The governing body for numerous auto racing events around the world, Fédération Internationale de l’ Automobile (FIA) has announced a new partnership with the Italian tyre developer, Pirelli.
Pirelli has been designated the official tyre partner and supplier for the FIA GT World Cup for the next three years, beginning with this year’s race as part of the Macau Grand Prix. This year, the tyre manufacturing brand will provide all FIA GT World Cup racers with its tried-and-true P Zero DHF tyre, which has been utilised by various GT3-specified tournaments throughout the world.
With a mixture of slow and fast corners spread across a 6.276-kilometre lap, an abrasive surface, frequent high track temperatures, and notable track evolution from session to session, the Macau Guia Circuit is a demanding venue for the P Zero DHF compound tyre.
Throughout the contest, every vehicle will be given five sets of dry-weather tyres and three sets of wet-weather tyres. Moreover, RFID technology will be used for the first time in an FIA-sanctioned race for GT3 machinery, allowing smooth autonomous monitoring of tyres in addition to the use of scannable barcodes positioned on the outside sidewalls.
The Italian tyre producer maintains its long-standing connection with the FIA in GT3 racing, which began with the first-ever running of the FIA GT World Cup in 2015 and has since expanded to encompass the 2018 FIA GT Nations Cup along with the two editions of the FIA Motorsport Games.
Marek Nawarecki, FIA Senior Circuit Sport Director, said, “Held as part of the Macau Grand Prix, the FIA GT World Cup represents a unique challenge among competitions for GT3 cars. The Guia Circuit doesn’t allow for any pre-event testing, so it is crucial to have a reliable tyre that teams and drivers can trust 100%.
“Pirelli brings a wealth of experience from various forms of motor sport, has an established working relationship with the FIA through different disciplines and series, and has a very strong presence in the worldwide GT3 marketplace. This is a natural partnership for the FIA GT World Cup that makes sense for a lot of reasons.”
Mario Isola, Pirelli Head of Motorsport, said, “We are delighted to return to Macau as part of a long-term agreement to supply the prestigious FIA GT World Cup; one of the true highlights of the international GT racing scene. We will also be exclusively supplying our bespoke P Zero tyres to the Formula 3 World Cup: the race that every young driver wants to win, as just a quick glance at the illustrious list of previous winners shows.
“From the perspective of a tyre supplier, Macau not only has the glamour that makes this circuit a racing legend, but it also contains a massively varied technical challenge: from the flat-out wide straights of the city section to the twisty and demanding ‘mountain’ sector, all the way to what is probably the slowest and tightest hairpin bend in the history of motor sport.”