Pirelli inaugurates Turkish race tyre plant

ERJ staff report (DS)

Istanbul, Turkey -- Pirelli has described its race tyre plant in Izmit, Turkey as the “Factory of Champions”. The plant will produce tyres for all the Formula One teams for the 3-year period 2011-2013. The Izmit facility, which this year celebrates 50 years' activity, has housed the Motorsport tyre production line since 2007 and, in synergy with the Research and Development centre in Milan, will become the heart of Pirelli's Formula One activities.

Producing 8 million tyres for cars, trucks and motorsport each year, Izmit is the Pirelli factory with the greatest unit output of all. The group has invested 140 million euros there over the last 10 years and plans to invest a further 30 million euros in 2011 to support expansion in Turkey and nearby emerging markets.

Pirelli expects 2010 revenue in Turkey of over 500 million euros, an increase of over 25 percent compared with 2009, and will strengthen its position further with new investments of 30 million euros in 2011, having already invested 140 million euros in the last 10 years.

With the launch of the Formula One division, Pirelli has broadened its offering of automobile sports tyres. In 2011, the Company will produce a total of 200,000 competition tyres, 50,000 of these for Formula One and 70,000 for the GP2 and GP3 championships, for which Pirelli is the sole supplier. The remainder will go to the 60 international automobile road and track competitions for which the Milan-based tyre maker is the exclusive supplier

The new PZero Formula One tyres, developed on the basis of Pirelli's extensive experience in road and track automobile competitions, have been tested, beginning in mid-August, with success on tracks in Mugello (Italy), Le Castellet (France) and Jerez (Spain) and have recently undergone new tests on the Monza (Italy) circuit. In Mugello and Le Castellet, structures and profiles were tested to guarantee maximum adaptability, continuity and homogeneity of tyre performance. In Jerez and Monza, testing focused on optimization of the compounds, of which there will be six: four “slicks” for dry conditions, one rain tyre and one intermediate for light rain.

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Press release from Pirelli