What’s the story?

The Nurburgring is one of the most iconic venues in motorsport, but the modern 5.148-kilometre circuit built in 1984 for the European Grand Prix has little in common with the 22-kilometre Nordschleife that made the name famous.

The rollercoaster blind crests of the legendary northern loop, which hosted the German race until 1976, have given way to a much more open and technical track, which tests all the parameters on a Formula One car, including the tyres.

To cope with the varied demands of the Nurburgring, Pirelli is bringing its P Zero White medium tyre as the prime and the P Zero Yellow soft as an option.

There is an ample variety of speeds and corners, with plenty of changes in direction and some steep cambers that enable the drivers to carry a lot of speed through the corners. This also gives rise to a number of heavy braking areas, while the tyres are also put to the test by several impacts with the kerbing that is a feature of the track.

With six German drivers on the grid this year, the country is better represented than any other nationality, making Germany’s round of the Formula One World Championship extremely popular with the fans. However, none of the teams have particularly recent data for the Nurburgring, as the circuit takes turns with Hockenheim to host the German Grand Prix.

Although the Nurburgring has not often been declared a wet race, the last one being in 2007, the weather in the Eifel region is notoriously changeable due to the mountainous nature of the terrain. This means that it can be dry on one part of the circuit but very wet at another: just as was the case at the beginning of the British Grand Prix two weeks ago in Silverstone.

On that occasion the P Zero Blue intermediate tyres impressed with their consistent and durable performance in a wide range of conditions, and they could feature once again in Germany, along with the P Zero Orange wets.

During Friday’s free practice sessions, the teams will have the chance to try out a new version of the P Zero Yellow soft tyre, which is being evaluated for use in the future. This new version of the tyre features increased durability and less degradation.

Pirelli’s Motorsport Director says:

Paul Hembery: “The Nurburgring is one of the most technical circuits we face all year, with a lot of lateral energy going through the tyres, and this makes strategy very important. Although they sit next to each other in our range, there is still a significant difference between the P Zero Yellow soft and the P Zero White medium tyre, as we saw on the last occasion that this combination was used at the Grand Prix of Europe in Valencia. The biggest difference will be the weather, which could be a lot cooler than the conditions we saw in Spain. This means that we expect most of the teams to adopt a two-stop strategy, unless of course it rains, in which case anything is possible. On Friday, the teams will be evaluating a new version of the P Zero Yellow soft tyre. It’s not a big change from the current specification, but it is designed to fit in line with our latest versions of the P Zero Silver hard tyre and P Zero White medium, both of which are a little harder than their original specification in order to reduce degradation. There’s no decision yet on when we might use the new tyre yet, but it will be very interesting to hear all the feedback from the teams.”

The men behind the steering wheel say:

Timo Glock (Virgin Racing): “I have quite a lot of experience of racing at the Nurburgring as I have been there many times. It’s a really enjoyable track to drive at and I have very good memories as I won a couple of races there. Pirelli have made Formula One even more exciting so I’m looking forward to racing at this track with the P Zero tyres. In general I think the track is not very demanding on the tyres. It’s quite technical and has a very interesting first section. The Mercedes Arena gives you a good possibility to overtake during the race and there are a couple of quick corners that are also very interesting, so it will be good fun and I can’t wait to race in front of my home crowd.”

Technical notes:

· The Nurburgring requires reasonably high levels of downforce, mainly in order to minimise the effects of understeer through the high-speed corners. However, it is a circuit that is not particularly hard on tyres if they are managed properly and the car has the correct set-up. Unlike many other circuits, it is possible for drivers to take quite a wide range of racing lines through the corners.

· The modern Nurburgring has undergone some substantial modifications since it was inaugurated 27 years ago. In 2002 the Castrol Chicane was reprofiled and a new infield section known as the Mercedes Arena was added, increasing the length of the track from 4.556 to the current 5.148 kilometres.

· The Nurburgring is the only grand prix circuit in the world that has a corner named after a driver who is still competing in Formula One. Turns 9 and 10 are also known as ‘the Michael Schumacher Esses’.

The tyre choices so far:

Pirelli in Germany:

• Pirelli has two factories in Germany, including a MIRS (Modular Integrated Robotised System) factory in Breuberg, around two hours from the Nurburgring, which is capable of producing 10 million tyres per year. Around 80% of the output is for car tyres and 20% is for motorbike tyres. Approximately half of these tyres are sold in Germany, while the other half are sold in Europe.

• Breuberg is also an important training centre as well as a tyre factory: most of Pirelli’s training for new road car tyre engineers and new workers destined for the company’s most highly advanced factories all over the world takes place there. After Milan, it is Pirelli’s second most significant research and development facility.

• The Nurburgring Nordschleife was the scene of one of Pirelli’s most famous races: the 1957 German Grand Prix. Using Pirelli tyres, the legendary Juan Manuel Fangio broke the lap record nine times en route to a memorable victory in a Maserati 250F.

THE DESIGNERS AND ENGINEERS AT DUNLOP WERE FACED WITH ONE OF THEIR TOUGHEST CHALLENGES TO DATE, TO CREATE AN ULTRA HIGH PERFORMANCE TYRE SUITED TO THE CLASS OF POWERFUL SPORT UTILITY VEHICLES (SUVS) THAT COMPLIMENTS THE NATURAL HANDLING CHARACTERISTICS OF THESE LARGE AND HEAVY VEHICLES.

