Pirelli to supply tires for GT1 world championship

Pirelli will supply tires for the 2012 FIA GT1 World Championship, after striking a deal with series promoter SRO Motorsports Group. Pirelli, which is the sole tire supplier to Formula One, will also provide tires for the FIA GT3 European Championship, which is also run by SRO.

“Pirelli have an unrivalled reputation in global motorsport and we are pleased that our teams in both GT1 and GT3 will benefit from the technical expertise and experience the company brings," said Stephane Ratel, founder and chief executive of SRO.

"Their recent success in helping to create competitive racing in Formula One through their innovative approach underlines that point."

Pirelli’s Motorsport Director Paul Hembery added: “We have a long and rich history in all categories of motorsport, particularly GT racing.

“GT racing is an important segment for us as a number of our customers drive the vehicles which compete in the GT categories, particularly our premium customers so SRO also announced that Ferrari will join the championship for the 2012, through an as-yet-unspecified privateer team.

Ferrari cars will race alongside cars from Audi, BMW, McLaren and Mercedes in the series, which operates a privateer team model.