But this is the first time that the definitive 2012 specification tyres, as tested in Jerez a fortnight ago, will run on the Circuit de Catalunya. As well as being familiar territory for Pirelli, the track is very well known to the teams, who will be able to use all the circuit data they have accumulated over the years to judge the progress they are making with their 2012 cars.

In total, Pirelli will bring 367 sets of tyres to Barcelona for the four-day test from February 21-24: 73 more sets than were brought to Jerez. The teams are allowed to choose which compounds they want to use out of the 100 sets they are allocated per car for testing purposes each year, and – just as was the case in Jerez – the P Zero White medium has proved to be the most popular choice for Barcelona, with 110 sets selected.

The medium compound has been designed by Pirelli to work well in a wide variety of track conditions, guaranteeing a high level of performance together with greater durability. This is one of the reasons why Pirelli has nominated the medium tyre for the first three grands prix of the season, together with the soft tyre (in Australia and China) and the hard tyre (in Malaysia).

The P Zero Yellow soft is the next most popular choice for the forthcoming test, with 82 sets making the trip to Barcelona. In addition, Pirelli will bring 69 sets of P Zero Silver hard, 36 sets each of Cinturato Green intermediate and Cinturato Blue wet, and 34 sets of P Zero Red supersoft – which is set to make its track debut, after none of the teams chose it for Jerez.

The 4.65-kilometre Circuit de Catalunya, the venue for the second official test of the year that starts tomorrow, contains long straights and varying corners, making it the ideal place to assess a wide range of parameters over a distance. The winter tests in Barcelona last year were affected by cold weather – and this has a significant impact on the behaviour of the tyres.

Pirelli’s Motorsport Director Paul Hembery said: “Everyone will be hoping for warmer and more consistent conditions in Barcelona this week, which we didn’t get in Jerez. Nonetheless, the message from the first test was very positive, with drivers generally happy with the warm-up, performance and durability of our new tyres, which have been specifically designed to the 2012 regulations. Barcelona is a very different type of circuit to Jerez, which puts quite a lot of stress on tyres in general because of its high top speeds and the front-left in particular, due to the large number of right-hand corners. The emphasis for the teams will once more be on development, as they ramp up the learning curve with their 2012 cars and assess how the chassis interacts with the new tyres.“

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)

PDF Version (156 KB)

For Australia and China teams will receive the P Zero White medium and the P Zero Yellow soft compounds. The P Zero Silver hard and the P Zero White medium tyre have been nominated for Malaysia.

As was the case throughout 2011, Pirelli will nominate two dry compounds for each race out of the four available – the Red supersoft, the Yellow soft, the White medium and the Silver hard – based on the characteristics of the tyre, the track and expected temperatures. 

The rules stipulate that under normal circumstances each team will receive six sets of the harder compound and five sets of the softer compound for the race weekend. Pirelli will also bring its Cinturato Green intermediate tyre for damp track conditions (four sets per driver) as well as the Cinturato Blue rain tyre (three sets per driver) to each race, as particularly in Malaysia the chances of a tropical downpour are very high.

The tyre choices so far:

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)

PDF Version (208 KB)

The 195 HP produced by the red fury from Borgo Panigale will hit the ground through the brand new, original equipment Pirelli Diablo Supercorsa SP tyres in 120/70 ZR17 for the front and the fresh new 200/55 ZR17 for the rear. They will also be used starting this year by Superstock 1000 FIM Cup riders in the SC compound version

Multiple world Superbike champion Troy Bayliss had this to say after testing them on the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi: “Simply excellent tyres. I know Pirelli quality well, but this time they’ve managed to astonish me. Good job, Pirelli”

Abu Dhabi Yas Marina circuit: 440 brand new Pirelli Diablo Supercorsa tyres ready to devour the asphalt along with 28 Ducati 1199 Panigale bikes. Following the introduction of the new P Zero tyres at the end of January for the 2012 Formula 1™ season, just a few weeks later the boys from Pirelli return to the Yas Marina circuit in the United Arab Emirates capital, this time in support of the press launch for the new supersport Ducati, the 1199 Panigale, which will soon be available on the market with the new Pirelli Diablo Supercorsa SP (Sport Production) tyres as original equipment. The newest member of the Diablo family, introduced for the first time at EICMA 2011 in the first flagship Store Pzero Moda which opened last September in Milan, will shoe the Italian red fury in sizes of 120/70 ZR17 for the front and 200/55 ZR17 for the rear. They will also be exclusively used starting this year in the SC compound (Special Compound) version by Superstock 1000 FIM Cup riders.

