Pirelli, Gtwc Europe Gets Underway with the Challenge of Paul Ricard

The season begins with one of the most challenging endurance races of the championship

55 GT3 cars on the starting grid, 20 of them Pro, representing nine different car makers

Braga: “The pre-season tests held at this very same track back in March, produced valuable data and confirmed the suitability of the P Zero DHF”

The 2024 GTWC Europe championship gets underway at Le Castellet’s Paul Ricard Circuit with one of the most demanding races of the season, this year brought forward to April. No fewer than 55 GT3 cars will line up on the grid, representing nine of the most prestigious automobile marques, all of them entering at least one of the 20 Pro crews taking part. Alongside the GTWC regulars (Audi, BMW, Ferrari, Lamborghini, McLaren, Mercedes AMG and Porsche) this year there are newcomers in the shape of Aston Martin with the AMR GT3 EVO and Ford with the eagerly awaited Mustang GT3.

For the twelfth consecutive year, all the GT3 cars, along with those in the GT2 and GT4 support categories, will be shod by Pirelli, with the 2022 evolution of the P Zero DHF. During pre-season testing at the Le Castellet circuit back in March as well as in the Bathurst 12 Hours in February, that tyre proved to be the most appropriate technical solution for these cars, providing a solid base for the BoP as defined by SRO.

PIRELLI QUOTE

Matteo Braga, head of Circuit Activity Pirelli: “In the first few events of the season, the DHF once again demonstrated its qualities of reliability, performance, versatility and a great degree of adaptability to the widest range of conditions, even over the course of a single race. As at every round and starting with this one in Paul Ricard, we will be able to acquire data and ideas for future development of our technical solutions. This weekend, I expect a very closely contested and spectacular challenge. There are several cars that can aspire to the win and very many top level drivers going head to head, underlining how this championship is growing in quality, becoming more attractive and competitive year after year.”

P ZERO DHF, SUSTAINABLE PERFORMANCE

The DHF, completely redesigned by Pirelli engineers in 2022 to match the incessant evolution of the GT cars features greater sustainability characteristics than previous versions. Right from the development stage, the DHF’s environmental impact was reduced by almost 20% through extensive use of virtual modelling instead of physical prototypes. The P Zero range for the GTWC and the support categories uses new types of renewable materials that further reduce its environmental footprint.

For Pirelli, its products for GTWC and for other motorsport categories are a test bed, as well as an opportunity to optimise processes also in terms of sustainability. The Company - the first tyre manufacturer in the world to achieve a three-star rating from the Environmental Accreditation Programme, promoted by the FIA as part of its commitment to sustainability in motorsport – aims to be Carbon Neutral by 2030 through the gradual replacement of fossil-based sources for the electricity purchased for all its factories, with renewable ones.