The Italian firm won the tender to supply tyres exclusively to the FIA Formula One World Championship from 2011-2013 earlier this year, and since then a concentrated campaign of research and development has been ongoing to prepare for Pirelli’s first Formula One season in 20 years.

With the initial shakedown work at Mugello from August 17-18 proving to be extremely successful, Pirelli continued its development programme at Paul Ricard for two days, working on both constructions and compounds as per the planned schedule.

At the same time, Italian driver Giorgio Pantano continued to test Pirelli’s GP2 tyres, which will also make their debut next season as part of a three-year tyre supply agreement that takes in the entry-level GP3 series as well.

Temperatures in the south of France remained warm throughout both test days, with an average ambient temperature of 24 degrees Centigrade and average track temperature of 28 degrees Centigrade.

The Le Castellet circuit, which has recently been developed into a high-tech test facility, can be driven in a number of different configurations. Pirelli’s test team made full use of the circuit to run a high-speed configuration, enabling the engineers to assess the performance of the tyres under extreme loading as well as through slower and more technical sections.

Throughout both days of the test, the car and the tyres performed perfectly. The performance of the new rubber, as well as its consistency and reliability, fully matched Pirelli’s expectations – as motorsport director Paul Hembery explained.

“We’re very happy with the progress we’ve made so far, which actually puts us slightly ahead of where we expected to be at this point in time,” pointed out Hembery. “We worked through an initial development programme that has given us a useful insight into the performance of our prototype tyres under a wide range of conditions, corners and speeds. We’ve been hugely encouraged by what we’ve seen up to now, and that’s been helped by both Nick’s clear and precise feedback, as well as all the different possibilities afforded to us by the Paul Ricard circuit.”

Pirelli’s test programme will continue in Spain in two weeks’ time. In the meantime, the company will take to the track at Monza for the finale of this year’s GP3 Series from September 11-12, which is exclusively supplied by Pirelli in its inaugural season.

Heidfeld, Pirelli’s newly-appointed Formula One test driver, sampled prototype versions of Pirelli’s PZero Formula One tyre, which will be used by all Formula One teams from 2011 onwards under a three-year agreement with the FIA, world motorsport’s governing body.

The objective of the test, which was held in largely dry and sunny conditions at the Mugello circuit in Italy, was to begin the process of determining the front and rear tyre profile and construction that will be used as the basis of the new Pirelli PZero Formula One tyre.

Pirelli’s Motorsport Director, Paul Hembery, explained: “This was the first step of our return to Formula One and we are very satisfied with how the tyres performed and the information we were able to collect. We concentrated on finalising the profile and the construction of the front and rear tyres, which is a process that we will continue over the next few tests that we carry out.

“Mugello has quite an abrasive surface with long and medium-high-speed corners as well as hairpins and quick changes of direction so it is quite a good proving ground. We are on target and we come away from this test with lots of data to analyse, which is exactly the situation we hoped to be in.”

Pirelli’s testing programme began less than two months since its agreement as the sole tyre supplier to the Formula One World Championship was finalised, a feat Hembery was quick to acknowledge.

“A lot of people have made a big commitment to get to where we are today in a very short period of time and the effort really has been incredible,” said Hembery. “The Toyota team has also been very professional and provided a good, reliable car and we are all very happy to begin our relationship with Nick Heidfeld who gave us a lot of good feedback and suggestions.”

Pirelli will continue its Formula One tyre development programme later this month.

Heidfeld will use Toyota’s Formula One car from last year, the TF109, to test the new rubber that all the teams will use from 2011 onwards.

The 33-year-old raced in Formula One right up to the end of last year, having spent 10 seasons in the sport during which he started over 150 races. Throughout his career he scored 219 points, including 12 podiums, and he is currently chairman of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association.

The Toyota TF109 was the last Formula One car produced by the Japanese manufacturer before it withdrew at the end of 2009 after scoring five podium finishes in its final season. As such the Toyota provides contemporary technology and performance with which to test the new Pirelli PZero Formula One tyres to the limit, but does not hand an advantage to any current team.

Heidfeld will drive the car in a series of test sessions on several different circuits from August onwards. The tyre development work will focus on finding the delicate compromise needed between performance, durability and spectacle next season.

Pirelli’s development testing is getting underway less than two months since Pirelli concluded a three-year agreement with the FIA, world motorsport’s governing body, as the sole tyre supplier to the Formula One World Championship. In addition to this, Pirelli will also supply GP2 and GP3.