There were two top notch testers at 1199 Panigale press launch going on this week: three time World Superbike Champion Troy Bayliss and Ducati Vehicle Technical Director Andrea Forni, both of whom were able to test the performance of the Diablo Supercorsa tyres in the race replica SP version, also adapted for daily street use, and the SC compound version which will be used this year by all the Superstock 1000 FIM Cup riders. Together with Pirelli riders and other Ducati testers, the two Ducati gurus rode lap after lap, fully enjoying the spectacular performance of the Diablo Supercorsa shod Panigale.

“Simply excellent tyres”, said the enthusiastic Australian who won the World Superbike Championship riding the bikes from the Borgo Panigale based manufacturer in 2001, 2006 and 2008.“If the SP version won me over with the fluid neutrality that accompanies each manoeuvre, even the most extreme ones, the SC2 compound version brought me back to an absolute total racing feel. I know Pirelli quality well, but this time they’ve managed to astonish me. Good job, Pirelli!”

A much appreciated feature is the extraordinary capacity to attack curves in braking with extreme neutrality until reaching the apex, guaranteeing grip and an absolute level of stability in the subsequent acceleration phases. These are characteristics which Troy Bayliss skilfully took advantage of in spectacular test runs on both the standard version of the bike shod with Diablo Supercorsa SP and on the Kit bike with the SC2 version.

And engineer Forni’s opinion confirms Bayliss’ comments: “The new Diablo Supercorsa SP tyres in this 200/55 version are without a doubt the best street legal racing tyres in the world at the moment and I must say the best that I have ever had the opportunity to test in my career”.

Pirelli decided to introduce this new tyre gradually into the top racing world with only the SC2 compound version which will be used in Superstock 1000 FIM Cup starting this year and only in sizes 120/70 ZR17 for the front and 200/55 ZR17 for the rear as standard original equipment on the 1199 Panigale and already available on the market as a replacement tyre.

At the beginning of 2013 Pirelli will expand the SP street range with 180/55, 190/50 and 190/55 sizes for the rear and will make the SC0 and SC1 compounds available for the SC version as well as 150/60, 160/60, 180/55, 180/60, 190/55 sizes for the rear and 110/70 for the front in order to extend use of the new tyre to national championships.

Ducati Motor Holding General Director, Claudio Domenicali, said: “The journalists who tested the bike are very satisfied with the features and performance of the 1199 Panigale. Great credit certainly also goes to the tyres that Pirelli developed in close cooperation with Ducati. The new Diablo Supercorsa SP demonstrated performance and extremely high and consistent riding levels even in the difficult conditions represented by a demanding track and high test temperatures like the ones at Yas Marina. These are difficult conditions that, together with the particular asphalt grade brought out the quality of the tyres even more. This is even more confirmation of just how effective the cooperation between Ducati and Pirelli is in setting increasingly high levels of quality”.

And fresh proof of this excellent cooperation between the manufacturer from Borgo Panigale and the Pirelli research and development division is the fact that Pirelli received the Best Product Innovation Award on 7 November. Ducati awards this honour to the most innovative supplier of the year, this year for the excellent work done in developing the Scorpion Trail tyre for Ducati Multistrada and the Diablo Rosso II in the new 240/45 size for the Ducati Diavel.

“The new Diablo Supercorsa SP is certainly the highest performance street legal racing tyre ever designed by Pirelli”, emphasized Uberto Thun-Hohenstein, Senior Vice President of the Pirelli Motorcycle Business Unit “and the signals we are receiving from Abu Dhabi confirm the excellent work that our research and development has done, successfully improving a product, the Diablo Supercorsa, that so far has won 65 victories in 18 countries in national and international open tyre championships. We are also very proud of the solid and lasting technological and development partnership with Ducati who, after the tyres for Multistrada, Diavel and Streetfighter 848, are providing us with great satisfaction even with this new product which confirms Pirelli’s leadership in the premium segment and its constant commitment to investing in innovation”.

