Pirelli is reinforcing its commitment to North American racing in 2023 with large-scale involvement and tire distribution to both global and domestic competitions taking place across the continent. The Italian tiremaker is set to participate in 10 North American motorsport championships, with almost 40 Pirelli and partner personnel committed to over 100 races, supplying more than 30,000 tires throughout the course of the season, the company said.
With more than a century of its own history in the industry, Pirelli continues to leverage motorsports as an extension of its research and development work, Pirelli said. This “open-air laboratory” approach fosters innovation globally for Pirelli, the company said.
Pirelli is involved in the following motorsports competitions:
- Formula 1: As Pirelli’s longest-standing motorsports involvement globally since its inception as a tiremaker, the 2023 season brings to North America three Grand Prixes being hosted in the United States (Miami, Austin and Las Vegas) and two more split between Montreal, Canada, and Mexico City, Mexico. The introduction of the Las Vegas Grand Prix will take place on Nov. 18 and marks the second consecutive Grand Prix to be introduced in the United States in as many years.
- SRO: Pirelli continues to supply tires to all SRO series. The array of GT racing includes championships dedicated to GT3, GT2, GT4 and Touring Cars. Pirelli says the North American collection takes on nine of the United States’ top race circuits in 2023 in total. The season concludes at Indianapolis Motor Speedway with the SRO Intercontinental GT Challenge powered by Pirelli.
- Trans Am and SVRA: Pirelli is entering its second year providing 18-inch tires for the Trans Am Series TA Class. The 2023 season kicks off February 23-26. This marks the seventh season since Pirelli and Trans Am began their motorsports partnership. Together with the Trans Am races, Pirelli is also involved with SVRA – the Sportscar Vintage Racing Association. SVRA, the largest vintage racing organization in the United States open to virtually any vintage or historic race car, will share a number of key dates with the Trans Am Series as part of the “Speed Tour.”
- Morgan Performance Group: Pirelli North America has signed a new three-year extension to supply racing tires for the Morgan Performance Group (MPG). Heading into its fourth season, the MPG series entered the 2023 sports car season with four divisions including GT Celebration (three classes), Prototype Celebration (two classes), Cup Celebration (four classes) and M2 Celebration (three classes), which will race on historical racetracks such as Sonoma Raceway, VIRginia International Raceway and Watkins Glen.
- International GT: Pirelli North America signed another three-year contract extension with International GT, a North American racing series for Ferrari and Porsche models made up of The Stuttgart Cup, Mission Foods GT3 Cup Trophy and The Maranello Cup championships. This will bring the partnership over the decade mark, as Pirelli’s tires first hit the track for International GT in 2014.
- Single-Make and Miscellaneous Series: Pirelli says key parts of the Pirelli USA program are also the P Zero-equipped single-make championships including the Ferrari Challenge and the Championship of the Porsche Club of America (PCA). Pirelli also continues to support the Pike’s Peak International Hill Climb.