World Challenge GT, GTS and Touring Car teams came away encouraged from the first test of their new Pirelli P Zero racing slicks at High Plains Raceway in Colorado. The slicks will become the official tire of World Challenge starting in 2011, the first year of a new five-year partnership betwen Pirelli and World Challenge.
The move from a street-legal tire to the P Zero racing slick enable World Challenge competitors to experience marked improvements in grip and speed. World Challenge teams were realizing three- to four-second improvements over base tire comparisons. Drivers noted the ability to drive hard, yet feel controlled at the limit.
"I wasn't sure I was coming back next year, but this tire just made my decision,” said Jason Daskalos, owne/driver of the No. 5 Daskalos/Roberts Racing Dodge Viper. “They are such a thrill to drive on, I want to go racing right now."
Randy Pobst, who raced the No. 6 K-PAX Racing Volvo S60 to the 2010 GT Drivers' Championship, is among those who had asked the series to move to a race slick from the traditional street-based, race compound tire.
“These Pirelli P Zero racing slicks are a terrific and appropriate match for the high power and weight of our World Challenge GT cars," Pobst said.