In fact, the new Diablo Supercorsa SC in compound and destined only for competition is the evolution of Pirelli’s most victorious supersport racing product into an even higher performance tyre designed to hold precise racing lines on straight stretches as well as bends. It provides a profile which favours handling, better wear in racetrack use, incomparable grip and unprecedented racing performance.

In the street version used by the 1199 Panigale, the Diablo Supercorsa SP is a concentration of technology which draws from Pirelli’s racing experience and heritage as sole supplier of the World Superbike Championship since 2004, based on an ideal procedure of transferring sport technology to high performance street legal products. This street tyre, designed for professional riders and for bikers who have a sport street riding style but also love the track, provides racing performance typical of track-only products, allowing the user to have one ultra high performance product that can be used on the street or the track without having to make compromises. Compared to the compound version, the Diablo Supercorsa SP offers a bi-compound rear tyre in order to better adapt to street use, as well as more regular wear which favours mileage.

Both the Diablo Supercorsa versions (SP and SC) have a new profile on the front and rear which, compared to the 190/55 version, for example, is taller with about 2 mm more cord and about 4 mm more central diameter for greater support during braking and to make riding more intuitive and holding the line more precise. In particular, the new 200/55 size is the widest ever mounted on a street legal Ducati Superbike and the rear tyre has been completely redesigned and developed to increase the contact area and have more grip while leaning. The harmony of the front and rear profiles therefore ensures greater handling and agility.

The rear 200/55 size of the Diablo Supercorsa SP implements a bi-compound solution in order to permit both increased mileage and more grip while leaning. EPT (Enhanced Patch Technology) has also made it possible to use 23% more soft compound in the shoulder area (compared to the previous Diablo Supercorsa SP version) which now accounts for the 33% of the pattern extension on each side, guaranteeing better grip in mid to full lean. Finally, new polymers used for the SP compound helps achieving an earlier warp-up and improved grip in all conditions.

The performance of the compounds is further enhanced by the new and aggressive single element tread pattern, which revolves six times on the tyre surface. The result is that the “naked” area of the slick shoulders is 24% wider compared to the previous Diablo Supercorsa, increasing contact area and grip. The long longitudinal grooves, expanding from the central area to the shoulder, improve wear regularity especially under severe usage and helps draining the water lying on the ground.

The solutions adopted for the compound (soft compound area 23% larger) and the tread (greater extension of the slick area on the shoulders) guarantee a significant increase in grip and traction, allowing the motorcycle to maintain a higher speed during leans. However, this made it necessary to use a new structure, derived directly from the ones used in competition and able to provide greater resistance to deformation. This is why the Diablo Supercorsa SP rear tyre now has a carcass made from an innovative high module fibre, patented by Pirelli and developed in WSBK, with a considerably lower deformation ratio than the fibre normally used in street tyres. The result is a new carcass which is more rigid, both at the centre and in the shoulder area. This provides greater resistance to the stress created by aggressive cornering or when accelerating early out of turns with the bike still in a leaning position. The new carcass helps the bike achieve better performance each time the weight shifts from the front to the rear and vice versa, a characteristic which is even more evident as the lean angle increases.

And last, but not least, Diablo Supercorsa SP lets you personalise your tyre with special rubber labels that can be applied to dedicated spaces on the front and rear sidewalls. Each rider can create a completely customized label for these spots on the Pirelli web site and have them delivered directly to their door (service available in Europe and Australia).

The new P Zero White medium tyre completed the most running in Spain with 1776 laps run (91 sets used), followed by the new P Zero Yellow soft with 1010 laps run (57 sets used) and the P Zero Silver hard with 594 laps run (33 sets used). Although the new Pirelli Cinturato Green intermediate tyre and Pirelli Cinturato Blue tyre was brought to Spain, it was not used as the weather stayed dry despite ambient temperatures that dipped to as low as -2 °C degrees centigrade.

