of the highest probabilities of safety car deployment all year, at around 80%. This will clearly have a profound effect on the race strategy. 

The top 10 finishers last year all employed a one-stop strategy, stopping at about the lap 30 mark. All but two of them started the race on the supersoft tyre and then moved onto the soft.

The Monte Carlo Grand Prix track has a record number of ‘leasts’ – as well as being the slowest track of the year, the surface is also the least abrasive of the whole season. 

Further information on Monaco and the demands it places on the tyres, as well as information about how the compounds are selected for each grand prix, can be found on a 3D animated video starring Pirelli’s Racing Manager Mario Isola. This is copyright-free for media use on Pirelli’s Formula One website: www.pirelli.com/f1pressarea 

Technical tyre notes: 

Monaco is particularly heavy on brakes. This transmits heat to the tyres, which adds to the stress placed on the tyre structure. Entering Sainte Devote, for example, the cars scrub off 160kph in just 100 metres. The tyres also have extremely big demands placed on them in the swimming pool complex, where they hit the kerbs at more than 200kph and experience lateral forces of 3.65g. 

The driver makes over 130 significant steering inputs during every lap at the Monaco Grand Prix, changing gear on average every 50 metres. All of these actions work the tyres extremely hard. 

The Loews hairpin is the slowest corner of the season, taken at just 47kph. Due to the low speed there is no aerodynamic downforce at work, so the full steering lock means that the front-right tyre is doing all the work when it comes to changing direction. 

The tyre choices so far:

Meet the Pirelli F1 Team: Tina Vajanszki – tyre fitter 

Tina, one of Pirelli’s 18 tyre fitters, is British although her family background is from Hungary. When she’s not at races she is based at Pirelli’s United Kingdom logistics hub at Didcot and lives in Derbyshire. She has been a tyre fitter since 2006 and has worked with Pirelli since the Italian firm entered Formula One in 2011. Having studied mechanical engineering at Birmingham Polytechnic, she started her F1 career driving trucks, going to every European Formula One race from 2004 onwards, but then moved into tyres.

Her role as a fitter is extremely varied. On arrival at the circuit her first job is to allocate the correct tyres to the corresponding rims of each team, following the list of barcodes that is supplied by the FIA (which ensures that Pirelli has no influence in which tyres go to each team). She then checks each bar code with the help of a bar code reader, the data from which is later fed into Pirelli’s Race Tyre System.

Once the tyres are allocated, her duties consist of helping one of Pirelli’s race engineers, with whom she works closely, during each session and checking tyres afterwards. When she is back at base in Didcot the work is mainly preparing the F1, GP2 and GP3 tyres as well as associated equipment for the next event.

Away from Formula One her interests include running (which also keeps her fit for what is a very physically demanding job) and motorcycling. She is a keen supporter of football club Sheffield United, attending home and away fixtures when time permits. 

Other news from Pirelli: 

The third round of the Italian Rally Championship took place the weekend before the Monaco Grand Prix, the Rally dell’Adriatico. Pirelli-equipped driver Umberto Scandola won the event in his factory Skoda Fabia S2000. 

Nine-time world rally champion Sebastien Loeb, who won three titles with Pirelli from 2008-2010, will also be at the Monaco Grand Prix this weekend, competing in the Porsche Supercup. 

Pirelli recently celebrated the 50^th anniversary of Lamborghini with a special press conference and reception at the Italian tyre firm’s headquarters in Milan. The very first production Lamborghini, the 1963 350 GTV, was launched on Pirelli tyres and Pirelli has supplied original equipment for Lamborghini ever since. 

Pirelli embarks on English soil armed with the results and satisfactions obtained in the first rounds of the eni FIM World Superbike Championship, but well aware that there is still plenty of season ahead full of challenges and problems. At Donington Park, the cradle of the World Superbike Championship since the very first round of the factory derivative championship was raced here in 1988, historically the weather has been the biggest unknown factor and, precisely for this reason, the tyre manufacturer from Milan will provide the riders with a vast choice of solutions that, in terms of compound hardness, covers the entire range available.

Thanks to the experience gained throughout the years as sole supplier for the World Superbike Championship, but also in the British Superbike Championship, in addition to their standard tyres, Pirelli has developed some solutions for both the Superbike and Supersport class for the rear in a medium compound which, especially in cases of cold temperatures, could prove to be priceless for the teams and riders.

On the other hand, in the event of pleasant weather, the riders will almost certainly choose the standard SC0 solution because it performs the best and is capable of providing the most grip. However, it is less protected from the cold and therefore more prone to cold tearing if used in temperatures which are too low.

For the Superbike Championship, currently led by Aprilia rider Sylvain Guintoli (137 points) followed by team mate Eugene Laverty (124), Englishman Tom Sykes (119) on Kawasaki and Italian Marco Melandri (96) on BMW, the round could shuffle the deck further in the event of rain because the English riders know this track quite well and they are specialists in wet riding.