Increasing numbers of SUV engines are capable of outputting an immense amount of power. This power, combined with the fact that an SUV’s centre of gravity is significantly higher than other types of vehicles, creates a challenging set of performance requirements for an SUV tyre.

Dunlop identified the need to develop a tyre not only capable of coping with, but also complimenting these special SUV driving characteristics. The new ultra high performance SP QuattroMaxx is Dunlop’s answer to this growing demand.

To prove its credentials, in October 2009 prior to the global launch of the tyre in 2010, the SP QuattroMaxx – mounted on a standard Porsche Cayenne Turbo S driven by experienced racing driver Patrick Simon – shattered the then SUV lap time record at Germany’s famous Nürburgring Nordschleife circuit with a time of 8:33.99, over 16 seconds quicker than the previous mark.

73 corners, an 18 percent ascending gradient and an altitude difference of 290 meters make Nürburgring the toughest race track in the world. 20.83 kilometres of extreme mountain and valley driving with different types of asphalt demand the utmost from the driver, car and tyres.

“’The Ring’, as it is affectionately known, remains the ultimate testing ground for new products, where their quality, durability and performance are put to the most extreme of tests”, said Blake Vincent, Dunlop Consumer Product Manager.

“The Dunlop SP QuattroMaxx has proven its excellent performance with one of the fastest SUV lap times at the challenging track with an extremely heavy car.”

Touch Technology and DuPont™ Kevlar® for better road feedback and driving precision
The new SP QuattroMaxx incorporates Dunlop’s latest tyre technologies – including its set of successful ‘Touch Technology’ features that driving enthusiasts could already experience with the successful SP SportMaxx TT and other Dunlop top of the range products.

“Using reinforcing DuPont Kevlar® short fibres in the tyre’s apex leads to a stiffer sidewall, enabling better road feedback and driving precision, and a highly sophisticated Dual Silica Compound provides low wear, while at the same time increasing the tyre’s braking and acceleration performance through increased grip,” adds Vincent.

“The SP Quattromaxx features many innovative tyre technologies, which deliver amazing road feedback, transforming simple driving into an emotional experience.”

Designed by Pininfarina
“The SP QuattroMaxx is a classy tyre with outstanding performance, designed for luxury and powerful vehicles,” adds Vincent.

“Its sidewall has been designed by the Italian designers of Pininfarina to underline the tyre’s leading market positioning. The SP QuattroMaxx is the first tyre ever to feature Dunlop’s “Design by Pininfarina” logo.”

The race is held annually on the gruelling Nurburgring Nordschleife, a track that ceased to be used for Grand Prix racing 34 years ago because the drivers deemed it too dangerous.

The Nurburgring 24 hour is contested by several different classes, ranging from Le Mans specification ‘GT2’ cars such as Porsches, Ferraris and the winning BMW through to more standard touring cars such as VW Golf and Ford Focus models.

Radical Sportscars smashed the Nürburgring production car lap record with driver Michael Vergers posting a committed 6m 48s lap time on Sept. 3. The road-legal SR8LM smashed the previous record, also held by Radical since 2005, by an incredible eight seconds. All this less than 24 hours after the car was driven from England to Germany for the record.

The latest Dunlop road-legal tyres were used to drive from the UK to Germany – and the same set of tyres was then used to set the record.

The Nürburgring Nordschleife in Germany’s Eifel Mountains is renowned to be one of the toughest tests for man and machine in the driving world. In 1976 it was deemed too dangerous for Formula One – but it established a new role as being the definitive place for high performance car manufacturers to test their cars, and tyres, to the limit.

When launching new supercars, car manufacturers wear a Nordschleife lap record as a badge of honour. More relevant than maximum speed or acceleration times, a ‘Ring lap time’ tells the story of how fast a car is in an environment with every type of corner, crest and camber to challenge its dynamic capabilities. As production cars and tyre technology gets faster and more effective, they get ever closer to the outright lap-record for racing cars, set by Stefan Bellof in a Porsche 956 in 1985 in 6m 11s on slick tyres.

Radical co-founder Mick Hyde said, “I’m obviously delighted; the record has been a real team effort. Dunlop has supplied us with brilliant, hard-wearing track day tyres, indeed we’ve only used one set to both drive to the Ring and set the record. We’ve proven that the SR8LM is not only the world’s best track day car, but also that it is practical enough to drive to and from the circuit. It is a genuine production sports car, with genuine performance credentials, as we’ve shown today.”

The Dunlop tyres chosen by Radical were 225/45R16 Direzza DZ03G front tyres and 255/40R17 Direzza DZ03G H1 on the rear.

“Some major car manufacturers may claim the Radical is merely a ‘racing car with number plates and a tax disc’ and highlight Nissan’s recent 7m 27s lap with their GT-R as truly representative of the ultimate lap for a car with a ‘roof and four seats’, but Dunlop is comfortable with this debate: both the Nissan GT-R and indeed Bellof’s 956 record-breaker were shod with Dunlop tyres as well,” said Frederic Schilling, Dunlop brand director Europe, Middle East and Africa.