The 2012 tyres performed in line with expectations at Jerez, but with most teams running brand new cars in different phases of development, it was hard to draw firm conclusions about relative performance.

Pirelli’s motorsport director Paul Hembery said: “The tyres performed exactly in line with our expectations here in Jerez, and we’ve had a very positive reaction from the drivers and teams so far, who have reported more grip at the rear, fewer ‘marbles’ and a reduced lap time difference between the compounds as well as faster overall performance – which is precisely what we wanted. We’re happy with the level of degradation and we had no issues, as was the case for all of last year. But as the temperatures in Jerez were very low and the teams have also concentrated on other areas than tyres, it’s too early to draw any detailed conclusions. We’ll see more tyre development work at the next test in Barcelona, as together with the teams, we fully understand the implications of the latest rules. However, with all three of our available slick tyres having set a fastest time, it’s a clear sign that we are on course to meet our objectives.”

Lotus driver Kimi Räikkonen – who last drove on Pirelli tyres in the 2010 World Rally Championship – set the pace on the opening day, with a spectacular return to Formula One thanks to a time of 1m19.670s on the P Zero White medium tyre.

Mercedes were quickest on the second and third days using their 2011 car. Michael Schumacher lowered the benchmark to 1m18.561s on day two with the P Zero Silver hard tyre and Nico Rosberg set a time of 1m17.631s on day three with the P Zero Yellow soft: the best time over all four days.

The Jerez test ended with Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso going quickest with a time of 1m18.877s on the final day, again using the soft tyre.

Testing Facts:

-     During comparison runs between the new medium and the new hard tyre on day one, there was a difference of between 0.4-0.5 seconds, with better grip and less wear: particularly at the rear.

-     The driver to complete the most laps at Jerez was Kimi Räikkonen, who racked up 192 laps on the soft, medium and hard over the first two days: nearly the equivalent of three grands prix.

-     Most teams started off with short runs initially, before trying longer runs and race simulations for the first time as they expanded their development programmes.

-     The top times on all four days comfortably beat the benchmark established at the last test in Jerez one year ago, where Rubens Barrichello went fastest for Williams with a time of 1m19.832s.

Testing numbers:

-     Total number of sets brought to Jerez: 294 sets which equals 1176 tyres 

       -  Of which soft tyres: 71 sets

       -  Of which Medium tyres: 105 sets

       - Of which Hard tyres: 43 sets

       - Of which Intermediate tyres: 38 sets

       - Of which Wet tyres: 37 sets

-    Total amount of sets used: 181

       - Of which soft tyres: 57 sets

       - Of which Medium tyres: 91 sets

       - Of which Hard tyres: 33 sets

       - Of which Intermediate tyres: 0 sets

       - Of which Wet tyres: 0 sets

-    Longest run:  26 laps on the hard compound

                           27 laps of the medium compound

                           20 laps on the soft compound

-    Highest / lowest ambient temperature over four days: 20 °C / -2 °C

-    Highest / lowest track temperature over four days: 26 °C / 0 °C

Tyre Summary:

Day 1

1. Räikkönen              1’19″670 on Medium New

2. Di Resta                  1’19″772 on Medium New

3. Rosberg                  1’20″219 on Soft New           

Day 2

1. Schumacher          1’18’’561 on Hard New

2. Webber                   1’19’’184 on Soft New

3. Ricciardo                1’19’’587 on Soft New

Day 3                                                            

1. Rosberg                  1’17’’631 on Soft New           

2. Räikkönen              1’18’’419 on Medium New

3. Vettel                      1’19’’297 on Soft New           

Day 4

1. Alonso                    1’18″877 on Soft New

2. Vergne                    1’19″597 on Soft New

3. Vettel                      1’19″606 on Medium New

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)

PDF Version (182 KB)

The P Zero Silver extends the P Zero range and introduces the first series of highly specialised Pirelli products, designed to meet a wide range of different motorists’ needs

This tyre has been designed for drivers with a sporty driving style who cover more than 20,000 kilometres per year

The P Zero Silver consolidates Pirelli’s premium strategy and reinforces the company’s position within the European market