The Donington Park circuit was built in 1931 specifically for motorcycle racing. During World War II activities were interrupted and the track was closed until 1971 when it was reopened by a local businessman who was a motor sports enthusiast.

The track is 4,023 metres long with 7 right-hand turns and 5 left-handers. It runs clockwise and the pole position rider starts on the left. Maximum slope is 8% and the turn radii go from a minimum of 24 metres to a maximum of 333 metres.

Donington Park is located in the Eastern Midlands 180 km north of London near Sherwood Forest and it was built in a natural amphitheatre that is quite conducive to watching the races for the spectators. It is a fairly fast track with a lot of uphills and downhills and some fast turns that require sharp braking and acceleration and put the riders to a hard test. The races are often held in the rain which makes the asphalt slick and slippery and that increases the riders’ efforts, at the same time highlighting their wet riding skills.

Donington Park from a tyre point of view:

The British Donington Park circuit is a mixed type track. It is partly made up of fast lines with various uphills and downhills (i.e. Holly Wood) and partly of slow turns with straight stretches in between which require sharp braking and acceleration such as the Melbourne Hairpin (turn 10). Then, on the straight stretch coming out of the Coppice ( turn 8 ) the highest acceleration coming out of a turn is reached.

But the most interesting elements of the circuit are the two medium turns that break up the straight stretch opposite the finish (Old Hairpin and McLeans Corner). The turns are at the same time abrupt like a chicane but fast like a long turn, with the bikes never dropping below 100 kph. The rider can make up significant time increasing minimum speeds along the kerb and by navigating these two turns expertly can result in earning precious tenths of a second.

If compared to other tracks, Donington Park is a circuit where extremely fast speeds are not reached. The maximum speed is just above 260 kph and the average speed is about 160 kph. This is an abyssal difference compared to the 340 kph at Monza or the 320 kph at Phillip Island, with average speeds of 200 kph or 180 kph. Combined with the typical local weather conditions, this translates into an extremely cold operating temperature for the tyres: in fact, the surface temperature oscillates from a maximum of 110°C to an extremely low minimum of 50°C. The Diablo Superbike tyres must bring out their maximum flexibility, guaranteeing the usual 55° lean angle and the usual lateral and combined accelerations of 1.4 Gs, despite the fact that the operating temperature will be the same as normal street use.

Especially in the first part of the circuit great stability is required for the front end. Consequently the main goal of the front tyre must be to hold its conformation as much as possible and to guarantee the support needed to manage downhill turns. Particularly when hot, where the elasticity and rigidity of the tyre decrease, the use of a rigid front tyre may prove to be necessary such as, for example, the SC1 S41 and SC2 R982 solutions.

On the other hand, the rear tyres are affected mainly by the sharp and violent acceleration phases which are typical of the track, especially coming out of the Coppice. In cold weather conditions the tread compound, especially the softer ones, struggles to reach proper operating temperatures and, because of the high rigidity properties, risks suffering lacerations and surface tears in acceleration. In these cases it is advisable to use more mechanically robust solutions on the rear such as the SC1 R831 or the SC2 R1300.

Wear from tearing tends to decrease greatly with high temperatures. On the other hand, however, in these conditions the track generally provides very poor grip. Therefore, in order to guarantee more precise lines, the riders can resort to using softer solutions such as the SC0 R1261 or the SC1 R828, better able to penetrate the road surface and to guarantee correct traction.

Donington Park from a technical point of view:

“In past seasons we raced at different times of the year on this track, such as March, September and then May” remembers the Pirelli Moto Racing Director, Giorgio Barbier “In the late ’80s, specifically in 1989, we were even welcomed by 4°C and a beautiful snowfall! From that time on we have always tried to move this round toward the warmest season and this is one of the reasons the races here will be at the end of May this year. Despite this, in terms of weather and, more specifically in terms of temperature, Donington is always an unknown. There could be springtime conditions with pleasant temperature which would allow even soft compounds like the SC0 to be used, or there could be particularly cold and even rainy days where riders are forced to use intermediate or wet tyres with more protection instead of the slicks in order to prevent the tearing and excessive wear caused by the cold.  This is why we typically try to bring a vast choice of solutions and alternatives to this round. If the weather is hot or in any case the temperatures are pleasant, then most of the riders will most likely use the SC0 rear solution, the softest in the range and also the one which able to provide the best grip. Otherwise, if it is cold, we will be ready to provide them tyres such as the SC1 and SC2 solutions, with slightly lower performance in terms of grip, but which would allow them to ride excellent races in any case. Then, if by some unfortunate chance there is rain, we will have the wet tyre available as well as the new intermediate which the riders have not yet had the chance to test”.

