GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Pirelli confirmed its technology partnership with Italian supercar manufacturer Lamborghini today at the world premiere of the new P Zero Corsa System at the International Motor Show in Geneva. Designed for the new Gallardo LP 570-4 Superleggera that is built in Sant’Agata Bolognese, P Zero Corsa System is for use on the highest-performing next generation of vehicles. Pirelli’s Research and Development division reinforced the characteristics of the newest member of the Lamborghini family by developing the new P Zero Corsa System in 235/35ZR19 and 295/30ZR19 sizes specifically for the Gallardo Superleggera. The new tires reduce environmental impact by utilizing compounds and solutions that decrease rolling resistance. In addition, R&D developed performance characteristics that give drivers maximum safety and handling for their new Gallardo LP 570-4 Superleggera.

The P Zero Corsa System combines front directional tread design with an asymmetric rear design that decreases susceptibility to hydroplaning. The front P Zero Corsa directional maintains the previous tread design; however, innovative materials and technology choices have been introduced to help balance the increased sportiness of the new asymmetric rear tires. The new P Zero Corsa Asymmetric includes robust blocks and a full shoulder to maximize the performance on dry surfaces, even under the most extreme driving conditions. The inclusion of longitudinal channels also allows for the expulsion of water and decreases susceptibility to hydroplaning, despite the reduced tread depth. The new combination of designs and the use of innovative materials derived from Pirelli Motorsports, allows the new P Zero Corsa System to achieve higher levels of performance both on dry and wet surfaces.

P Zero Corsa System road tires are the ultimate in ultra-high-performance products developed by Pirelli for the most prestigious and high-performance cars in the world. P Zero represents a revolution in the tire industry, and offers drivers performance without precedence in every aspect, including handling, comfort, and safety. As part of the P Zero Collection, the Pirelli P Zero Corsa System is the leader in the high end bracket and uses many innovative solutions developed by Pirelli and protected by five patents which cover the tread design, compounds, and the tire structure. The racing heart of P Zero is guaranteed by the tread compounds and by special nano-composites that ensure comfortable driving combined with extreme sports performance. Additionally, the tread design of Pirelli’s new tire also delivers maximum grip on wet roads and reduces noise. The asymmetric profile DA.Co (Dynamic Asymmetric Contour) gives even wear and tire and ground contact remains the same at all speeds. Moreover, P Zero is produced with compounds which contain no highly-aromatic oils.

The well-established collaboration between Pirelli and Lamborghini is not limited to the development of road tires, but extends to racing and the main events organised by the car maker. Pirelli is the sole supplier to Lamborghini in these regards.

Pirelli Tire North America designs, develops, manufactures and markets tires for passenger vehicles in both the original equipment and replacement markets as well as markets and distributes tires for motorcycles and motorsports. Located in Rome, Georgia, Pirelli’s Modular Integrated Robotized System (MIRS) employs state-of-the-art technology to manufacture tires for both export and domestic markets. For more information please visit www.us.pirelli.com.

DAYTONA BEACH, FL – The winners of Grand-Am’s season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona – held January 30th – 31st – earned more than just the highly-coveted Daytona Oyster Perpetual Cosmograph Rolex watches for taking the top honors in the 48th running of America’s premier endurance race. The winner of the overall race and the Daytona Prototype class, the No. 9 Action Express Racing Porsche Riley team, and the winner of the GT class, the No. 70 Castrol Syntec/SpeedSource Mazda RX-8 team became the first winners of the new Pirelli P Zero Club Bonus Program. The program will pay out $120,000 in cash awards during the 2010 GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16 season.

To be eligible for the new program, teams must currently be members of the Pirelli P Zero Club, which is comprised of returning race teams that finished inside the top 10 in final 2009 GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series Daytona Prototype and GT points standings. When a member team of this year’s P Zero Club earns its first victory (in either the DP or GT classes) of the 2010 season it will also earn a $5,000 Pirelli P Zero Bonus.