With track tests on the Monteblanco circuit and road tests on the demanding roads of Andalucia, Pirelli launches the P Zero Silver. This is the first Ultra High Performance road tyre to be directly derived from Formula One, developed for sports cars and sporting saloons. The P Zero Silver was launched at Jerez de la Frontera in Spain, at the same time as the first Formula One tests that mark the launch of the 2012 season took place. The new tyre expands the P Zero range, and marks the first in a series of highly specialised Pirelli road car tyres, ensuring the maximum level of performance even after long distances. Thanks to the same processes that are used in Formula One, Pirelli underlines some of the key characteristics of the entire P Zero range through the new Silver – with the emphasis on durability.

The structure, compound and tread pattern design of the Silver have been developed to resist any deformation in the tyre’s profile, lengthening the tyre’s life and extending the consistency of its performance. The Silver has been conceived for drivers who enjoy performance and use their cars frequently. The P Zero Silver is particularly designed for people who drive their cars every day and
cover more than 20,000 kilometres per year, mostly on motorways.

The P Zero Silver will be produced in eight sizes, for 19 to 20 inch wheels, and will be available as a limited edition in European markets from April 2012. The Silver constitutes the ‘missing link’ between two of Pirelli’s most famous tyre ranges: P Zero, fitted as original equipment to the world’s fastest and most desirable cars, and Cinturato P7 – a best-selling, high-performance ecological tyre, which has triumphed in some of the world’s most demanding magazine tests.

With the Silver, Pirelli is particularly concentrating on W, Y and Z speed ratings (i.e. for speeds greater than or equal to 270km / h) with 19-inch wheels. The European market in this sector has expanded by 260% in the last six years, with an average growth rate of 24%. These tyres are now fitted to saloon cars and medium-sized coupés, whereas in the past they were the exclusive preserve of exotic supercars.

Formula One in the P Zero Silver. With the P Zero Silver, Pirelli allows everyday motorists to benefit from the main innovations and production processes introduced for Formula One. These sophisticated techniques ensured a consistent and rapid evolution of the tyres supplied to all the grand prix teams last year. This latest road tyre from the famous P Zero range shares the same mathematical modeling process with its Formula One equivalent. In particular, the design and development took place using the same state of the art computer simulation, which allows the tyre’s performance and behavior to be assessed under an extremely wide range of conditions.
This virtual modeling allowed Pirelli to develop in record time a tyre that not only underlines the latent characteristics of the entire P Zero range – emphasising and improving durability – but also heralds a new collection of highly specialised road car tyres.

These unique processes allowed Pirelli to develop its Formula One tyres in just a few months, recreating real race conditions in a laboratory. By applying these methods to the new P Zero Silver for the road, Pirelli’s research team has been able to create a bespoke tyre for motorists who need premium performance from their coupés and sporting saloons, even after driving long distances.

The Pirelli P Zero Silver also shares new materials, polymers and resins with the Formula One tyres, together with new technologies for compound development and production, as well as the construction process. In particular, the new tyre will be produced using the latest MIRS technology, Pirelli’s unique robotised system that ensures the best possible quality and precision. The entire production run for the P Zero Silver will take place at the SettimoTorinese plant in Turin, Italy, where all the current Formula One compounds are produced.

The P Zero Silver name in Formula One denotes a hard-compound tyre that combines durability with high performance. In exactly the same way, the roadgoing P Zero Silver tyre offers high performance, safety and increased durability, thanks to innovative technologies that unite the characteristics of the soft and hard compounds. This is a brand new concept for highperformance tyres, confirming Pirelli’s position at the cutting edge of product innovation. The vision has been turned into reality by Pirelli’s engineers thanks to the optimisation of the tread pattern and the unique structure of the tyre, which allows a more uniform distribution of the contact patch and guarantees even wear with optimal control under all circumstances.

Pirelli aims to become the world leader in the premium sector by 2015, encouraged by consumer patterns that increasingly point towards high-level products. Between 2011 and 2015, growth in the premium tyre sector is expected to be 9.6% per year, compared to a standard growth rate of 3.7%. Pirelli is able to rely on a great experience in the premium sector, thanks to original equipment deals with some of the leading German car manufacturers arrived at through the company’s research and development centre in Germany. The importance of this vital segment for Pirelli is underlined by a budget that is entirely devoted to it, employing 1,200 specialised researchers worldwide.

