Race after race, the GT World Challenge Europe continues to beat its own record for the number of entries and champions on track. The 24 Hours of Spa back in June featured an all-time high for a GT endurance race and now it’s the turn of the sprint event at Misano from 18 to 20 July. Fighting for the podium places in the two one-hour races at the Italian track will be 44 cars, a record for the Sprint Cup which, at the halfway point of the season, is still wide open and closely contested. That augurs well for the spectators who can expect thrilling battles on track in the races on Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon. They will even get to see local hero Valentino Rossi in action.
“In what is a long season, Misano is one of our favourite races, because it attracts a big crowd and the track itself presents a real challenge,” commented Matteo Braga, Circuit Activity Manager, Pirelli. “The P Zero DHG is making its debut at this track and it will have plenty to do due to the heavy braking zones for the 16 corners. Some of these turns put greater stress on the tyres as drivers try and maintain as high a speed as possible, while the load constantly shifts between the rear and front axles as the drivers are constantly braking and then accelerating. This weekend, the DHG tyres are likely to experience the highest temperatures they have encountered so far, and that is a factor not to be underestimated.”
As is the case in the endurance races, here too in the Sprint Cup and the other Pirelli-supported series at Misano, namely the GT2 European Series and the GT4 European Series, cars will run the P Zero DHG, available in various sizes to suit all the GT classes. The main innovations of these new P Zero tyres fitted to the GT3 cars, concern the materials which provide greater consistency and car balance over long distances. If it should rain, the crews will be able to count on the Cinturato WHB tyres.
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