The Independence Day running of the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series Brumos Porsche 250 at Daytona International Speedway was the second race at the storied track this season. However, unlike the mild January temperatures of the season-opening Rolex 24 at Daytona, Saturday’s July 4th race was run in the extreme heat and humidity indicative of the deep-south during the dog days of summer – testing the limits of the P Zero Racing Slicks and challenging race teams to overcome the super-high track temperatures.

In a nail-biter, race-winner Max Angelelli and runner-up Alex Gurney waged a side-by-side battle on the 3.56-mile Daytona International Speedway road course in the final 20 laps of the 70-lap/250 mile sprint that was run in the searing heat and humidity of the Fourth of July afternoon. Although Gurney twice edged the No. 99 GAINSCO Auto Insurance Pontiac Riley past Angelelli’s No. 10 SunTrust Ford Dallara, it was the top Italian sports car star that eventually overcame to score the victory. Angelelli’s .270-of-a-second margin of victory over Gurney was the fifth-closest finish in Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series history.

“This track – with the configuration – this heat – and the time of day the race is run is really something that a tire manufacturer really does not look forward to,” said Angelelli, who co-drove to his first victory with young American teammate Brian Frisselle. “But on the Pirelli side I should say, I am…happy because the tires were really good. Many, many drivers set their fastest laps at the end of their stints, several times, so the tires were good.”

Frisselle won a pair of races on Pirellis last year as a co-driver of the No. 61 AIM Autosport Ford Riley and now has his third career Daytona Prototype victory on P Zeros in the No. 10 SunTrust Ford Dallara.

“The greatest challenge for any tire is this type of heat and the tires stayed underneath our car and we ended up P1,” Frisselle said, “so obviously we had great tires. Our team was asking the most of the tire by running so trimmed out and just by the nature of this track and the heat. We asked the absolute most of the tire and the Pirelli was there.”

SunTrust’s first victory of the year and GAINSCO’s fourth podium in seven races tightened the Grand-Am Rolex Series Daytona Prototype championship standings. Saturday’s seventh-place finishers Scott Pruett, Memo Rojas and the No. 01 TELMEX/Chip Ganassi Racing Lexus Riley still lead with 199 points, SunTrust and its drivers have 198 points and the GAINSCO squad has 196 points.

In GT action, Dirk Werner and Leh Keen drove the No. 87 Farnbacher Loles Porsche GT3 to its third consecutive victory and fourth win in the last five races. Werner held off Sylvain Tremblay by 1.531 seconds and denied the No. 70 Castrol Syntec Mazda RX-8 started by Nick Ham its third consecutive Brumos Porsche 250 victory.

“Today, again, the Pirelli was a very good tire for our car,” said Werner, who extended his co-lead in the Rolex Series GT points standings. “It seems like over the last few races we have really kind of figured out how to treat the tire in driving and how to adjust the set up to get a good race car. For us, the Pirelli was a perfect tire today.”

Werner, Keen and the No. 87 team have 221 points atop the GT standings, 29 points ahead of the No. 07 Banner Racing Pontiac GXP.R of Kelly Collins and Paul Edwards, which finished ninth in GT in the Brumos Porsche 250.

Five races remain on the 2009 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series schedule. Next up is the Porsche 250 presented by Legacy Credit Union at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama, July 17 – 19. The Barber race can be seen live on SPEED at 3 p.m. ET, Sunday, July 19th.

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.

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Media Contacts:
Rafael Navarro, Director Communications & Motorsports
951-533-0305 rafael.navarro@pirelli.com

Joe Severns, Public Relations Manager
706-506-2195 joe.severns@pirelli.com

Pirelli returns to Daytona this weekend for a second time this season, ready to set all-new records at the storied Florida raceway in the Brumos Porsche 250.  The Saturday, July 4th race is scheduled for 70 laps/250 miles on the 3.56-mile Daytona International Speedway road course and can be seen live on SPEED at 2 p.m. ET (11 a.m. PT).

While January’s Rolex 24 and the Brumos Porsche 250 are run on the same track, the similarities end there.  This Saturday’s race will be run in the heat of a typical Florida summer afternoon, a challenging environment that takes its toll on the drivers, race cars and the track itself.  The dire conditions also bring out the best in the Pirelli P Zeros.

“It is going to be nasty, hot, slippery and tough,” said Jon Fogarty, who co-drove to victory in the 2007 Brumos Porsche 250 with GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing and teammate Alex Gurney in the team’s No. 99 Pontiac Riley Daytona Prototype.  “The heat will sap energy out of the drivers and the motors, and the tires are going to have there work cut out for them.  I am sure the Pirellis are up to the task, but I am certain that it will be a more difficult track to drive than what we have in January.”