Pirelli solutions for the Superbike and Supersport classes:

Pirelli will be bringing 3768 tyres to Donington for the fifth round of the eni FIM World Superbike Championship. The reason for this quantity, less than what is usually brought to other European races, is that only the Superbike and Supersport classes will be competing at the English circuit. Specifically, compared to the total number of tyres brought by Pirelli, 1740 will be reserved for the Superbike class and 2028 will be for Supersport. Each Superbike rider will have 36 front and 40 rear tyres to choose from, whereas the Supersport riders will have 25 front and 27 rear tyres.

In detail, for the Superbike class the manufacturer with the long P will bring 3 different slick solutions for the front and 4 for the rear, in addition to a quantity of 2 per rider of the rear qualifier and the intermediate solutions, with 4 available for the front and as many for the rear, as well as 8 wet tyres for the front and 8 for the rear.

The choice of slicks for the front anticipates two SC1 soft compound solutions and a medium compound SC2. In fact, both the standard SC1 and SC2 will be present (respectively the specific R426 and R982 versions) which have so far been brought and used with excellent results to all the rounds raced this year, as well as the S41 development SC1 which was already seen at Aragón and Assen as an alternative to the standard SC1 and designed for the purpose of guaranteeing greater mechanical stability. The latter solution will be a good compromise between the SC2, which provides solidity, and the SC1 in terms of grip.

On the rear included in the dry solutions will be the new standard SC0 soft solution (R1261), making its début, although in all actuality, albeit with a reinforced central compound, it already demonstrated its characteristics at Monza where it was used by all the riders on the grid, allowing Melandri and Sykes to break historic records. The SC0 is ideal to tackle smooth asphalt and high temperatures because it provides maximum contact area on smooth asphalt and maximum traction development at high temperatures, in addition to its greater performance stability under thermal decline. However, if temperatures are not high enough, the riders will be able to count on another three alternatives: the standard SC1 (R828), which, by its very nature, is the most versatile solution and the one that best adapts to different tracks and temperatures, a new SC1 development solution (R831) as an alternative to the standard SC1, capable of ensuring better grip compared to the SC2 and more robustness with respect to the SC1 and, to complete the range of choices available to the riders, the R1300 SC2 medium-hard compound solution, which Pirelli only brought to Phillip Island and which should provide greater resistance to wear than the standard SC1 because it is more protected, but at the same time more grip than the standard SC2. For Superpole on Saturday a super soft tyre will be available as always in order to allow the riders to obtain the best possible times for grid placement.

For the front the Supersport riders will be able to choose from the two standard solutions, the SC1 soft compound (P1177) and the SC2 medium (R1031), already used and brought to all the races so far in 2013.

In the Supersport class as well, for the rear the riders will be able to choose the new standard SC0 (R1557) and standard SC1 in medium compound, the R303, already brought to the first four rounds of the championship. New and making its début will be the R1442 solution, a development solution that falls midway between the SC0 and the SC1 in terms of compound hardness, providing mileage similar to that of the SC1 but with greater grip, as well as being better protected against the cold than the SC0.

The 2012 Pirelli statistics for Donington Park:
• Total number of tyres Pirelli brought: 3712
• Number of solutions (dry, intermediate, wet and qualifier only for rear) for the Superbike class: 5 front and 7 rear
• Number of solutions for the Supersport class (dry, intermediate and wet): 4 front and 5 rear
• Number of tyres available for each Superbike rider: 35 front and 40 rear
• Number of tyres available for each Supersport rider: 24 front and 28 rear
• Superbike Best Lap Awards won both by Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing Team) in 1’28.992 (Race 1, 6th lap) and in 1’28.995 (Race 2, 4th lap)
• Supersport Best Lap Awards won by: Sam Lowes (Bogdanka PTR Honda) in 1’31.097 (21st lap)
• Temperature in Race 1: air 17° C, asphalt 31° C
• Temperature in Race 2: air 18° C, asphalt 31° C
• Maximum race speed reached by Pirelli tyres: 274,4 km/h, Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing Team) in Race 1 on the 19th lap.

The move follows the Spanish Grand Prix, which had four pit stops per driver. The new range will combine elements from the 2012 and 2013 tyres to have both durability and performance.

Pirelli’s motorsport director Paul Hembery said: “Our aim is to provide the teams with a new range which mixes the stability of the 2012 tyres and the performance of the current ones. As a company, we have always moved quickly to make improvements where we see them to be necessary. After evaluating data from the first few races this year, we’ve decided to introduce a further evolution as it became clear at the Spanish Grand Prix that the number of pit stops was too high. The Spanish Grand Prix was won with four pit stops, which has only happened once before in our history. These changes will also mean that the tyres are not worked quite as hard, reducing the number of pit stops.”

With limited testing time, it’s clear now that our original 2013 tyre range was probably too performance-orientated for the current regulations. However, having identified this issue, we’re determined to rapidly resolve it. It’s worth underlining that the current regulations for winter tests limit the opportunity to test the tyres under the same conditions as the race season because of the lower temperature and restricted time. The Teams are of the same opinion as we are in wanting longer testing times and different locations for the next tests. We developed the 2013 tyres on the basis of careful simulations that were, however, not sufficient, taking into account the improved speed of cars (up to 3 seconds per lap).

