|
TYRES ON THE
TRACK
* This year there’s an unusual tyre nomination for Melbourne’s famous street
track, with a bigger gap than normal between the medium and softest
compounds. The P Zero White hard is the C2 compound and the P Zero Yellow
medium is the C3 compound, but rather than the C4, it’s the softest C5
compound as the P Zero Red soft. This will be the race debut for the softest
tyre in the 2022 Pirelli range, marking a change from the aborted 2020 race
and the 2019 Australian Grand Prix, when the C2, C3, and C4 compounds were
selected.
* The track has undergone significant modifications for the first time since
1996, when it made its championship debut, now featuring a new layout and
asphalt. Seven corners have been modified with two removed entirely,
bringing the total number of turns down to just 14 and shortening the track
by 28 metres. The most significant modification is the removal of the Turn
9-10 chicane, which is replaced by a long, sweeping bend. Turns 1 and 3 have
been widened on the inside, as has Turn 6, which is now significantly
faster. Later in the lap, what was Turn 13 (now Turn 11) has been realigned
to tighten the angle. The penultimate corner (now Turn 13) is another to
have been widened, and also one of several to have its camber adjusted to
allow for different lines to be taken.
* As a temporary facility, Albert Park used to be quite bumpy but the new
asphalt may have reduced this. This new surface should offer low grip
(scoring two out of five) and reasonably contained levels of asphalt
abrasion, which is set to result in moderate wear. The whole track is likely
to be very ‘green’ and slippery at the start of the weekend, with a high
degree of evolution expected (marked four out of five in Pirelli’s
classification). Traction is important to get a good drive out of the short
straights and corners, while braking and lateral forces are average. The
severity of the loads is also average, with overall tyre stress again
scoring three out of five. |
|
MARIO ISOLA - HEAD OF CAR
RACING
“Compared to previous occasions, and with the drivers not having raced there
for two seasons, this year there are a few unknowns to the Australian Grand
Prix: first of all the circuit layout has been heavily revised to improve
overtaking and, as a result, there’s also new asphalt that should be quite
smooth. This means the track is likely to offer very low levels of grip at
the start, with a high degree of evolution expected over the weekend and an
extremely slippery surface if it rains. We will also head to Melbourne a
couple of weeks later compared to previous seasons, when autumn has already
started in the southern hemisphere, so conditions could be more variable.
Last but not least, there is a completely new generation of cars and tyres
that the drivers are still trying to learn about. All these factors mean
that there will be a lot of work to do for teams and drivers in the free
practice sessions. We decided to opt for the step in the compound
nominations because we noticed that there was a relatively small performance
gap between the C3 and C4 compounds during development testing, and we
believe that Albert Park – with its new asphalt and layout – is a good place
to try out this option.”
OTHER PIRELLI NEWS
GT
The 2022 GT World Challenge Europe, which is exclusively supplied by Pirelli
with the new P Zero DHF tyre – suitable for both the GT3 and GT4 categories
– got underway last weekend at Imola in Italy, with nine manufacturers
represented on the grid. The Audi R8 crew of Dries Vanthoor, Kelvin van der
Linde, and Charles Weerts won the three-hour race from pole.
FERRARI CHALLENGE EUROPE
The 30th season of the Ferrari Challenge Europe Trofeo Pirelli got underway
last weekend at Portimao in Portugal, featuring a 46-car entry of 488
Challenge Evo models, all equipped with P Zero tyres. There are four
categories that depend on driver experience: Trofeo Pirelli and Trofeo
Pirelli Am, and Coppa Shell along with Coppa Shell Am. The winners were
Doriane Pin, Axel Sartingen, Ange Barde, and Alexander Nussbaumer. This
weekend, the American Ferrari Challenge resumes in Daytona.
WRC
Pirelli will undertake a development test of the latest hard-compound P Zero
asphalt tyres for the headlining WRC1 class in Croatia, prior to Rally
Croatia (which takes place during the same weekend as the Emilia Romagna
Grand Prix). Toyota’s Kalle Rovanpera will drive the Yaris WRC. |