Any repeat wins by either team in a race during the remainder of the 2010 season will see that race’s $5,000 bonus “rollover” and continue to build at each race until other P Zero Club members score their first 2010 victories. For the 2010 GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series season finale at Miller Motorsports Park on September 11th, all members of the P Zero Club will again be eligible for the bonus, regardless of whether or not they have won earlier in the season.

The No. 9 Porsche Riley team earned the $5,000 Daytona Prototype bonus at this year’s Rolex 24 At Daytona for a near-flawless run to victory in the hands of Jaoa Barbosa, Terry Borcheller, Ryan Dalziel and Mike Rockenfeller. In addition, the No. 70 Mazda RX-8 team won the $5,000 GT class P Zero bonus after David Haskell, Nick Ham and Jonathan Bomarito joined team owner and co-driver Sylvain Tremblay in a comeback run to victory.

“The 2010 Pirelli P Zero Club will have cash bonuses on the line at each and every GRAND-AM Rolex Series race; and that should make great competition even better,” said Rafael Navarro III, Pirelli Tire North America’s Director of Motorsports and Media Relations. “Action Express and SpeedSource were the first teams to hit the jackpot at Daytona, and they will get another chance to cash-in during the 2010 season-ending wild card event at Miller Motorsports Park in September, a race that has a potentially rich payout for both the Daytona Prototype and GT winners.”

Action Express and SpeedSource were quick to thank Pirelli Tire North America for joining GRAND-AM in introducing the lucrative new P Zero Club Bonus program; each of the winning team’s drivers also credited the series-standard Pirelli P Zero Racing Slicks for their major role in each team’s winning efforts. The 2010 Rolex 24 At Daytona endurance race was run in a variety of temperatures and challenging conditions. Both the Pirelli P Zero Racing Rain tire and the P Zero Racing Slicks never missed a beat.

“I drove in variety of conditions on both the wet and dry weather Pirellis and I was thoroughly impressed,” said Borcheller, who was also part of the team that took the overall title at the 2004’s Rolex 24 At Daytona and was 2003’s GRAND-Am Rolex Series Daytona Prototype Champion. “I was in the car in the wet, when it went from wet to dry, and then on slicks running in the damp and trying to stay on the dry line. That is always difficult, but the Pirellis stayed consistent and came in fairly well despite the damp and cold conditions and a pretty green track after the rain.”

Borcheller double-stinted until 3:00 a.m. while at the wheel of the No. 9 Porsche early Sunday morning at the beginning of the coldest and longest green-flag period of the race. During that time, the Rolex 24 ran caution free from just past 1 a.m. until 6:15 a.m. for a total of 175 laps.

“What impressed me the most was the durability of the Pirellis and how well they responded,” continued Borcheller. “I have always thought that one of my biggest strengths is how I manage a tire. I’ve always had the right amount of tire left at the end of a run; but in the case of the new Pirellis I over-conserved. The new tires have more life than I expected. It was great to do my fastest laps at the end of the stint. That tells you Pirelli is going in the right direction.”

Borcheller’s teammate Dalziel scored his second career Daytona Prototype win to go along with his first at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in 2008.

“The Pirellis were excellent for us,” Dalziel said. “We could manage the tires pretty nicely and we could double-stint on the tires whenever we wanted to.”

The GT-winning No. 70 team had fallen six laps behind after a contact incident forced the team to the garage for overnight repairs; but the resilient Mazda squad came back to win by nearly four laps when the checkered flag flew at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday. The Pirelli P Zeros held up to the demands of the No. 70 team’s charge to the front.

“It was a real testament to the Pirelli brand, their engineering and also their overall support,” said Tremblay, who led the No. 70 team to its second Rolex 24 GT win in the last three years. “This weekend the durability was awesome and the current Pirelli is by far the most consistent tire I have had the opportunity to race on. The weather was definitely dicey but one thing that wasn’t was our Pirelli tires.”