We’ve also taken this step to avoid the delaminations that were caused by track debris. It’s important to point out that these delaminations, which occur when the tread comes off, do not compromise the safety of the tyres as the core structure of the tyre is not affected in any way, helping drivers to complete the lap and to change the damaged tyres safely. These delaminations were due to damage from debris that overheated the tread.   We’d like to thank all the teams for their continued and extremely valued support as we worked with them to identify the correct compromise between the pure speed that makes us the world leader in the Ultra High Performance sector and a global spectacle that is easy for Formula One fans to follow.”

During this year’s first weekend of GP2 and GP3 competing together alongside Formula One, Pirelli’s junior drivers from both categories learned a lot about tyre management. With GP3 followed by GP2 now acknowledged as the standard route to Formula One, the lessons taken on board in the feeder series will have a vital effect on the careers of the champions of tomorrow.

Pirelli’s racing manager Mario Isola commented: “At the first round of this year’s GP3 Series, the drivers had to understand our new tyres very quickly. However, they all did a fantastic job and we could see already in the second race many drivers putting into practice everything they had learned during the first race. With Barcelona being probably the most demanding track of the year for the tyres, the drivers in both categories were faced with a very tough task but showed commendable maturity and racecraft that will stand them in good stead for Formula One. In GP2, we once again saw a wide variety of race strategies, with the fastest drivers who were able to use their tyres most effectively rewarded with the top points finishes. With both categories racing together for the first time it was a busy weekend for Pirelli, but we believe that we were able to give drivers from each series the ability to show the best of their skills and underline the correlation between the two feeder championships.”

For GP2, the P Zero Orange hard and P Zero Yellow soft tyres were nominated (the same nominations made for the opening two rounds in Malaysia and Bahrain). For GP3, just one compound is selected per race weekend: in Spain it was the hard compound. All the GP3 compounds carry the same yellow markings however.

With warm temperatures, an abrasive surface and a challenging track layout that features several long corners, Barcelona is extremely demanding on tyres as it puts one of the highest energy loadings of the year through them. Consequently, looking after the tyres by knowing when to push and when not to push was an essential skill in both categories.

In GP2, where there is a compulsory pit stop in the feature race, Sauber reserve driver Robin Frijns took victory on Saturday. Like all the frontrunners, he qualified on the soft tyre, lining up eighth on the grid. He made a good start and chose to make his stop for the hard tyres as soon as the pit stop window opened on lap six. This decision proved crucial to his race victory, as he was able to undercut his key rivals while managing his tyres correctly to the finish.

The Dutchman said: “I learned quite a lot from the last race in Bahrain. Everybody knows that Barcelona is quite a hard track on the tyres as well. But I managed them quite well and left a pretty decent gap to Jolyon Palmer the whole race and then Felipe Nasr came back and he was quite quick. I still had some tyres left so I could pull away a bit. That’s how I won.”

In the sprint race on Sunday, with no pit stops, Stefano Coletti won on the hard tyres and increased his championship lead, having got past polesitter Johnny Cecotto at the first corner. All the drivers used the hard tyre with the exception of Tom Dillman, who set the fastest lap of the race on the P Zero Yellow soft.

In GP3, a brand new 400-horsepower car means that the Pirelli P Zero range has been heavily revised for this season. With no pit stops allowed, the hard tyres were chosen for the heavy demands of Barcelona.

Cypriot driver Tio Ellinas became the first GP3 driver to win consecutive races in different seasons thanks to victory in the feature race, following on from his win at the final round in Monza last year. He also claimed pole and fastest lap, judging his pace perfectly and demonstrating the performance of the new P Zero compound and GP3 car, which is up to five seconds per lap quicker than the previous package.

Ellinas said: “We pushed from the beginning. We had a good fight; I think I was very clean with my moves. Towards the end we managed the win. Tyres were key today and now we know how to work them for the next race.”

As is the case for GP2, the grid for the sprint race in GP3 consisted of the top eight feature race finishers reversed. The 50th race in the history of GP3 resulted in a one-two for the new Koiranen GP team from Finland, with Aaro Vainio winning ahead of Kevin Korjus (who started from reverse pole). Vainio made a superb start to lead from fourth on the grid, managing his pace perfectly all the way to the finish. Once again, knowing exactly when and how hard to push in order to contain degradation was the key to success.

This year’s GP2 season takes in 11 rounds and 22 races, with GP3 taking in eight rounds and 16 races. The next round of the GP2 series takes place in Monaco from May 23-26, while the next round of GP3 is a stand-alone event at Valencia on June 16.

Follow us on Twitter @Pirelli_Media and @pirellisport or Facebook: Pirelli Motorsport. Please also visit the Pirelli website for more information on the company: www.pirelli.com.