Following Heidfeld’s on-track work with the Toyota, all the current Formula One teams will get the chance to test the new tyres after the season-closing Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in November.

Pirelli’s new tyres will be carefully designed to cater not only for the needs of the teams, ensuring a stable and consistent product, but also for the wishes of the fans to see exciting and close racing.

Consequently, Heidfeld’s role will be vital as Pirelli fine-tunes the specification of the four compounds, two of which will be used in each race next year, as per the current regulations. Heidfeld’s consistency is a crucial asset in this task: the German holds the record for the highest number of consecutive race classifications (41) and he also managed to finish every race during the 2008 season.

Pirelli’s Motorsport Director Paul Hembery commented: “We’re delighted to welcome Nick into the Pirelli family, and we’re confident that he’ll do a great job for us. The role of test driver is a crucial one, so we were looking for a driver who had plenty of recent Formula One experience, the speed to push our new tyres as hard as possible, and the consistency to provide reliable simulations, as well as the analytical skills to relay information accurately to our engineers. Nick fits the bill in every respect and we’re very pleased to have secured his services and obviously thankful to MERCEDES GP PETRONAS for agreeing to release Nick from his contract. As for the car, we have a policy of complete impartiality, so we did not want to favour any existing team. The Toyota was the perfect solution, as it is a contemporary racing machine with proven speed and reliability but without links to any of the manufacturers currently competing in Formula One. I’m confident that we have an extremely good package that will give us every opportunity to maximise the potential of our tyres prior to the start of next season.”

Heidfeld added: “It’s a great privilege for me to join Pirelli in order to carry out this vital work and I am very grateful to MERCEDES GP PETRONAS for releasing me from my contract to take on this role. Through the experience I have built up over the years, I’m confident that I will be able to provide Pirelli with some important feedback regarding the development of next year’s tyres. I’ve got a lot to give but I haven’t been driving so much this year, so it is good to get started! Together, I’m sure that we can create a dynamic range of tyres that will make Formula One an even more exciting sport in the future.”

The Tyres Will Be Developed At Pirelli’s Research Centre In Milan And Produced At The Izmit Factory In Turkey, Where Pirelli’s Other Competition Tyres Are Currently Made

The Formula One Project Has No Impact On Pirelli’s Existing Financial Strategy

Milan, 24 June 2010 - The chairman of the Pirelli Group, Marco Tronchetti Provera, and Pirelli Tyre’s managing director, Francesco Gori, today presented to the media the company’s plans for supplying tyres to Formula One for the three-year period between 2011-2013.

The company’s programme includes the creation of a dedicated team for the development and production of Formula One tyres. The Team of internal Pirelli human resources, will be made up of engineers and researchers who have accumulated experience at the highest levels of motorsport: creating winning products for rallying, Superbike, the Rolex Sports Car Series in North America and GT racing, as well as various one-make series. This ensures that the other divisions of the company remain focused on the ongoing business.

In order to meet the Formula One teams’ requirements in terms of reliability, safety and performance, Pirelli’s engineers are already working on simulation models and tyre compounds that will be most suited to the rigours of Grand Prix racing.

The Pirelli Formula One team will be an international group of people based in Milan, the home of Pirelli Tyre’s research and development department. This division has traditionally been at the heart of Pirelli’s cutting-edge technology and is formed of 1000 research engineers, working in five development centres all over the world. Pirelli Tyre allocates each year between 3 and 4% of its revenues, the highest level in the tyre industry worldwide, to research. Motorsport activities have benefited for many years from the innovations introduced to high-performance tyres by Pirelli’s Research and Development.

The Formula One tyres will be produced in the motorsport department of Pirelli’s Izmit factory in Turkey, which is entirely dedicated to competition tyres.

As established by the FIA (Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile), the Pirelli Formula 1 supply agreement includes development of six different types of tyre for the whole season. Four of these will be slick tyres – with different compounds to suit various dry asphalt surfaces – and one will be a rain tyre, for heavy precipitation. Finally there will be an intermediate tyre, for damp conditions and light rain.

In co-operation with the teams, Pirelli is also ready to develop technical evolutions to the current tyres for the future, regarding in particular the wheel size.

Today’s economic climate has enforced a realistic and collaborative approach to share out the production and logistical costs associated with supplying tyres to Formula One teams fairly. Pirelli will also invest in communications activities to leverage the technological and production values associated with Formula One, utilising resources and budget that have already been set aside for this specific purpose. Formula One will become an important showcase for the Pirelli brand along with its commercial and industrial growth, without impacting on the company’s existing financial strategy in any way.

