Pirelli has presented the new Pirelli P Zero DHA tyre that will equip the new Ferrari 488 Evo from the 2020 season onwards on all four Ferrari Challenge championships (Europe, North America, Asia Pacific and UK). Racing supercars, hypercars from the celebrated XX programme, and historic Formula 1 cars – all on Pirelli tyres – also featured in the thrilling presentation.
PIRELLI AND THE FERRARI CHALLENGE, 27 YEARS TOGETHER
During the 27th Ferrari Finali Mondiali at Mugello, Pirelli presented the tyre for the Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo. It’s a tyre that meets all the demands imposed by Ferrari, allowing the new racing machine to lap faster than its predecessor. Pirelli has been the exclusive supplier to the Ferrari Challenge since the series made its debut in 1993, in all the regions of the world where these championships run.
SEVEN MONTHS ON SEVEN CIRCUITS
Pirelli’s engineers worked in close collaboration with their counterparts at Ferrari for around seven months to create this latest tyre. The new tyre, available in 275/675-19 DHA size (at the front) and 315/705-19 DHA (at the back) was developed starting from a virtual model, which can also be used for driving simulators. Its characteristics were then validated through indoor laboratory tests, before real life testing was carried out on seven European circuits, including Vallelunga, Mugello, Le Castellet and Silverstone. These sessions helped to assess road holding and integrity in different driving and weather conditions, confirming the all-round performance of the new 488 Challenge Evo. The latest P Zero for it adopts a new tread compound and is made on the motorsport production line at Pirelli’s factory in Romania, where the tyres for Formula 1 are also born.
MOTORSPORT: AN OPEN AIR LABORATORY
Mario Isola, Pirelli’s head of F1 and car racing, said: “The Ferrari Challenge represents an important technical collaboration as it allows our engineers to develop solutions in extreme conditions that can then be transferred to our road car tyres. The latest evolution of our P Zero tyres for the Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo demonstrates once again how Pirelli’s advanced technology combines with the best of the automotive industry in motorsport as well.”
