Pirelli’s Creates ‘Formula One Team’ Entirely Dedicated To The Development And Production Of Tyres For The Highest Level Of Global Motorsport

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.

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The Italian tyre firm will supply all the Formula One teams from 2011-2013 with six types of tyre: four for dry weather, one for rain and one intermediate tyre.

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

Presented in Rome, it includes tyre information and control initiatives on the motorways. Tyre replacement incentives start

In collaboration with ‘Autostrade per l’Italia’ and Telepass, Pirelli presented in Rome yesterday (16 June) the summer campaign for road safety called “Safe&Go”, under the patronage of the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Altero Matteoli.

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.