In the coming years, Formula One is expected to attract around two billion television viewers per season, with important media coverage in emerging markets as well. Pirelli’s business development and growth strategy, which is concentrated in these areas, will benefit hugely from the global visibility offered by Formula One, helping to promote the brand and maximise return on the marketing investment.

PDF Version (35KB)

Pirelli – which has supplied tyres exclusively for the GP3 championship this year – will also supply the GP2 championship from 2011, becoming the sole provider of tyres for the most prestigious single-seater championships in global motorsport.

The Milan-based firm is already present in the World Rally Championship, the World Superbike Championship, the Rolex Sports Car Series in North America, the Motocross World Championship and several other national championships for both cars and bikes.

Pirelli will supply tyres to the Formula One World Championship for a three-year period between 2011 and 2013.

The FIA (Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile), the Teams, represented by FOTA (the Formula One Teams Association), and Formula One’s organising body, represented by FOM (Formula One Management) have chosen Pirelli as their exclusive supplier, based on the specific proposals from the Italian company to guarantee technical and operational stability to the competitors.

Following current Formula One regulations laid down by world motorsport’s governing body, the FIA, the new contract ensures that Pirelli will provide teams with six different types of tyre for the season: four slicks, with different compounds for various types of dry surfaces, one rain tyre for heavy rain, and one intermediate tyre for damp conditions or light rain.

The current economic climate has led to a realistic and collaborative approach with all the teams, ensuring that manufacturing and logistical costs are shared fairly.

Pirelli’s return to Formula One also has a firm eye on the future, as in full collaboration with all the teams, research into innovative new tyre developments is a vital part of this exciting programme.

Pirelli is also proud to announce that it will supply the GP2 World Series – the acknowledged stepping-stone to Formula One – for the three-year period between 2011-2013.

Pirelli’s latest participation at the highest levels of single-seater racing make a welcome addition to the celebrated Italian firm’s other motorsport activities including, from this year, a tyre supply agreement for the inaugural GP3 series. Pirelli will consequently become the single supplier to all the most prestigious racing championships in the world from 2011.

Pirelli is planning to make important investments in corporate communications, in order to make the most of the high profile and cutting-edge technology that go hand in hand with supplying Formula One, using resources and budget that has already been set aside for this purpose.

This communications campaign will principally help to support Pirelli’s increasing profile in emerging markets: Latin America, the Middle East and Asia Pacific, which are all areas frequently visted by Formula One.

Consequently Formula One will become a vital calling card for the Pirelli brand, helping its commercial and industrial expansion without disrupting the company’s long-term financial strategy.

The global visibility guaranteed through extensive media interest in Formula One, together with dynamic plans to leverage Pirelli’s involvement in an activity central to the company’s core business, represents a unique opportunity for the brand to maximise its return on investment.

This new Formula One agreement crowns Pirelli’s historic involvement in world motorsport, which dates back to 1907 when the Italian fim won the epic Paris-Peking road race. Pirelli currently exclusively supplies some of the most important World Championships for both cars and bikes, such as the GP3 series, the World Rally Championship, the Rolex Sports Car Series in North America, the World Superbike Championship, and the Motocross World Championship. On top of this, Pirelli also supplies more than 70 other national and international championships. The last Grand Prix victory claimed by Pirelli was the 1991 Canadian Grand Prix, with Nelson Piquet driving for Benetton.

Pirelli will be available to provide further details on the tyre supply agreement at a press conference to be held during the weekend at the Grand Prix of Europe in Valencia. The date and time of the press conference will be posted on www.pirelli.com .

More information, as well as photographs and videos, are available at:
www.pirelli.com/web/media/press_area/default.page

At the launch of the initiative were the Minister, the chairman of the Pirelli Group, Marco Tronchetti Provera, together with Giovanni Castellucci and Fabio Cerchiai, managing director and president respectively of ‘Autostrade per l’Italia’.

The prevention campaign is aimed at all motorists and has as its objective making the Italians’ holidays safer. It will begin during the weekend 19-20 June and will conclude on that of 28-29 August. During all of these weekends, motorists can meet with Pirelli technicians in one of the 10 mobile workshops set up in motorway service areas that the Società Autostrade makes available and receive a tyre check free of cost.

The check will conclude with the issue of a certificate of control, which will give the state of ‘health’ of the tyres and include the provision of informative material on tyres’ correct maintenance. In addition, each motorist will receive a tread depth gauge, an instrument with which to check the depth of a tyre’s remaining tread, which the law says may not be less than 1.6 mm.