During a four-day test at the Andalusian circuit, from Tuesday to Friday (7-10 February) each car will have 25 sets of Pirelli’s new soft, medium and hard compounds available, along with the wet tyres if needed. Teams are allowed a maximum of 100 sets of tyres per car each year for testing purposes, and they are permitted to choose the compounds they would like to test within their allowance. None of the teams have nominated the supersoft compound for Jerez: the only compound to remain unchanged from 2011.

Experimental compounds for the 2012 tyres were tried out during some of the free practice sessions last year, as well as at the young driver test following the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. However, the regular drivers now have the opportunity to test the new compounds together with the new profiles for the tyres, which this year are much ‘squarer’ in order to provide a greater contact patch and deliver a longer period of peak performance, while maintaining an overall lifespan in the region of 100 kilometres. 

The tyres have been designed to provide more grip at the rear of the car, following the latest changes in the aerodynamic regulations that ban blown exhausts for 2012.

Once more the teams will start from scratch, as all the compounds apart from the supersoft are new, with more visible colour markings. In the unlikely event that it rains in the south of Spain next week, the drivers will also get to try out the new Cinturato rubber: the designation for the intermediate and full wet tyres – which echo the name of Pirelli’s first Formula One tyres from the 1950s.

With the 2012 cars in different phases of development, and some new drivers as well, the emphasis in Jerez will not be on peak performance but instead on understanding the characteristics of the new tyres and matching them to the cars.

The 4.43-kilometre Jerez circuit has hosted both the Spanish and European Grands Prix previously, and it is a popular venue for Formula One testing due to its technical configuration and year-round warm weather. It was one of the venues that Pirelli used for testing in 2010, when the company was building up to its return to Formula One.

The track contains quite a wide variety of corners, ranging from slow curves to some medium to fast bends. The layout puts particular emphasis on rear tyres, which have to work hard to supply the best traction throughout an ample range of speeds. While Jerez does not result in especially high top speeds, every aspect of a car’s performance is comprehensively tested.

Pirelli’s Motorsport Director Paul Hembery said: “After a successful first season in 2011, we are determined to help provide an even better spectacle this year, which is why the entire tyre range has been renewed. At this early point, the emphasis for the teams is expected to be on learning the new tyres and it will be interesting to see which approach they take to that process. Last year, it didn’t take the teams long at all to understand the characteristics of our tyres, and while we are sure that this will be the case again, there will be less of an element of surprise this year, as to some extent the teams know what to expect from our products. This rapid pace of development and reaction is what makes Formula One our ultimate research tool, enhancing Pirelli’s status as the world leader in the Ultra High Performance sector.”

While the teams are testing the 2012 Formula One compounds for the first time, the brand new P Zero Silver road car tyre will also be launched in Jerez: the first of a series of specialised tyres from Pirelli that use Formula One technology. The P Zero Silver road tyre – the same name that is given to the hardest compound in the Formula One range – is designed to combine performance with durability, created for motorists who enjoy sporty driving and cover more than 20,000 kilometres a year.

As well as a name, the P Zero Silver shares Pirelli’s sporting DNA with the Formula One tyres, making use of the same sophisticated design technology that has gone into the tyres that will take to the track in Jerez.

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)

PDF Version (401 KB)

Estonian Tanel Leok on his Suzuki RM-Z450 from the Rockstar Energy Suzuki team, both equipped with Pirelli Scorpion MX Soft 410 tyres, give the Italian brand their umpteenth success in an exciting race this year on sand and snow

During this past weekend Pirelli added another trophy to its already rich collection: Frenchman Jean-Claude Moussè from team Yamaha Racing France won the 2012 edition of the legendary Enduropale du Touquet astride his Yamaha YZ450F with Estonian Tanel Leok from team Rockstar Energy Suzuki coming in behind him on his RM-Z450. Both the bikes were equipped with Pirelli Scorpion MX Soft 410 tyres. For Pirelli this is not only a brilliant double win in an extremely exciting race where hundreds of riders participate, but it is also the ninth consecutive victory which confirms the success of the Italian tyre manufacturer and the range of Pirelli Scorpion tyres in competitions, like this one, on sand.

