Pirelli takes on Pikes Peak with the Ford Mustang Mach-E and Simone Faggioli’s Norma M20 FC
What do a 1400 horsepower Ford Super Mustang Mach-E, a road going evolution of the iconic electronic sports car and an extreme prototype like the Norma M20 FC have in common? This month, both of them will take on the challenge of the legendary Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, the most famous race of its type in the world. These two cars share another key element every day of the year, in that they have a long standing partnership with Pirelli and P Zero tyres specifically developed for this type of event.
The event takes place on Sunday 22 June in Colorado, where the Pirelli engineers will be supporting two elite drivers, Romain Dumas at the wheel of the electric Mustang competing in the Pikes Peak Open category and Simone Faggioli, multiple Italian and European hill-climb champion at the wheel of the Norma M20 FC, in the Unlimited category, the event’s blue riband class. They will both be tackling the famous “Race to the Clouds” on the 19.93 km course with its 156 corners and an elevation gain of 1,440 metres, from 2,862 at the start to 4,302 metres at the finish line.
“For this type of event, our support focusses on two crucial aspects: working with the team engineers to prepare the car as well as possible and, obviously, to provide a reliable, high-performance product,” explain Matteo Braga, Circuit Activity Manager and in charge of the collaboration with Ford and Terenzio Testoni, Rally Activity Manager, responsible for Hillclimb events. “The characteristics of our racing P Zero tyres, much appreciated by the teams and drivers for the grip, consistency and driving precision they provide, are essential when working with exceptionally powerful cars like these, that have to push on constantly uphill, dealing with a variable track surface and demanding corners. It’s going to be a spectacular race.”
In recent years, Pirelli has won the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb several times. Last year, Pirelli equipped the F-150 Lightning Super Truck, also driven by Frenchman Dumas, while in 2019 the overall win went to Robin Shute at the wheel of the Honda turbo-powered Wolf GB08. That same year, P Zero tyres were also fitted to the Bentley Continental GT which took the win and set a record in the production car category. In 2018, the Italian company supported the Bentley Bentayga when it set the record in the SUV category, a record that was broken in 2022 by the Lamborghini Urus Performante, also fitted with Pirelli P Zero tyres.
Apart from the racing prototype, the roadgoing version of the Mustang MachE sits on Pirelli P Zero, developed with Elect technology for electric and hybrid vehicles, whose performance is strongly influenced by their tyres.