The initiative is accompanied by an incentive campaign totally financed by Pirelli, which comprises a contribution of up to €170 for those who decide to replace their tyres which are worn or do not comply with the law with new Pirelli products by 14 August 2010.

The safety incentive, which continues until 31 May 2011, includes a €100 reduction on a subsequent purchase of a set of new tyres and a bonus of up to €70 in motorway toll charges for those who possess a Telepass Premium.

The Safe&Go campaign will involve about 1,400 tyre dealers in Pirelli workshops, who will play a central part in informing motorists of the fundamental role of tyres and the importance of correct maintenance and prevention.

Pirelli is offering a free tyre check-up at three mobile garages located at key points in the highway network, as well as a safety incentive to replace tyres

An Assogomma-Federpneus-Polizia Stradale study found that over 50% of Italians travel with tyres that are unsuitable

Our partners in safety, Autostrade per l’Italia and Telepass, will contribute by providing information about this initiative on their channels and will also provide space in the Service Areas to carry out tyre inspections

A safe travelling manual will be distributed to drivers, promoted by Autostrade per l’Italia

An estimated one million travellers will stop at the Service Areas and will be involved in the initiatives

The Pirelli Group and Autostrade per l’Italia presented the summer highway safety campaign, “Safe&Go”, in Rome today, with Italy’s Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Altero Matteoli.  The campaign was designed and will be carried out by the two companies.

Participating with Minister Matteoli, were Marco Tronchetti Provera, the Chairman of the Pirelli Group, and Giovanni Castellucci and Fabio Cerchiai, the Managing Director and Chairman of Autostrade per l’Italia.

The prevention and awareness campaign is aimed at all drivers who use the Autostrade per l’Italia network during the coming weekends of heavy outbound and inbound holiday traffic, with the objective of making the holiday period safer for everyone. The project will begin on the weekend of 19-20 June and end on the weekend of 28-29 August.

During the weekends of the campaign, specialized technicians will offer complete tyre check-ups free of charge at Pirelli check points located at key points in the Autostrade per l’Italia network, checking pressure and evaluating wear on the outside of the tyres, as well as measuring remaining tread. Check-ups will be completed with the presentation of a certificate that indicates the tyre’s overall condition. Additionally, drivers will receive informational material regarding proper tyre maintenance and they will also receive instruction in the use of a thickness gauge. This tool, which will be given free to every driver, can be used to check the remaining tread level without needing to visit a mechanic. By law, tyre tread must be greater than 1.6 millimetres.

In order to increase driver awareness regarding the importance of checking tyres during the six weeks of the campaign, the overhead message boards located throughout the Autostrade per l’Italia network will encourage drivers to check their tyres at the appropriate service areas. The project will be supported by informational signs distributed to 150 different areas throughout the highway network and by an intense informational campaign using the radio, Internet, and press, as well as through the distribution of 250,000 highway safety manuals in the service areas, which contain the manual designed and promoted by Autostrade per l’Italia, that explains the rules to follow for safe highway driving.

Additionally, the campaign will be carried out with the assistance of the 1,400 tyre dealers in the Pirelli network, located throughout Italy, who will be asked to inform drivers about the fundamental role that the tyre holds and about the importance of proper maintenance and preventive care.

Tyre quality and proper tyre maintenance are two of the most important elements in terms of preventing highway accidents. Tyres are the only point of contact that cars have between the vehicle and the road — this contact is the determining factor when braking, as well as in terms of road grip under all conditions, from dry, to wet, to straight line, to turning. Under certain conditions, a worn tyre or one  that is not inflated properly can increase braking distance by up to 70%, making it impossible to avoid obstacles or to keep the vehicle straight.

As numerous field tests have shown, not enough attention is paid to tyres. According to a recent study carried out by Federpneus and Assogomma with the assistance of the Highway Police, over 50% of Italians travel with under-inflated tyres or tyres that are worn or damaged or even not approved for use.

The mobile garages will be spread out to work with the flow of traffic both going towards holiday areas and returning towards the largest urban areas.

“Safety, the environment, and performance,” explained Marco Tronchetti Provera, the president of the Pirelli group, “are the fundamental elements that guide our group’s research activities. Pirelli’s labs are focused on finding innovative solutions to help protect the environment and increase road safety, while still offering maximum performance. However, it’s important that there be an understanding between companies and public institutions. An important step forward was represented by the recent decision to make electronic pressure monitoring systems for tyres on new cars mandatory in Europe from 2012 on. In the last few months, the European Commission has also been discussing adding an additional stage to this product, aimed at increasing the precision of these monitoring systems. These norms offer benefits in terms of safety and in reduction of fuel consumption, without any additional costs. Their approval will be determined by whether the Italian government supports them or not.”

