Pirelli will also be present this year at the 24h of the Nürburgring, the endurance race that takes place in the first two days of June on the longest circuit in the world and one of the most prestigious events in the world of motor racing.
The Italian company is in fact the official supplier of tires for some cars present in six different classes, including the queen SP9 (FIA-GT3), from which the overall winner of the 24 Hours will emerge.
For Pirelli it is the opportunity to put to the test its entire range of GT and Touring tyres, designed to adapt to the different characteristics of the cars taking part in the competition and achieve the best performance in the variable climatic conditions typical of this compound circuit, for the occasion, from the Nordschleife and the GP-Strecke for a total of 25,378 km.
In the SP9 class (FIA-GT3) Pirelli will be in the Porsche 911 GT3 R of the Italian Dinamic GT team driven by Marco Holzer, Marvin Dienst, Marco Seefried and Bastian Buus. Car #54 (PRO) is fitted with new generation Pirelli P Zeros in the Hard, Medium and Soft compounds. In case of rain, the Cinturato Hard and Soft are available, respectively for heavy rain and for drying tracks.
There are three cars from the Dörr Motorsport team fitted with Pirelli tyres. The team’s first Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 (#169) is entered in the SP10 (SRO-GT4) class, driven by Oskar Sandberg, Aaron Wenisch, Michael Funke and Phil Dörr.
Photo by: Pirelli
In the SP8T category, Philippe Charlaix, Frank Weishar, Sven Schädler and Peter Posavc alternate on another Vantage GT4 (with race number #269). The team also takes part in the SP11 (SRO-GT2) class with a KTM X-BOW GT2 (PRO-AM, #55), driven by Christian Gebhardt, Fabian Vettel, Ben Dörr and Max Hofer. The category is new for the 24 Hours of the Nürburgring.
Dörr Motorsport is no stranger to using Pirelli tires for the Nürburgring 24 Hours. It is worth remembering in 2014 the pole position of Kevin Estre with the McLaren MP4-12C equipped with tires from the Italian brand, who set the new speed record of the 24 Hours with an impressive 8’10”921, which remained unbeaten until the update of some sections of the original circuit.
The range of tires available for Dörr Motorsport cars sees an expanded product portfolio consisting of the Pirelli P Zero DHF, renewed in 2022, and the version with the softer compound P Zero DMF which is used at night when the track is colder.
In the wet, the new Cinturato WHB, also used in the DTM and ADAC GT Masters, is put to the test. The Cinturato WHB has a new design and greater tread stiffness compared to the previous one which broadens the range of use of the rubber even in transition conditions from wet to dry.
The BMW Mini John Cooper Works of the Bulldog Racing team are also fitted with Pirelli P Zero and Cinturato, in the versions specifically designed for Turismo. In the SP3T class the #317 driven by Charles Cooper, Markus Fischer, Christoph Kragenings and Sebastian Sauerbrei runs and in the VT2 (front-wheel drive car from 1600 to 2000 cc) the #474 with Michael Bräutigam, Andreas Hilgers, Sascha Korte and Marco Zabel.
Pirelli Cinturato WHB
Photo by: Pirelli
“The 24 Hours of Nürburgring is a fantastic testing ground for our GT products because it is among the most difficult and demanding races in the motorsport scene”, explains Matteo Braga, Head of Pirelli Motorsport’s circuit activities.
“It is no coincidence that the unique characteristics of the Green Hell make it a track where Pirelli often experiments with its road tyres.”
“The use of slick and wet compounds on the more than 180 medium and low speed corners that make up the 24 Hours track allows us to collect numerous data on the performance of the tires and thus be able to use them not only to improve the racing products but also the road tires for everyday use that draw their main innovations from the experiments carried out in motorsport”.
The 52nd edition of the 24 Hours of Nürburgring, in which 200 thousand fans are expected, has 130 cars entered in 23 categories and over 450 drivers. The winner of the race is decided between the ranks of the SP9 and SP-X categories, in which eight brands and almost 30 cars compete.
The 24 Hours of Nürburgring starts at 4pm on Saturday 1 June, preceded by a 45-minute warm-up at 12.40pm. Qualifying, divided into four sessions, will be on Thursday 30 and Friday 31 May, with the final Top Qualifying scheduled for 5.30pm.
From this year, the Green Hell Endurance also became part of the Intercontinental GT Challenge championship, thus joining the endurance races at Bathurst, Spa and Indianapolis.
The Nürburg race is part of a busy calendar of commitments for Pirelli with the championships organized by SRO, of which it is the official partner, and ADAC, as the official supplier of the DTM and GT Masters.
After the third stage of the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe in Misano (16-19 May), the Italian company was involved in the Prologue of the 24 Hours of Spa (21-22 May), two days of testing preceding the hundredth edition of the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa (25-30 June) where all 67 GT3s entered will race on Pirelli tyres.
Before the Spa event, Pirelli will be at the Lausitzring (24-26 May) for the second stage of the DTM and subsequently in Zandvoort (7-9 June) where the DTM and GT Masters will race on the same weekend.
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