Created in 1975 under the name “Enduro des Sables” by Frenchman Thierry Sabine, the inventor of the legendary Paris-Dakar race, over the years the Enduropale du Touquet has also become a legendary race where a thousand riders participate and more than 200,000 spectators follow. This year the race was characterised by a 17.8 km route and the riders, besides having to deal with the treacherous sand, also had to reckon with the snow which covered the beaches of Touquet, Stella and Merlomont over which the track unravelled.

French rider Jean-Claude Moussè finished the race in 3h11’46.105 taking the top step on the podium for the third time at 41 years of age, while World Motocross Championship rider Tanel Leok finished second at a distance of 1’23.562, ensuring the Scorpion MX Soft 410 tyres a brilliant one-two finish.

The Pirelli Scorpion MX Soft 410 tyres are part of the Scorpion MX range, capable of guaranteeing the best possible performance on soft terrain such as sand and mud. Effective in all conditions: competition, training or fun, these tyres provide excellent traction and optimum self cleaning properties, allowing the rider to push to the limit right from the start of the race. They also have a specific carcass which is able to maintain efficient performance and reliability on soft terrain during the entire race and the rear tyre knobs have a blade layout for maximum traction even on mud and sand. The design and compound were developed with the contribution of the most prestigious competitors in MX competition.

Q&A with Jukka Korhonen, 2012 Pirelli Star Driver

Jukka, what are your impressions of driving the Skoda Fabia R2 for the first time since you were selected as Pirelli Star Driver?

Pirelli BRC Press Release (115 KB)

Online from today, this page will be a space which is managed directly by the Italian tyre manufacturer, meeting its users on the net in order to answer their questions and to provide a direct information channel which is always up to date as well as containing
exclusive services

Pirelli, always attentive both to the needs of its users and to new communication media tools, continues reinforcing its presence on the web and in the social media world. Just over a year after launching the Pirelli Official Page which brings together all of the Group’s main events, Pirelli is ready to relaunch and meet bikers all over the world who are fans of the Italian brand in an exclusive space dedicated to them: in fact, the new Pirelli Moto Facebook page has been created.

The official Pirelli Moto page, available at http://www.facebook.com/PirelliMoto, was created as an exclusive channel through which the exploits of champions in the most important two wheel races can be followed on a national and international level, as well as a place to get a sneak peek of all of the company news. These are front row seats that Pirelli has reserved for its fans – both those who are already happy owners of Pirelli tyres but also those who are simply motorcycle lovers. Users can interact and talk directly with the historic Italian tyre company, receiving answers to their questions as well as suggestions and tips on products in the Pirelli range on their use both on the road and on the track.

FIM Superbike World Championship, FIM Motocross World Championship, Monster Energy AMA Supercross, British Superbike Championship, Dakar and the Isle of Man TT are just some of the events that those who “like” the page will be able to follow through posts, videos, photo albums and custom created tabs that Pirelli will publish regularly so that its community can relive all the excitement of the best in motorcycle racing.

With a strong line up featuring new signing James “Bubba” Stewart and veteran Davi Millsaps who will both race exclusively on Pirelli Scorpion SX tyres, team owner Coy Gipps was quick to underline its credentials as a serious championship contender.

James Stewart, a multiple championship class winner commented, “I was really impressed with the commitment that the guys at Pirelli showed during testing”.

“Working with a first class team and organization like Joe Gibbs Racing will allow us to continue the success of the Scorpion SX family of tyres in the USA” said Pirelli North American Off-Road Manager, Josh Whitmire.

Davi Millsaps was quick to agree: “Pirelli has been working really hard to develop for us the best possible tyres. 2012 is going to be a great season”.

Pirelli has won 56 World Championships to date, making it a leader in off-road tires worldwide. This legacy of success has led to an expertise in engineering and optimum tires.

The 2012 AMA Supercross and FIM World Championship Series got underway on the 8^th January at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California.