“It’s truly positive,” declared Giovanni Castellucci, managing director of Autostrade d’Italia, “that two important companies such as Autostrade and Pirelli have combined their forces for this project that offers concrete benefits in terms of highway safety. Since the company was privatized in 2000, we have reduced the mortality rate on our network by almost 72%. This means 300 fewer fatalities per year, a number that allows us to declare that we have exceeded, two years early, the objective set by the EU to decrease highway fatalities by half. We have succeeded in achieving these results thanks to numerous safety initiatives, including extending draining asphalt throughout the entire network, our public awareness campaign regarding the risks of unsafe driving, the creation of the Consulting Group for Safety and Service Quality, and due to the two million coffees that we have distributed free of charge at night, but above all, thanks to Tutor, the innovative system that controls average driving speed, designed and financed by Autostrade, and installed on over 2,000 kilometres of the network. Tutor, which is managed by the Highway Police, has made it possible to halve fatality rates in the areas where it is installed year after year.

This project also includes an incentive campaign to encourage drivers to replace their tyres, which is 100% financed by Pirelli. These incentives call for a contribution of up to Euro 170 for those who to decide to replace their worn or unsuitable tyres with new Pirelli tyres by 14 August 2010. In fact, the safety incentive also provides for an additional Euro 100 discount on successive purchases (by 31 May 2011) of a train of tyres and the additional possibility to gain up to Euro 70 in highway toll bonuses for those that have Telepass Premium.

This project is aimed at raising awareness about the importance of proper use and maintenance of tyres and at creating an incentive to replace tyres immediately when necessary, in the case of worn or damaged tyres.

The checks will take place on the highway heading towards the sea on 19 June, 26 June, 3 July, 17 July, 31 July, and 28 August, at the following service areas:  Prenestina West on the A1, Stura West on the A26, Conero West on the A14, Somaglia West on the A1, and La Pioppa West on the A14. The checks will take place in the areas near important urban areas with the greatest traffic flow on 20 June, 27 June, 4 July, 18 July, 1 August, and 29 August, at the following service areas:  Cantagallo East on the A1, Torre Cerrano East on the A14, San Martino East on the A1, and La Macchia East on the A1.

An estimated one million travellers will take a break in the Service Areas involved in the initiatives during the campaign.

Other Pirelli and Autostrade per l’Italia initiatives for highway safety

All over the world, the name Pirelli is synonymous with high performance and safety. Highway safety and environmental protection make up the key elements of the Green Performance strategy — the foundation for the Group’s industrial and commercial decisions. Pirelli’s efforts in terms of highway safety include numerous training and informational projects, but are especially focused on continuous research and application of innovative technological solutions that support sustainable mobility.

This means developing ecological materials and tyre structures that can obtain the utmost in fuel savings, while simultaneously increasing vehicle safety parameters, above all during braking and turning. The fundamental characteristics of the new Pirelli product line are safety, performance, and respect for the environment. This line is part of the Cinturato group, and offers tyres for all types of vehicles, from the Series 01 for heavy transport, to Scorpion Verde for SUVs, and on to the new Winter seasonal tyres.

Pirelli research has also led to cutting edge solutions such as the Cyber Tyre, an intelligent tyre able to “read” the roadbed thanks to an integrated chip that controls the wear and pressure of the tyre itself, providing important information about the state of the tyre and the conditions of the road beneath it.  And yet again, Pirelli is one step ahead of the European regulations. The first version of the Cyber Tyre, currently in the final stages of testing before market launch, will not only meet all the obligatory regulations in terms of tyre pressure monitoring which come into effect in 2012, but it will also meet the stricter Stage II regulations, which guarantee yet another step forward in terms of tyre safety. The international financial sustainability indexes have been rewarding these efforts since 2000 and in 2010, for the third year in a row, the Dow Jones Sustainability Index declared Pirelli a world leader in sustainability for the auto parts and tyres sector.

