Pirelli secures GT World Cup tyre deal through 2025
Following an official tender procedure, the FIA has appointed Pirelli as the official tyre partner and supplier for the FIA GT World Cup for a term of three years, starting with this year’s edition of the competition held as part of the Macau Grand Prix.
Pirelli will supply all FIA GT World Cup competitors with its tried and trusted P Zero DHF tyre this year, which has been used worldwide by several championships that run GT3-specification cars.
For the meeting, each car has been allocated five sets of dry-weather tyres and three sets of wet-weather tyres.
For the first time in an FIA-sanctioned competition for GT3 machinery, RFID technology will be in place, enabling seamless automatic monitoring of tyres, alongside the use of scannable barcodes located on the outer sidewalls.
“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,” said Mario Isola, Pirelli’s head of motorsport.
“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 motorsport.”
Queueing for Hello Kitty!
On qualifying day for the Macau Grand Prix and the crowd really started to build.
In particular, the row of stands by the paddock entrance were seeing significantly more footfall this morning, including a two-hour queue for the merchandise for Uno Racing’s Audi R8 LMS GT3 effort for Adderly Fong. The R8’s livery features Hello Kitty and proving to be wildly popular with fans of the team, the driver, the car and not least we feel of the infamous cartoon cat!
Beyond that there are programmed autograph sessions with a number of the big names present at a variety of outlets. Kévin Estre and Jules Gounon were amongst those signing at the Spark Models stall and Darryl O’Young on duty too with hero cards, posters, model cars and….action figures all available for the Craft-Bamboo Racing driver!
Underground paddock
There are so many aspects of this race meeting that can be legitimately described as ‘unique’, but one that certainly is, is the Touring Car Paddock.
The F3 cars and Superbikes are housed in the pit garages with the GTs berthed in the second set of garages in the paddock behind.
The TCR runners and the Toyota GR86s of the one-make 70th Anniversary race though are to be found in the underground car park beneath the main paddock.
It’s a somewhat unusual vibe for an international paddock, with the full garage lining boards mounted around sections of a regular car park and team personnel finding space in improvised office space.
Team Comtoyou
Team Comtoyou is amongst the contenders this weekend with a trio of Audi RS3 LMS cars in the TCR ranks. Its time with Audi in GT3 racing meanwhile, is coming to a close, as the outfit is switching to Aston Martin for 2024.
Last week, prior to making the trip to Macau, DSC understands that the team was present at a significant Aston Martin Test at Snetterton, as it creeps towards its 2024 campaign with the new Vantage.