For further information please contact:

Alexandra Schieren +33 607 03 69 03 alexandra.schieren@pirelli.com
Anthony Peacock +44 7765 896 930 anthony@mediaticaworld.com
Francescopaolo Tarallo +39 334 684 4307 francescopaolo.tarallo@pirelli.com
(Head of Product and Motorsport Communication)

Two-time world champion Fernando Alonso won his home grand prix using a four-stop sprint strategy, ahead of Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen who stopped three times. Alonso claimed his 32^nd win, which was his second at the Spanish Grand Prix, while his Ferrari team mate Felipe Massa claimed his first podium of the year despite starting from ninth on the grid following a penalty.

Alonso also set a new record by becoming the only driver to win the Spanish Grand Prix from a far down as fifth on the grid, demonstrating how tyre strategy can be used to gain track position. Raikkonen – who used a completely different strategy to Alonso with one stop less – nonetheless ran him close, finishing the race just 10 seconds behind the winner. Raikkonen was the only driver to complete three opening stints on the P Zero White medium before one final stint on the P Zero Orange hard.

As a result, the championship has now closed up considerably with the top three drivers covered by just 17 points.

All the drivers started on the P Zero White medium tyre with the exception of the two Marussias and the Caterham of Charles Pic, who elected to start on the P Zero Orange hard. An early stop for Ferrari allowed Alonso to get past the Red Bull of Sebastian Vettel and from then on the Spaniard was able to plan his strategy perfectly in order not to lose track position.

Pirelli’s motorsport director Paul Hembery said: “Strategy was again at the forefront of the Spanish Grand Prix, which as usual was very demanding on the tyres because of the unique characteristics of this circuit. This is why we saw high levels of degradation, which should not be seen again to this extent for the rest of the year. Our aim is to have between two and three stops at every race, so it’s clear that four is too many: in fact, it’s only happened once before, in Turkey during our first year in the sport. We’ll be looking to make some changes, in time for Silverstone, to make sure that we maintain our target and solve any issues rapidly. Congratulations to Fernando Alonso and Ferrari who pushed hard from start to finish to make the four-stop strategy work for them and seal a very popular result here. They planned their strategy from the start of the weekend, using the tyres wisely during qualifying, and then made it count with some fantastic overtaking moves.”

Fastest times of the day by compound:

Longest stint of the race:

 Truth-O-Meter:

We predicted a three-stopper, but in fact Alonso went for a four-stop sprint strategy. He stopped for the first time on lap nine for the hard tyres, hard again on lap 21, medium on lap 36, and hard on lap 49. His team mate Felipe Massa adopted a similar strategy.

The new 17 inch Diablo Superbike tyres continue to bring satisfaction for Pirelli, allowing the eni FIM World Superbike Championship riders to improve on lap times, break records and provide a show for motorcycle racing fans with exciting races, battled out down to the finish line. Key players in the Superbike class for the weekend were Italian rider Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad GoldBet SBK), first place in Race 1 and second in Race 2, Eugene Laverty (Aprilia Racing Team) respectively third and first, Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) and Sylvain Guintoli (Aprilia Racing Team) who rode respectively to the second step of the podium in Race 1 and took third in Race 2.

Thanks also to the progress Pirelli has made with the new 17 inch tyres, the Italian BMW rider and the English Kawasaki rider also achieved significant personal victories: Tom Sykes stopped the clock at 1’41.685 during Superpole on Saturday, breaking the circuit fastest lap record set by Max Biaggi in 2011, Marco Melandri, lapping in Race 1 at an average speed of 201,814 kph, is now the holder of the record for the highest ever average race speed in the history of the World Superbike Championship.

The rear SC0 solution, the softest in the Pirelli range which was available for racing for the first time this year, was used by all the Superbike and Supersport riders. In particular, if the power in Supersport is lower and therefore a softer blend can withstand the Brianza track, in Superbike this is the first time ever that an SC0 tyre has been used to race on this track. This is because the structure of the new 17 inch Diablo Superbike tyres allowed the Pirelli engineers to use softer compounds and therefore to provide the riders with the possibility of using the soft solution which is also the one capable of providing more grip, even on circuits like Monza which had been strictly off limits for this blend until now.

The new Diablo Superbike SC0 (S515) was not only the choice for all the Superbike riders, but it also contributed to reducing average lap times by 1 second in both race 1 and race 2. The quality of this solution allowed Marco Melandri to put the best race lap time on the board in the very last lap, more proof of this tyre’s excellent performance in terms of mileage.

In Supersport, in a race that had four starts, Sam Lowes (Yakhnich Motorsport) beat out Florian Marino (Kawasaki Intermoto Ponyexpress) and Lorenzo Zanetti (Pata Honda World Supersport).

