BLANCPAIN GT SERIES GETS UNDERWAY WITH PIRELLI AT PAUL RICARD TEST
The Blancpain GT Series has got underway this week with two days of testing at Paul Ricard in France, combined with media opportunities. Almost 50 cars took to the track, made up of 32 teams and 11 different models.
Testing provided the teams with the opportunity to perfect their cars and set-up, plus get to grips with the Pirelli rubber that is used by the whole championship. For this season, teams will once again use the P Zero DHD2 slick tyre, as well as the Cinturato WH wet tyre. There’s just one specification of slick tyre and one specification of wet tyre that has to work for all the different teams and cars – which often have very diverse characteristics.
New cars for 2019
There are six brand new models joining the line-up this year: the Aston Martin Vantage GT3, Audi R8 LMS EVO, Honda NSX GT3 Evo, Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO, McLaren 720 S GT3 and Porsche 911 GT3 R.
DHD2 for GT racing
The Blancpain GT Series grid will use the same P Zero DHD2 tyre as last year. It’s a tried and trusted product that has proved to be very versatile on a wide range of circuits all over the world. For wet races the WH wet tyre will be available. When it comes to GT racing, Pirelli is the leading player throughout the world, equipping all the major GT3 championships: around 12 in total.
Like lightning
It was the Honda NSX GT3 Evo that topped the times, with Italian driver Marco Bonanomi setting a lap time of 1m52.765s right at the end of two days of testing.
The big number
5269. The number of laps of the Paul Ricard circuit recorded by teams over the two days of testing, equivalent to 30,560 kilometres.
Quotes
Matteo Braga, Pirelli racing technical manager: “Testing at Paul Ricard has been very successful for us. The teams were able to use the DHD2 tyre across the two days and refine their set-ups ahead of the opening round of the season in Monza next month. This was especially important for those with new cars, as they studied how the tyres worked with different set-up changes. There were some pretty quick times so it’s going to be a very interesting year. But we need to keep in mind that the track has been partially resurfaced, with the cool and windy weather conditions sometimes affecting performance.”
What’s next?
The opening round of the Blancpain GT Series at Monza from 13-14 April, close to Pirelli HQ in Milan.
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For further information about Pirelli, please contact Anthony Peacock on +44 (0)7765 896 930 or anthony@mediaticaworld.com
For further information about the Blancpain GT Series please visit: www.blancpain-gt-series.com
