P ZERO DHF MAKES ITS BATHURST DEBUT
For the 20^th edition of the endurance classic, Pirelli brought its P Zero DHF tyre to Bathurst for the first time (with 12 sets of tyres allocated per car for practice, qualifying, and the race). This tyre was introduced in Europe last year but made its debut in Bathurst, playing a key part in the fastest race in the GT3 history of the event. The DHF is quicker than the previous DHE, with better and more consistent performance across a stint length, over a wide variety of cars and track conditions. The latest hard compound DHF shattered the previous qualifying record from 2016 (set with a medium compound) courtesy of Engel.

RELIABILITY AS WELL AS SPEED
Part of the reason why the race was so fast was a very low number of safety car interventions, with green flag racing for more than four hours in the nail-biting closing stages. The reliability from the cars and the tyres was impressive: during the final stint the leading Mercedes driven by Gounon chose not to change tyres, but still held off the hard-charging Porsche that finished second. Habul was asked by TV interviewers at the finish: “What are you going to do with the tyres that come off the car now? They deserve something special.”

PIRELLI RACING ACTIVITY MANAGER MATTEO BRAGA
“This was one of the best races in Bathurst history: congratulations to Jules Gounon for his third win in a row and to all the drivers on the podium, who put on a fantastic show to make this a record-breaking spectacle. The new DHF tyres adapted quickly to the demands of Bathurst, underlining their raw speed in qualifying as well as their reliability on race day. With the race starting at 0545 and finishing in the afternoon, they had to cope with a difference of more than 20 degrees centigrade – from eight to 30 degrees centigrade – as well as a wide variety of strategies.”

A SPECTACULAR SHOW FROM PIRELLI
Nearly 55,000 spectators watched the event – another record – who also got the chance to see New Zealander Liam Lawson drive a Pirelli-equipped Red Bull F1 car around the 6.2-kilometre rollercoaster track, which he described as “the craziest thing I’ve ever done.” Pirelli has supplied the tyres for the Bathurst 12 Hours since 2017, with Gounon now joining an exclusive club of three-time Bathurst winners, while Mercedes pulls level with Audi in terms of overall Bathurst GT3 victories.

NEXT EVENT
The Intercontinental GT Challenge Powered by Pirelli resumes for the Kyalami 9 Hour in South Africa from February 23-25, with the world’s most prestigious car brands represented once again.

 “The Rally Legend is growing more and more in terms of the quality of the participants and the number of fans it attracts," comments Terenzio Testoni, Pirelli's Rally Activity manager. "For us to be there, with a considerable commitment of people and products, is practically inevitable, not only because we have accompanied the history and evolution of this sport from its origins with new technologies that have then reached road cars, but also because, consequently, we are the only ones to offer a complete range of tyres for modern and historic cars. Cars and champions entered in this event have in common our tyres and the collaboration with our technicians, who have often found innovative solutions for them.  From the Rally Legend, I expect not only a great show, but also a close and true competition between many champions who still want to have fun and win".

For the occasion Pirelli will field its entire asphalt range, both classic and contemporary. Modern cars will have at their disposal the P Zero in hard and soft compounds.

The historic cars, for which Markku Alen, Jari-Matti Latvala, Kalle and Harri Rovanpera (in different crews) compete, will mount the P7 Corsa Classic in hard (D3), medium (D5), soft (D7) and wet (W7) compound versions.

With the Sprint Cup and overall titles already decided earlier this month in Valencia, Sunday’s three-hour finale determined the last remaining champions for 2022, with Raffaele Marciello, Daniel Juncadella, and Jules Gounon crowned Endurance champions on Sunday.

At the heart of the season-long battle among the eight competing brands and 50 crews, is Pirelli which has been the exclusive tyre supplier for the SRO Motorsport series since 2012.

MATTEO BRAGA, PIRELLI RACING TECHNICAL MANAGER
“The tyres met our expectations in Barcelona: a high-energy track where degradation and tyre management play an important role. This strong performance allowed five brands to fight for the podium places and underlined the validity of the Balance of Performance. That’s been a little bit the story of the whole season, with most of the brands represented having won at least one round each – and all having had their chances. Our new DHF tyre introduced this year represent a significant step from the DHE and we learned a lot that will be filtered into our continued development and evolution. Although the GT World Challenge Europe is now over, the 2022 GT season is far from over for us: we still have the Indianapolis 8 Hour, FIA Motorsport Games and Gulf 12 Hours to come.”

THE PRODUCT
Having replaced the DHE compound at the start of the year, Pirelli brought in the new DHF tyre as its control compound for every car in GT World Challenge this season. A completely re-designed product, it is also more sustainable than its predecessors, with the production of physical prototypes being reduced by almost 20% thanks to extensive use of virtual modelling. It also uses new types of renewable materials, thus lowering the logistical footprint as a result. The DHF is used across the support bill as well, with the GT4 European Series also running these tyres.

BIG NUMBERS
49 - The number of cars on last weekend’s entry list, with seven brands doing battle: Audi, BMW, Ferrari, Lamborghini, McLaren, Mercedes and Porsche.

1274 - This is the number of laps completed across the Sprint Cup and Endurance Cup races before the final round of the year in Barcelona.

8 - Out of 14 races this season, Team WRT Audi and Akkodis ASP Mercedes have won over half of them – but all the manufacturers have performed strongly over the course of the year.