In the Superstock 1000 class Lorenzo Savadori and Team Pedercini put in a stellar performance. In the 600 class Nicola Morrentino took first place on his Yamaha YZF R6 for Team Trasimeno.

The Pirelli solutions chosen by the riders:

A key player in the fourth round of the eni FIM World Superbike championship was on the rear, both for the Superbike and the Supersport class, the SC0 solution, making its seasonal début this year. In Superbike the SC0 (S515) 17 inch Diablo Superbike tyre was quite popular with the riders thanks to its grip and the performance it provided on the Brianza circuit and for these reasons it was chosen by all 18 riders in both Race 1 and Race 2. Despite being a development SC0, the S515 differs from the standard version which Pirelli will bring to the next rounds only in the reinforced central compound, a measure that Pirelli successfully adopted that was necessary on a fast track like Monza in order to prevent possible blistering.

On the front 15 out of the 18 riders opted for the Standard SC2 solution (R982) in both rounds, a solution that Pirelli had already brought to the first three rounds, excellent for high external temperatures because it guarantees solidity at the tread strip. Tom Sykes, Davide Giugliano and Ayrton Badovini preferred the standard SC1 solution (R426) over the SC2, in a softer compound.

In Supersport as well the SC0 S510 development solution of the Diablo Supercorsa was the most popular among the riders for the rear, used in all four races.

Pirelli Best Lap Award:

In this round that Pirelli has always considered a “home” round, the usual “Pirelli Best Lap Awards” were also assigned. These are awards that the tyre manufacturer assigns to the riders who have made the fastest lap in Superbike race 1 and race 2, as well as the Supersport race. The winning riders in Superbike accepted the reward from the Pirelli Moto Business Unit Director, Uberto Thun, and from Racing Director Giorgio Barbier in the Paddock Show during the press conference at the end of race 1 and race 2 for the Superbike class. This year the award, which is always quite sought after by the riders, depicts a motorcycle instrument panel which indicates the time set by the rider. The Superbike and Supersport rider who has earned the most “Pirelli Best Lap Award” titles at the end of the season will be elected “Best Lap Winner: fastest rider of the year” and awarded in the usual end of year ceremony.

Here are the Pirelli Best Lap Award winning riders at Monza from the fourth round of the season:

WSB Race 1 – Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team), 1’42.229 (5th lap)
WSB Race 2 – Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad GoldBet SBK), 1’42.379 (18 th lap)
WSS – Lorenzo Zanetti (Pata Honda World Supersport): 1’48.225 (3rd lap)

The overall standings after the first three rounds are as follows:

WSB: Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team): 3; Eugene Laverty (Aprilia Racing Team): 2; Michel Fabrizio (Red Devils Roma): 1; Chaz Davies (BMW Motorrad GoldBet SBK): 1; Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad GoldBet SBK): 1.WSS: Kenan Sofuoglu (MAHI Racing Team India): 1; Sam Lowes (Yakhnich Motorsport): 1; Fabien Foret (MAHI

Racing Team India): 1; Lorenzo Zanetti (Pata Honda World Supersport): 1
Comment from Giorgio Barbier, Pirelli Moto Racing Director:

“This was truly a great weekend because all the Championship class races were extremely heated, but also because, for the class that we are most concerned with, the solutions designed with the new 17 inch tyres worked very well, especially the rear SC0. If, in past years, racing in Superbike with a soft compound like the SC0 on a track like Monza which is particularly aggressive and demanding on the tyres was unthinkable, this year the development of the new Diablo Superbike tyres allowed us to use softer blends from the start and the SC0 at Monza was even the solution used by all the riders. As if this wasn’t enough, with this solution Marco Melandri also broke the highest average race speed record and the riders lapped an average of 1 second per lap faster compared to 2011. I think that the race results, with three riders from 3 different motorcycle manufacturers battling it out down to the finish and the Best Lap, made by Marco Melandri in the last lap, can only confirm just how high the quality and performance level reached by our new tyres is. Last but not least, I would like to congratulate Marco Melandri, Eugene Laverty, Tom Sykes and Sylvain Guintoli for the exciting show they put on, but also Lorenzo Savadori and Team Pedercini for an exceptional race and Sam Lowes’ podium, as well as team Yakhnich Motorsport for the result in Supersport”.

The 2013 Pirelli statistics for the Monza round:

• Total number of tyres Pirelli brought: 4895

• Number of solutions (dry, intermediate and wet) for the Superbike class: 6 front and 6 rear

• Number of solutions for the Supersport class (dry, intermediate and wet): 4 front and 5 rear

• Number of tyres available for each Superbike rider: 37 front and 36 rear

• Number of tyres available for each Supersport rider: 25 front and 27 rear

• Temperature in Race 1: air 20° C, asphalt 38° C

• Temperature in Race 2: air 24° C, asphalt 47° C

• Maximum race speed reached by Pirelli Diablo Superbike tyres: 336 km/h, Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad GoldBet SBK), Sylvain Guintoli (Aprilia Racing Team) and Michel Fabrizio (Red Devils Roma) in Race 1 respectively at 16th, 15th and 8th laps and Eugene Laverty (Aprilia Racing Team) and Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad GoldBet SBK) in Race 2 respectively at 17th and 18th laps.

