From a press release issued by Pirelli:

Pirelli appointed exclusive tyre supplier for the 2004 World Superbike and Supersport and European Superstock Championships

 “We sell the tyres we race, we race the tyres we sell”: production standards guarantee quality, reliability and performance continuity.

 Partnership with the development team to fine-tune avant-garde technology available to everyone

 A prize fund of 300,000 euros and equal opportunities for young up-and-coming riders

Imola, 26th September 2003 – From the 2004 season Pirelli will be the exclusive tyre supplier for the World Superbike and Supersport and European Superstock Championships. The agreement reached with the FGSport Group on the 31st of July will continue through to 2005 and commits Pirelli to supplying tyres for all the teams competing in the 45 races in 10 different countries for the World and European Championship titles.

This programme will allow all participants to compete on equal terms with regards to tyres, making the efforts of the bike constructors, the teams and the riders all-important. In accordance with the wishes of the FIM (International Motorcycling Federation), the World Superbike Championship thus returns to its origins as a category for bikes with features and characteristics as close as possible to those of production machines.

For Pirelli, the agreement with FGSport has the immediate significance of valorising the investment programme initiated in 2000 with the company’s participation in the Supersport Championship and continued the following year with the debut of a development team in the World Superbike Championship.

With its long-term commitment to production motorcycle racing throughout the world, Pirelli is now in a position to confirm the continuity of its know-how in the technological development of racing tyres, offering a product with uniform high performance characteristics. The agreement for the exclusive supply of tyres for the Superbike, Supersport and Superstock championships represents the logical development of Pirelli Moto’s competition strategy.

The standardisation of the industrial process will allow Pirelli to make highly specialised and reliable tyres with absolutely consistent performance available to every team and manufacturer. In this sense, the application of Pirelli’s “Zero Degree” metal belt production technology to all the covers is a guarantee of quality and neutral performance with respects to the diverse characteristics of the racing machinery.

However, standardization does not mean “a single tyre for all”. The development of the Pirelli range for the 2004 World and European championships will, as ever, be guided by the adaptation of the product to the meteorological conditions and the varying track characteristics: this fine-tuning will be conducted in partnership with the development teams to be defined by FGSport together with bike manufacturers.

Pirelli will provide the teams with a range of tyres with different specifications, designed and tested to be capable of tackling the various World Championship circuits and the foreseeable temperature, wear and stress conditions, while maintaining the highest levels of safety. In particular, three dry covers will be developed for each circuit. This programme will fully respect the “fair conditions” guideline guaranteed by FIM supervision of the use of the tyres assigned to the teams at every race.

Pirelli’s participation as exclusive supplier of tyres for the Superbike, Supersport and Superstock Championships also involves a significant commitment in industrial, logistical and organizational terms: over 50,000 tyres will be manufactured and distributed during the course of the season, requiring considerable physical and human resources.

With the objective of guaranteeing optimum service from the points of view of quality and rapidity, Pirelli plans to create two specialist working areas for each race: one exclusively for the Superbike Championship with slick tyres and 16.5″ rims, the other dedicated to the Supersport and Superstock categories for the fitting of DOT tread tyres on 17″ rims.

“We race the tyres we sell, we sell the tyres we race”; for Pirelli there is more than technology to the agreement with FGSport; the exclusive tyre supplier is, in fact, committed to promoting the Championships during the course of the season using all the available media, from TV to the press and Internet in order to widen awareness of the Superbike Championship.

Pirelli’s decision to provide a prize fund of 300,000 euros to be dedicated to the riders through the association of racing teams is also of great significance. The company has taken on this new challenge with the aim of making an important contribution to the emergence of numerous young riders in conditions of equal opportunities among the various teams.

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