Pirelli P Zero Club Members Eligible For Lucrative “Roll Over” Awards
Teams that finished inside the top 10 in the final 2009 Rolex Series Daytona Prototype and GT points standings are eligible for membership in the Pirelli P Zero Club for 2010. When one of those teams in either class earns its first victory of the 2010 season, that team will earn the $5,000 Pirelli P Zero Bonus. If a P Zero Club member does not win or if a race winner has already won the P Zero Bonus, the $5,000 will not be paid and will "rollover" into the P Zero Bonus for the next race. The bonuses will continue to roll over until a new P Zero Club member team wins.
For the 2010 Rolex Series season finale at Miller Motorsports Park on Sept. 11, 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. In the event that a non-member of the P Zero Club wins the race at Miller, the P Zero Bonus will go to the top-finishing "member" team.
"We have seen several versions of the P Zero Club during our partnership with GRAND-AM but this is certainly the most exciting format yet for the great competitors that make our Pirelli Tires look good at each and every race," said Tom Gravalos, Pirelli Vice President of Marketing, Original Equipment and Motorsports. "This new bonus program awards teams and drivers for doing what they do best – race. The P Zero Bonus program winners will be determined by on-track performance on each and every race weekend and we look forward to even more action-packed racing as a result."
In addition to the requirement of being a top-10 team from 2009, all P Zero Club member teams in each class must display the prescribed P Zero decal at all events and must comply with the specific requirements for all P Zero Club activities at each event. Failure to comply will automatically make that team ineligible for any subsequent P Zero Bonuses for the remainder of the 2010 season.
"The new Pirelli P Zero Bonus will bring additional excitement to the already exciting GRAND-AM Rolex Series in 2010," said GRAND-AM Vice President Marketing and Communications Kevin Hindson. "I can envision a scenario where a Daytona Prototype or GT team earns a major windfall through the 'rollover' feature of the program, and it is something we will monitor closely throughout the year. Pirelli has been a wonderful partner to GRAND-AM and this is just the latest example of our outstanding partnership."
The GRAND-AM Rolex Series gets underway with the prestigious Rolex 24 At Daytona on Jan. 30-31. Tickets are now available on RaceTickets.com and SPEED will provide 16 hours of live television coverage on SPEED beginning at 3 p.m. ET Saturday, January 30 and resuming at 7 a.m. ET Sunday, January 31.