Pirelli opened its 2009 motorsport season in the best possible way -- with a decisive win in the 24 Hours of Dubai endurance race this past weekend at the 5.43 kilometer Dubai Autodrome.
After 24 hours of racing, the Land Motorsport Porsche 997 GT3 Cup, driven by Carsten Tilke, Gabriel Abergel, Andrzej Dzikevic and Niclas Kentenich, brought home the checkered flag almost a minute ahead of the second place finisher in a field of 78 participants.
Paul Hembery, Pirelli worldwide director of motorsport, commented "This is a particularly satisfying way to start the GT season since the Dubai event was the first event for our new range of customer racing tires.
"For 2009 we are offering customers around the
world the same range of tires rather than distinguishing between so-called
'standard' and 'development' tires as many of our competitors still do. The
level of competitiveness of these new tires is amply demonstrated by this
victory."