• Maximum race speed reached by Pirelli Diablo Supercorsa tyres in Supersport: 289,8 km/h, Gabor Talmacsi (Prorace), 2nd lap.

Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg has clinched his third career pole position, ahead of his team mate Lewis Hamilton. Pole position was set on Pirelli’s P Zero White medium tyres, which have been nominated alongside the new P Zero Orange hard tyres this weekend.

Rosberg’s pole time of 1m20.718s on the medium compound was more than a second a half quicker than the 2012 pole position set by Williams driver Pastor Maldonado (1m22.285s) on last year’s soft, despite the fact that usage of the DRS was unlimited last season. Historically a strong qualifying performance is vital in Barcelona, as only once has the race been won from beyond the front row of the grid.

Ferrari driver Felipe Massa went quickest in the final free practice session this morning, sealing fastest time by just 0.006 seconds from Lotus’s Kimi Raikkonen right at the end of the hour, using the medium compound.

Pirelli’s motorsport director Paul Hembery said: “The teams had their preparation time for qualifying limited by wet weather yesterday morning, so there were still a number of question marks today. As expected we saw a considerable degree of track evolution, with this year’s pole time in Barcelona the fastest-ever since Pirelli came to Formula One in 2011. The teams have quickly got to grips with our latest evolution of the P Zero Orange hard, which should make it easier to maintain the tyres within the optimal working temperature range and so use a wider variety of strategies. With plenty of lateral energy through the rubber, an abrasive surface, and warm temperatures Barcelona is quite challenging for the tyres. We would expect to see three pit stops tomorrow – as was the case last year. The race has never been won from outside the front row, so it will be interesting to see if any drivers can reverse that trend through the use of strategy.”

The Pirelli mystery strategy predictor:

The fastest strategy for the 66-lap race seems set to be a three-stopper in Spain this weekend, as was the case last year. It goes as follows: start on the medium tyre, switch the medium on lap 16, medium again on lap 33 and a final stop for hard tyres on lap 50.

Alternatively, there is another effective three-stop strategy. Start on the medium tyre, switch to the medium on lap 17, switch to the hard on lap 34 and a final stint on the hard tyre from lap 50.

Fastest compounds in FP3:

Top 10 tyre use:

The first free practice session on Friday for the Spanish Grand Prix started in wet weather, meaning that teams were forced to concentrate their running in the final moments of FP1 and a dry FP2. At the end of FP2, Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel topped the time sheets with a lap of 1m22.808s on the Pirelli P Zero White medium tyre, which has been nominated along with the P Zero Orange hard for Barcelona. This was significantly quicker than last year’s equivalent FP2 time (1m23.399s) set on the soft tyre.

A new version of the P Zero Orange hard tyre was introduced this weekend with a wider working temperature window. In addition, teams were also able to benefit from an extra set of experimental hard tyres per car for Friday only – as Pirelli is allowed to supply in accordance with the regulations.

The drivers ran mostly on the Cinturato Green intermediate tyres in the morning, using the experimental hard tyres in the final 15 minutes of the session, with the Ferrari duo of Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa going first and second fastest. The cars continued to run on both the experimental and nominated hard tyres during FP2. Toro Rosso’s Jean-Eric Vergne was the first driver to switch to the mediums half an hour into the second session, as the teams concentrated on race simulations in order to establish an optimal tyre strategy.

Pirelli’s motorsport director Paul Hembery said: “The first race of the European season is always a significant one, with most of the teams introducing key upgrades. At Pirelli, we’re no exception, with the latest version of our hard tyres coming to Spain together with two sets of an experimental compound per team. Despite the rain in the morning, we saw plenty of running as the teams worked through their development programmes during both sessions, which was our objective. The rain meant that we don’t have a full set of dry data to analyse this evening, but the initial feedback from the drivers about the new hard tyre – which has a wider working temperature window – is extremely positive. There is still a lot of track evolution to come: so far we are seeing a difference of just under a second between the two compounds and high wear, which is to be expected on an aggressive track like Barcelona, but we would expect that to come down a bit over the rest of the weekend, which has a consequent effect on degradation. We’ll be able to make a more accurate prediction after the final free practice session and qualifying tomorrow. Obviously there was a problem in the final part of FP2 that affected the medium tyre on the Force India of Paul di Resta and we’re going to investigate the cause of that fully. Whatever the cause, this is not something we like to see and once we have established all the facts we will decide whether some further modifications to the tyres are required to help avoid this type of issue.”

Fastest tyre of the day:

Tyre statistics of the day:

* The above number gives the total amount of kilometres driven in FP1 and FP2 today, all drivers combined.
** Per compound, all drivers combined.