Next up for Pirelli and the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series is the Grand Prix of Miami at Homestead-Miami Speedway, March 5th – 6th. The race can be seen live on SPEED at 5 p.m. ET on Saturday, March 6, and $5,000 P Zero Club bonuses will be among the awards on the line for any first time 2010 Daytona Prototype and GT race winning teams.

Pirelli Tire North America designs, develops, manufactures and markets tires for passenger vehicles in both the original equipment and replacement markets as well as markets and distributes tires for motorcycles and motorsports. Located in Rome, Georgia, Pirelli’s Modular Integrated Robotized System (MIRS) employs state-of-the-art technology to manufacture tires for both export and domestic markets. For more information please visit www.us.pirelli.com

Daytona Beach, FL – The racing world is coming to Daytona International Speedway for this weekend’s Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series season opener, the Rolex 24 At Daytona, and Pirelli Tire North America’s Motorsport division is ready. In its third consecutive year as the “Official Tire of the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series”, Pirelli’s P Zero racing slick has been proven to be a super-fast and durable racing tool for Daytona Prototype and GT teams in the Grand-Am series. The Rolex 24 begins Saturday, January 30th and will finish 24 hours later on the 31st.

Pirelli’s P Zero racing slick has played an essential role in the success of Grand-Am’s Rolex Sports Car Series, and was part of the closest 24-hour endurance race finish in motorsports history last year. In testing for this year’s Rolex 24 earlier this month, P Zero capably handled record cold temperatures that nearly closed the course, and gave teams the confidence to drive hard in the inclement winter weather. Pirelli and its talented team of engineers and technicians are confident that the third-generation P Zeros for Grand-Am are the best yet, and will have the opportunity to prove themselves right during this weekend’s race. More than 45 teams will take up the challenge of the 48th annual running of America’s premier endurance race – each race car fitted with the latest Pirelli P Zero racing tires.

“The season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona represents the single biggest weekend of operation for Pirelli Tire North America’s Motorsport team and we are more than up to the challenge,” said Rafael Navarro III, PTNA’s Director of Motorsports and Media Relations. “As all of the top drivers and teams in the Grand-Am Rolex Series will tell you, every 24-hour races gives drivers nearly a full season of racing experience. Everything we have learned in the last two Rolex 24 events, as well as during testing sessions at Daytona in the harshest of conditions has been put into our 2010 Pirelli P Zeros. We look forward to being part of another great Rolex 24 At Daytona.”

To support the all-day and all-night effort, Pirelli brings more than just its legendary P-Zeros to Daytona International Speedway. A team of 12 Pirelli Tire engineers and 60 tire fitters from all around the world will converge on Daytona, as well as Pirelli’s famous spokesmodels. The various personnel will work in two shifts throughout the race weekend. Calling on only the best from around the world, Pirelli personnel assigned to the Rolex 24 come from the United States, Canada, Italy, and as far away as Australia.

Pirelli also has a fleet of a dozen support trailers in place at Daytona, including a pair of fully equipped technical support units. They will form the platform from which Pirelli technicians will be ready to fit tires from a pool of 10,000 P-Zero racing tires (including 3,000 racing rain tires) on hand in Daytona.

It all begins Thursday January 28th, with practice and qualifying and the team’s only chance to test that night. Friday’s schedule includes a final practice before the 48th annual Rolex 24 on Saturday and Sunday Live coverage of the 2010 Rolex 24 on SPEED begins on Saturday, January 30, at 3 p.m. ET, prior to the 3:30 p.m. ET green flag, and lasts until 10 p.m. ET. Coverage resumes at 7 a.m. ET on Sunday and will run through and into post-race coverage at 4 p.m. ET.

Pirelli Tire North America designs, develops, manufactures and markets tires for passenger vehicles in both the original equipment and replacement markets as well as markets and distributes tires for motorcycles and motorsports. Located in Rome, Georgia, Pirelli’s Modular Integrated Robotized System (MIRS) employs state-of-the-art technology to manufacture tires for both export and domestic markets. For more information please visit www.us.pirelli.com.