Pirelli’s crews and drivers are readying themselves for whatever Mother Nature may bring to bear at this weekend’s EMCO Gears Classic at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Even as last year’s torrential downpours at Mid-Ohio – or the rain last month at a similarly challenging race at the New Jersey Motorsports Park – are still fresh on the minds of some teams, forecasters are predicting great weather throughout the Buckeye State’s central region.
Saturday’s event in Lexington is Round 6 of the 2009 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series season. Daytona Prototype and GT race teams will take to the track’s 2.258-mile road course for the twilight race.
The race starts just after 5 p.m. EDT on June 20 for the 2¾-hour timed sprint. Live coverage will be broadcast on the Speed Channel beginning at 5.
“Rain or shine, teams and drivers in both the Daytona Prototype and GT divisions know they can count on Pirelli P Zeros this weekend,” according to Rafael Navarro III, the company’s communications and motorsports director.
“I think historically Pirelli has a very good rain tire for everything from go karts up to the big classes,” says Nic Jonsson, who co-drove to victory in the rain in New Jersey with teammate Ricardo Zonta in the No. 76 Krohn Racing Ford Lola. “I have been racing on Pirelli tires from back in my days of racing in Europe. We never had any problems. They seem to be very consistent and a very reliable rain tire. I feel confident and good about the Pirelli rain tires.”
Jonsson adds that Pirelli’s racing slicks will be up to the job as well.
“Mid-Ohio is one of the higher grip tracks we go to,” Jonsson explains. “I think it is one of the tracks you can run very long on one set of tires without losing too much lap time. I think the Pirelli will be a very good tire for the Mid-Ohio race.”
Zonta is also feeling good about the Pirelli tires at the event.
“I enjoy the close racing and atmosphere in Grand-Am competition,” says Zonta. “I think we can do well there with the Lola because the Pirelli tires should work well with our car to give us good grip. I am looking forward to getting in the car again, and who knows... it might rain!”
On the GT front, the No. 57 Stevenson Motorsports Pontiac GXP.R of Robin Liddell and Andrew Davis finished second in last year’s rainy Mid-Ohio race with Liddell pressuring the winning Farnbacher Loles Porsche of Leh Keen to the finish.
“I am sure, as always, the tires will perform very well,” says Liddell, who won with Davis earlier this year in Round 2 at Virginia International Raceway. “We know that the development they have done over the winter on the P Zeros has been really beneficial to all of the cars in the GT class.”
The 2008 rain-soaked race at Mid-Ohio is still fresh in Liddell’s mind.
“Last year it was a tough race at the end because the track dried very quickly, we were all on (racing rain tires), and it was just a question of whose wets were deteriorating quicker in those drying conditions,” Liddell says. “We were very close to winning, but ultimately we settled for second in that situation. I expect we will have a good car there and we actually learned a lot there last year when we stayed on for the Monday test. We had a tricky car handling-wise all weekend but the tires performed well. We are looking to start with a better car there this year, so we are pretty upbeat about it and I think we should have a good result at Mid-Ohio.”
A special Monday test open to all Grand-Am Rolex Series teams will be held again this year at Mid-Ohio following the EMCO weekend.
For more information, visit www.us.pirelli.com.
