Photo: ADAC Motorsport
Pirelli has returned to the track. The renewal of its contract as exclusive supplier to the DTM (Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters) – Germany's premier touring car championship – marks a new chapter in the long-standing relationship between Pirelli and international motorsport. Today, the company also serves as the sole tyre supplier to Formula 1.
The tyres that are used throughout the 2026 DTM season will be Made in Germany, developed and manufactured at Pirelli's technology hub in Breuberg, Hesse. The site is home to a cutting-edge Research and Development department working in close synergy with Pirelli's Italian headquarters and the brand's global research centres.
Manufacturing the tyres in Germany further strengthens the role of the Breuberg Tech Hub as a key centre for innovation, where advanced methods are applied across the entire value chain and processes for managing semi-finished and finished products are continuously optimised. A model that is also expected to drive further advancements in road tyre production.
The partnership between Pirelli and the German championship includes the development of a tyre range designed exclusively for the DTM, featuring innovative materials and processes tailored to the specific demands of the race format and the championship's ever-increasing competitiveness.
Pirelli's presence in the championship extends beyond the technical sphere. It also encompasses sales and marketing activities across international digital channels, helping to provide the DTM with significantly greater visibility and a broader global media reach capable of attracting new fans and enthusiasts.
“DTM is the GT and touring car series with the highest concentration of performance in the world and places unique demands on tyres,” said Thomas Voss, Motorsport Director at ADAC, Germany's leading motorsport organisation. “We meet those demands with bespoke Pirelli tyres that enable close competition at the highest level and represent an important step in the continued development of the series. The new tyre also helps ensure a level playing field and provides an effective means of enforcing testing restrictions. Introducing this exclusive tyre is a significant milestone in the evolution of DTM.”
The Milan-based company will continue to provide one of the world's most prestigious and professional racing championships with bespoke technological solutions.
The 2026 DTM season is already well underway, with three of the eight scheduled race weekends completed. The opening event on 24 April provided Pirelli with the perfect opportunity to unveil the new tyres developed exclusively for the series. Designed and produced specifically for DTM, they combine performance, reliability and adaptability across a wide range of track and operating conditions, meeting the championship's highly demanding requirements.
“DTM places particularly high demands on tyres due to its competitive intensity, sprint race formats and the diversity of circuits,” said Matteo Braga, Pirelli Circuit Activity Manager. “We are extremely proud to introduce an exclusive tyre for this internationally renowned racing series, developed specifically for its unique conditions. It delivers consistent performance, outstanding versatility and a stable platform for fair competition. At the same time, it brings to the track technologies and materials that underline Pirelli's high technical standards in motorsport.”
It is a demanding engineering challenge, but also an ambitious one. “Every race,” Braga continued, “will be a milestone in our learning journey and a new test for our technologies, constantly driving us to improve and develop innovative solutions.”
Among Pirelli's key short- to medium-term objectives is environmental commitment, DTM tyres feature the FSC™¹ logo on their sidewalls, certifying that the natural rubber used in the product – accounting for approximately 17 per cent of its total weight – comes from responsibly managed plantations that protect biodiversity and support the communities that live and work in those areas. This is further evidence of Pirelli's commitment to environmental sustainability and reinforces its role as a global showcase for sustainable innovation.
Pirelli's motorsport involvement, however, goes beyond DTM. In the coming years, the brand will continue as the official tyre supplier to the ADAC GT Masters, another of Europe's leading Gran Turismo championships. The product lines developed for GT Masters will follow an independent development path while maintaining continuity with the global GT platform – the international regulatory standard that allows supercars to compete in championships around the world without structural modifications. The series will continue to use the P Zero DHG tyre generation introduced in 2025, extending a successful partnership that began in 2015.
¹FSC™ N003618 www.fsc.org