May the Force be with you:

Max. g-force braking (longitudinal force):    – 4.66 @ T1
Max. g-force cornering (lateral force):           4.43 @ T9

Pirelli facts of the day:

Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel – who has led each one of this season’s four grands prix at some point – will score his 50^th podium in Formula One if he is in the top three on Sunday. Qualifying is vital though: the lowest grid position that the race has ever been won from is third (courtesy of Michael Schumacher in 1996).

Pirelli is the second-most prominent tyre company in Spain in terms of sales and brand recognition, while Pirelli is also the market leader in motorbike tyres.

As well as being round three of the GP2 Series, Barcelona marks the start of the European grand prix season and the opening round of this year’s GP3 Series. Pirelli continues to supply both of Formula One’s feeder series with tyres, underlining the Italian firm’s ladder of talent that can take promising young drivers all the way to the very top of global motorsport. For GP2, Pirelli has nominated the P Zero Orange hard and P Zero Yellow soft tyres – the same nomination that was made for the first two rounds in Malaysia and Bahrain. For GP3, there is only one compound supplied for each weekend as per the regulations: in Spain the P Zero hard has been nominated. The track characteristics of Barcelona take in high lateral energy loadings and potentially warm ambient temperatures, making this the ideal nomination.

Pirelli’s racing manager says:

Mario Isola: “We’re in for a busy weekend in Barcelona, with some significant changes for the GP3 Series this year in particular, which has a brand new car that develops 400 horsepower. This makes a significant difference to the lap times: during testing at Barcelona earlier this year, the cars were actually lapping more than four seconds a lap quicker than they had been in 2012. So we have had a re-think of the GP3 tyres this year, with some brand new compounds, which bring them closer in character to the current GP2 tyres. Barcelona is one of the tracks where this is tested to the utmost, as it is a fast and technical track that asks a lot of the tyres, particularly on the left of the car as all the most demanding corners are right-handers. For GP2, we are sticking with the same nomination that we had in Malaysia and Bahrain: in fact Barcelona has a few points in common with these two circuits when it comes to the way that the tyres are used. Degradation is reasonably high, but all the teams have plenty of historical data from Barcelona, which should be useful when it comes to planning a good race strategy. We saw a variety of different strategies at work during the first two races of the year, so we’d expect the same again this weekend.”

The challenge for the tyres:

The most demanding corner of the entire track is Turn 3: a very long right-hander that puts plenty of sustained energy through the tyre. There are 16 corners in total on the 4.655-kilometre track, which first played host to a GP2 round in the debut year of the series: 2005. Barcelona also hosted the very first GP3 race in 2010.

The asphalt in Barcelona is generally quite abrasive. Coupled with ambient temperatures in excess of 25 degrees centigrade expected over the race weekend, this only adds to the amount of tyre wear.

The rear tyres also have to withstand plenty of stress in order to provide the combined traction that is needed coming out of the slower corners in the final sector of the lap.

The race and the rules:

GP2

Every car will have five sets of dry tyres and three sets of wet weather tyres available for the
GP2 race weekend.

The five sets of dry tyres comprise three sets of the harder compound (hard) and two sets of the softer compound (soft).

The drivers can use their tyre allocation in any way they like. One set of the hard compound must be returned after free practice.

Race One on Saturday is run over 170 kilometres or one hour and each driver must complete one compulsory pit stop during which a minimum of two tyres must be changed.

The grid for Race Two on Sunday is determined by the finishing order of the first race, with the top eight positions reversed.

Race Two is run over 120 kilometres or 45 minutes, with no compulsory pit stops.

GP3

Every car will have three sets of dry tyres and two sets of wet weather tyres available for the GP3 race weekend. Only one compound is nominated. The drivers can use the tyre allocation in any way they like. All the GP3 compounds carry yellow markings.

There is one practice session, one qualifying session and two races in GP3.

Qualifying takes place at 0945 on Saturday morning followed by Race One at 1720 (which lasts 17 laps or 30 minutes). Race Two is on Sunday at 0925 (which also lasts 17 laps or 30 minutes). The grid for Race Two is determined by the finishing order of the first race, with the top eight positions reversed.

About Barcelona:

The Circuit de Catalunya was inaugurated in 1991 and hosted the Spanish Grand Prix for the first time in 1991. It has always been an incredibly popular venue, with a grandstand capacity of 107,000 people. It contains a wide variety of speeds and corners, which makes it a useful testing venue. When it comes to overtaking, Turn One is one of the favoured places. Last year, Giedo van der Garde (Caterham) and Luiz Razia (Arden) were the GP2 winners in Spain. The GP3 winners were Mitch Evans (MW Arden) – who would go on to become champion – and Conor Daly (Lotus GP).

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Alexandra Schieren +33 607 03 69 03 alexandra.schieren@pirelli.com
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(Head of Product and Motorsport Communication)