Burt Frisselle co-drives the No. 61 AIM Autosport Ford Riley Daytona Prototype with Mark Wilkins.  He also expects the Pirelli P Zeros to be ready for the grueling Florida conditions this Fourth of July.

“Daytona is a tough track for tires because it requires great traction for the tight hairpins and at the same time requires longevity and stability when running the high banking at over 190 mph,” Frisselle said.  “For 2009, the P Zero is even better for the drivers as it allows us to get the occasional lock up going into Turn 1 and the Bus Stop chicane without the penalty of a big flat spot.  Pirelli’s hard work has shown in the lap times.”

The warm weather conditions could also be a challenge for the teams and drivers in the Grand-Am Rolex Series GT category.  Andy Lally was part of January’s class winning Rolex 24 team in the No. 67 TRG Porsche GT3 and looks for an equally challenging race this weekend.

“The main thing that we will deal with at Daytona this weekend as opposed to the 24 hour race in January is the heat,” Lally said. “We will be focusing mainly on tire life, especially this year because for the first time Grand-Am will run this race in the day time. The infield section will be very tough to put the power down and we will be pushing the Pirellis for all there worth.  We had no real tire issues in the Rolex 24 win and I don’t anticipate any this weekend either.  This allows us to focus on driving.”"

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.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
May 18, 2009

UNSEASONABLE HEAT NO MATCH FOR PIRELLI P ZERO RACING SLICKS IN HIGHLY-COMPETITIVE GRAND-AM ROLEX SPORTS CAR SERIES RACE AT MAZDA RACEWAY LAGUNA SECA SUNDAY

MONTEREY, California – For the second time in the last three races, Pirelli and the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16 handled the dual pressures of extreme heat and highly competitive racing. This past weekend’s Verizon Festival of Speed presented by SPEEDCOM Communications at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca (May 15 – 17) had unseasonably warm temperatures, similar to the conditions endured in last month’s Bosch Engineering 250 at Virginia International Raceway.

Combining Sunday’s extreme heat with the high-action racing in the Grand-Am Rolex Series was a challenge Pirelli and its 2009 Spec Grand-Am P Zero Racing Slicks met head on with impressive results.

Jon Fogarty drove dual opening and closing stints in the No. 99 GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing Pontiac Riley and joined teammate Alex Gurney in taking a hard fought win over rival Scott Pruett and the No. 01 TELMEX/Chip Ganassi Racing Lexus Riley. In a daring move with his left-side Pirellis in the gravel and just his right side tires on the race track, Fogarty pulled alongside Pruett in the up-hill run to Laguna Seca’s famous Corkscrew turn and made the winning pass with just over 30 minutes to go in the 2 ¾ hour timed race.

“The Pirellis withstood the test today,” said Fogarty, who started third in the race despite going off course at the Corkscrew during Saturday’s qualifying. “It was hot and we had good grip throughout our entire stints. I started the race on my qualifying set of tires, which I felt like I really abused in qualifying, but they were good. They definitely were up to the task today.”

Fogarty also set the race’s fastest lap in the late stages on a set of P Zeros that had been on his race car for nearly an hour. Fogarty and Gurney became the first repeat Daytona Prototype race winners of the 2009 season and also took the points leads in the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series Team and Driver Championships, with the first quarter of the season now in the record books.

The action was even more intense in GT, where as many as five different teams battled nose to tail for the lead at various stages throughout the race. In the end, No. 70 Castrol/SpeedSource Mazda RX-8 teammates Nick Ham and Sylvain Tremblay avenged a narrow loss in last year’s Laguna Seca race to score the victory. Both drivers reported the Pirelli P Zeros gave the Mazda teammates their best performance of the year.

“We have made big progress,” Ham said. “The car handled so well today and I had such confidence at the start of the race going into it knowing that I had the adjustability to work with the tires throughout my stint as the fuel burned off. So big credit to the Pirelli Tires today – very good.”

Tremblay drove the winning Mazda to the finish and gained valuable track position by depending on the durability of the P Zeros and changing only right side tires during one pit stop.

“The team just made great calls on set up,” Tremblay said. “We were surprised because we just changed the right side tires and the left side Pirellis lasted a stint and a half. So we really had no issues with the Pirellis today, they gave us great grip, and I think it is a real testament to how the crew was able to adapt our particular car to this tire at this race track. We are just very pleased with the product.”

Next up for Pirelli and the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series is the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen, June 4 – 6. The race can be seen live on SPEED beginning at 2:00 p.m. ET on Saturday, June 6.

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.
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Media Contacts:
Rafael Navarro, Director Communications & Motorsports
951-533-0305 rafael.navarro@pirelli.com

Joe Severns, Public Relations Manager
706-506-2195 joe.severns@pirelli.com