Pirelli is ready for the motorcycle racing challenges of the upcoming motorsport season, which will kick off next week in Australia with the first round of the FIM Superbike World Championship. The most significant news for 2024 is represented by the entry into the Moto2™ and Moto3™ Championships as the Sole Tyre Supplier under a three-year agreement that sees Pirelli involved in the lightweight and intermediate classes of the Grand Prix until at least the 2026 season.
The Italian tyre company will bring the philosophy encapsulated in its now famous motto “We sell what we race, we race what we sell” to the new paddock, since it will provide a range of standard tyres and not prototypes, in a continuous evolution of those already used for over 20 seasons in the FIM Superbike World Championship, which remains the main open-air laboratory for the range development. As always with the racing products of the DIABLO family, Pirelli will also be the Sole Supplier of the newly created FIM Women’s Motorcycling World Championship and of the talent cups, dedicated to the rising riders of tomorrow, that are part of the Dorna’s Road to MotoGP™ project.
These championships add to the over 150 motorcycle competitions, on and off road, in which Pirelli will be involved in 2024. On asphalt, in addition to those already mentioned, Pirelli also participates in some of the most prestigious national championships such as the British Superbike (of which it has been the Sole Supplier since 2008), the German IDM Championship, and the French Superbike Championship, to name a few. Pirelli’s commitment to off-road is also confirmed, starting with the FIM Motocross World Championship organized by Infront, in which the Italian tyre company boasts a record of 81 world titles and of which it will be an official tyre supplier until 2025 included.
“This year our commitment to motorcycle racing is stronger than ever with the entry as the Sole Tyre Supplier not only in Moto2™ and Moto3™ but also in the various talent cups, which are part of the Dorna Road to MotoGP™ project, and in the FIM Women’s Motorcycling World Championship. A further recognition of our role as a leader in the motorsport panorama as well as of the validity of our product and the work we have been carrying out for years in the FIM Superbike World Championship, Motocross World Championship, and in many other national competitions. We will also bring our philosophy to the new championships, which is nothing but the maximum application of the concept ‘from track to road’: in our case no transfer of technology is needed because the tyres used by riders are not prototypes but the same that any motorcyclist can buy. We will face the new challenges with enthusiasm, a very close-knit team, and with the working methodology that has always distinguished us.”
MOTO2™ AND MOTO3™, NEW PADDOCK FOR A NEW CHALLENGE
The Qatar Grand Prix (March 8-10) will mark Pirelli’s official race debut in the Moto2™ and Moto3™ Championships, after a private test in September at the Barcelona circuit followed by the first official test of 2024 held in November at the Valencia circuit where the riders set record lap times. Within the company’s strategy, the two classes will become an important driver for the further enhancement of the Pirelli brand both in terms of commercial growth and technological development.
Riders will be able to rely on the proven performance of DIABLO Superbike slick and DIABLO Rain tyres, both successfully used for years by riders of all classes of the FIM Superbike World Championship as well as those of many national championships. Specifically, Moto2™ riders will use front slicks in size 125/70 R17 with compounds SC1 and SC2 and rear slicks in size 200/65 R17 with compounds SC0 and SC1. The DIABLO Rain solution, in a single wet compound, will be available in sizes 120/70 R17 front and 200/60 R17 rear. As for the slicks for Moto3™, the front in 100/70 R17 will be available in compounds SC1 and SC2, the same used also for the rear in 120/70 R17. Same front size for the DIABLO Rain solution for wet conditions while the rear will be in 125/70 R17.
WORLDSBK AS THE MAIN DEVELOPMENT PLATFORM
Pirelli’s technical partnership with the FIM Superbike World Championship represented the first example of a single tyre in the history of top motorsport competitions and, more than twenty years later, has proved to be a winning choice followed by other championships on two and four wheels. Over time, Pirelli has continued to make technological innovation its flagship, dictating each time the new parameters of racing tyres used all over the world: in 2013 with the historic switch from 16.5-inch tyres to new 17-inch tyres, in 2018 with the adoption of new larger sizes, the following year with the introduction of the new SCX slick compound and new compounds for wet tyres, and finally in 2022 with the development of the SCQ compound specifically dedicated to the new format with Superpole and Superpole Race. It follows that the WorldSBK Championship will remain the reference point for Pirelli’s development of its entire racing range in the coming seasons, which will then be made available to all championships.
ROAD TO MOTOGP AND WOMEN’S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP: SUPPORT FOR YOUNG TALENTS AND FEMALE RIDERS
Together with Moto2™ and Moto3™, Pirelli makes its entry as the Sole Tyre Supplier in the championships related to the Road to MotoGP™ project, the global initiative for the promotion of young talents that offers access to motorcycle racing around the world. Pirelli will supply all classes of the Finetwork FIM JuniorGP™ World Championship, Idemitsu Asia Talent Cup, Northern Talent Cup, and Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup, in addition to strengthening its commitment to the FIM MiniGP World Series. Alongside the WorldSBK Championship – where Pirelli is already present in all categories, including entry-level ones like the WorldSSP300 and the FIM Yamaha R3 bLU cRU World Cup – the DIABLO Superbike tyres will fit the Yamaha YZF-R7 of the new FIM Women’s Motorcycling World Championship which will start on June 14th from Misano, where the first of the six rounds scheduled will be held. Pirelli has been alongside Ana Carrasco when in 2018 she became the first woman in history to win a mixed motorcycle championship by winning the Supersport 300 World Championship, and these championships are consistent with Pirelli’s racing strategy to be present in all major competitions dedicated to tomorrow’s riders and to facilitate the inclusion of women in motorsport.