In the context of its own efforts for highway safety, Autostrade per l’Italia has also developed numerous initiatives over the last few years. Among the various projects, we first note Tutor, the innovative system that is able to obtain information about a vehicle’s average speed, which was developed and financed by Autostrade per l’Italia, and is managed by the Highway Police. Tutor brought about a genuine revolution in the general public’s driving habits, making them increasingly prudent and responsible. It contributed to a decrease in fatal accidents of over 51%, and decreased the rate of accidents with injuries by 27% in the 2,200 kilometres in which it is installed. The Consulting Group for Safety and Service Quality has also achieved notable results. This Group was established by Autostrade in 2006, with the aim of identifying and developing initiatives and improvement plans to increase service quality and safety. In addition to Autostrade per l’Italia, the following consumer associations participated: Adoc, Adusbef, Codacons, and Federconsumatori, as well as the Polizia Stradale, Asaps, Isoradio, Quattroruote, and the Central Committee for the National Registry of Haulage Contractors. Other initiatives of note include the installation of draining asphalt in 81.6% of the road network, which comes to 100% if areas where this type of intervention isn’t appropriate are excluded; the replacement or modernization of 2,577 kilometres of traffic dividers making up more than 90% of the road network; the Tunnel Safety Plan, which involves 407 tunnels and calls for the adaptation of the illumination, ventilation, fire safety, and traffic control systems; the communication campaigns aimed at safe driving in conformance with the Highway Code, including television ads “Use Your Head” (in collaboration with Rai Educational), “Life Is Breath” (1 million alcohol testers distributed free in service areas), and the “Free Coffee” initiative that distributed 2 million free coffees on weekend nights in service areas.

Milan, April 30, 2010 – Due to escalating raw material costs, Pirelli will increase prices 4% on all replacement passenger and light truck tires in the United States of America. This price increase will be effective on July 1, 2010.

The story so far has seen Pirelli tyres perform at their best in the ice and snow of Sweden, followed by the rough gravel and high altitude of Mexico. Now the crews head to the desert-like conditions of Jordan, round three of the World Rally Championship, which has only run once before as part of the world series back in 2008.

Despite comparatively little previous experience of the stages, the adaptability of Pirelli’s tyres is enough to soak up the demands placed on them by the sand, rocks and heat of the desert. The hard-compound Scorpion tyres not only have to provide traction but also disperse the surface sand as efficiently as possible through the tread pattern to find good grip.

However, there’s a small chance that the Scorpion tyres will have to cope with water as well as sand because of recent unusually wet conditions in Jordan: the heaviest rain that has fallen there in 20 years. The capabilities of the Pirelli control tyre though, which is supplying the World Rally Championship in a three-year deal from 2008 to 2010, enables it to work well even in the widest variety of conditions. Nowhere is this contrast greater than in the different altitudes of the Jordan Rally, which takes place at around 400 metres below sea level, the lowest point in the world, and the previous round in Mexico, which took the crews up to 2800 metres through a mountain range.

Ford driver Mikko Hirvonen, the winner of the Jordan Rally with Pirelli when it was last run as a round of the World Rally Championship in 2008, commented: “I have to say that the tyres have been really good under all sorts of different conditions. They’ve let us get on with the job, which is to try and win the World Championship this year. We’ve had a good test before this event, and I’m confident that we’ll be fully competitive in Jordan.”

The rally maintains broadly the same format as it did in 2008, with a compact route based around a service area in the Dead Sea resort, about an hour south of the historic capital city of Amman: one of the oldest inhabited cities in the world, with the first civilisation recorded there in around 8500 BC.

Pirelli’s Rally Manager Mario Isola commented: “Jordan is certainly one of the most challenging events we will face all year, simply because of the huge variety of conditions that we are likely to experience. The surface is sandy with a hard base, so on the repeated stages we would expect a reasonable amount of wear due to the abrasive surface. In some places, the roads are like asphalt. The recent changing weather will provide another variable, but we are more than confident in the abilities of our tyres to cope with these extreme conditions.”

Jordan is also the third round of the FIA Production Car World Rally Championship, for two-litre turbocharged Group N cars, and Super 2000 World Rally Championship, which uses normally aspirated two-litre cars. As part of its three-year deal as official tyre supplier to the World Rally Championship, Pirelli also supplies the support championships: underlining the performance and efficiency of the Italian rubber on a wide range of machinery.

Joining the World Rally Championship regulars in Jordan are the competitors in the FIA Middle East Rally Championship. The last round of the Middle East series, the Kuwait Rally, was won by Khalid Al Qassimi, driving a Ford Fiesta S2000 on Pirelli Scorpion tyres.

Unusually, the Jordan Rally will get underway in the morning of Thursday 1 April and finish in the afternoon of Saturday 3 April, after 21 stages and 346 competitive kilometres.