Pirelli tyres

The history of Pirelli tyres

ThePirelli tyre story dates back to 1872, when Giovanni Battista Pirelli , a young, ambitious Italian engineer with an ironclad work ethic, founded G.B. Pirelli & C partner company. Today, the brand’s tyres are produced in 19 of the world’s most modern factories and are available in more than 160 countries. The company generates annual sales of more than USD 4 billion.

Pirelli is one of the top 10 tyre manufacturers in the world. It has a history of numerous technological innovations. These have not only been the cornerstone of the brand’s success, but have also developed the tyre market and its trends in general. Pirelli tyres can be seen adorning expensive supercars, Formula 1 racing cars, rally cars, motorcycles and, of course, cars.

Pirelli tyres in motorsport

Pirelli’s yellow and red logo has become an icon of motorsport. It has the soul of an Italian supercar and when you see it, you can’t help but smell the fresh rubber of the tyres on the hot tarmac of the Italian Grand Prix. The brand has been involved in motorsport for more than 110 years and Pirelli tyres are used in more than 350 different races every year. From the WRC to Formula 1, the brand’s range of tyres has been developed for huge loads at the highest speeds and in the harshest driving conditions.

The brand has come up with one of the most important technological inventions in tyre history – the wide radial tyre. They were specially developed for the legendary Lancia Stratos rally car, which won the 1974, 1975 and 1976 WRC World Rally Championships. Until then, rallying had been done with narrow radial tyres – unable to cope with the increased power – or cross-ply tyres specially made for rallying, which were wider but had huge rolling resistance and low grip coefficients at high speeds. Today, road traffic is unthinkable without wide radial tyres. The discovery has led not only to the development of the tyre market, but of the whole automotive industry. Without it, we would not have the powerful SUVs of the BMW X5 and Audi Q7, the high-performance luxury BMW 7 and Audi A8, or even the modern sports saloons and coupes of the BMW 3 and Audi A4, which grip the road thanks to wide, low-profile radial tyres.