Pirelli & Cie SpA has found a way to compete in the 36th America's Cup. Pirelli and Prada SpA will co-sponsor the Luna Rossa Challenge team in the sailing competition.
The project will entail a series of regattas, events and activities over a four-year period. In 2019, the first two regattas of the America’s Cup World Series will take place in the Mediterranean. In 2020 another three World Series regattas will be held in Europe, the United States of America and Asia.
Starting in Auckland, New Zealand, in January 2021, the Prada Cup, a series of Challenger selection regattas, will be held, followed in March 2021 by the 36th edition of the America’s Cup Presented by Prada.
"Pirelli chose to be a part of this project because it represents both a sporting and technological challenge, able to bring Italy and the Pirelli brand to the attention of the entire world," says Marco Tronchetti Provera, Pirelli's CEO and executive vice president.
"The America’s Cup, as Formula 1 is to motorsport, is the most prestigious sailing competition, with a great history and tradition. It embodies values and is for a public of impassioned fans that perfectly match Pirelli’s, enabling the company to continue enriching its brand, reinforcing its positioning in high technology with clients around the world and its relationship with consumers through traditional channels and all the new digital platforms."
Patrizio Bertelli, chairman of Luna Rossa Challenge, says Pirelli is the ideal partner for this new America’s Cup challenge.
"With over half a century’s experience at the highest levels of high technology world sports, it will be an important asset at the heart of our project. In this sense it is correct to speak of a real and true collaboration between the team and Pirelli."
The America’s Cup is the oldest trophy in the history of sport, which sees the participation of the most technologically advanced boats in the world. This will be Luna Rossa’s fifth tilt at the trophy. In this edition it will be the Challenger of Record, that is, the first challenger of the last edition’s winning team, Emirates Team New Zealand.
