The teams combined to run several thousand miles over the four days of testing and came away from the sessions impressed with the performance of the new tires. Many cars did 40- to 50-lap runs, and the Pirellis earned positive reports in their first time on Rolex Series machinery from all involved.
“We are very pleased with the early efforts of Pirelli, ” said Grand-Am Director of Race Operations Scott Spencer. “The tires have come back from long runs showing good wear characteristics and great consistency in lap times. Overall, we have had a great introduction to Pirelli and their ability to produce race tires. ”
Among the drivers testing were points leaders in both the Daytona Prototype and GT classes. Daytona Prototype points leader Scott Pruett shared the No. 01 Lexus Riley with co-driver Memo Rojas, while GT points co-leader Sylvain Tremblay put the Pirelli tires to the test on his No. 70 Mazda RX-8.
“We are pleased to see Pirelli’s commitment to the Grand-Am Rolex Series, ” Tremblay said. “The competitiveness of the series will no doubt be matched with the quality and competitiveness of their tires. It is early in the relationship, but we are pleased with the product and progress we have seen to date. ”
“For the first time out, I am impressed with the Pirelli’s durability, ” Pruett added. “The exciting thing is that we didn’t have to do much changing to the setup. We only had to make minor, minor changes to what we raced here at Daytona and at Homestead, and that is very encouraging for the crew and all of us. ”
Armed with a considerable amount of data from the test sessions, Pirelli engineers will analyze the results and make any necessary changes before additional testing will continue. All teams will have ample time with the Pirelli P Zeroes before the green flag drops on next year’s Rolex 24 At Daytona.
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