Pirelli is gearing up for further growth in Malaysia through their involvement as the official tyre supplier to F1. In a newly-minted partnership with Kit Loong Tayaria, one of the most established tyre distributors in Malaysia, Pirelli will bring its family of passenger car tyres to consumers through a nationwide network of tyre dealers and car concessionaires.
“The Australian Grand Prix has shown that Pirelli’s tyres will make a strong impact in the 2011 Formula One season. There will be continued interest in the Malaysian leg event with an increased focus on how the tyres will continue to have an impact on race strategy and make the races more exciting. This will bring the awareness of Pirelli in Malaysia to its highest point in recent times,” said Mr Chiu Loo Tong, Executive Director, Pirelli Asia Pte Ltd.
PIRELLI’s Motorsport Director, Paul Hembery said “We were absolutely thrilled by our grand prix debut in Australia, but we’re aware that Malaysia should be a very different proposition, with higher temperatures and increased degradation. We said all along that we would be seeing two to three pit stops in Australia, but in Malaysia I think that figure is likely to increase to three to four. They say that it’s never a question of if it rains at Sepang but when, so the performance of our wet tyres could be crucial this weekend and we’re certainly looking forward to seeing them out on track. We never believe in standing still at Pirelli, which is why the teams will have two extra sets of slick tyres available to them during Friday’s free practice sessions for evaluation purposes. With testing not allowed during the season, this gives us a valuable opportunity to gather more data and feedback, while it also gives the teams an interesting taste of what could be coming in the future.”
He also added that even though the current Pirelli supplied team tires are good for the whole race day, F1’s Bernie wants a show and there can only be a show if there were more pit-stops….say 3-4 and so the F1 team tires will be re engineered to have a higher wear so that drivers will have to make more than 1 pit-stop.
Kit Loong Tayaria’s dealer network will be strongly supported by Pirelli China’s state-of-the-art production facility located in Yanzhou. With a capacity of more than 4 million tyres a year, the plant supports the bulk of Pirelli’s consumer demand in the ASEAN and Asia-Pacific region. The production facility is one of a few manufacturing plants capable of producing high-performance tyres in China.
Through 80 years of experience in the Malaysian tyre industry, Kit LoongTayaria will play an instrumental role in making Pirelli’s tyres available to the domestic market. From the famous P Zero family to the green themed Cinturato, they will carry one of the most extensive product ranges in the region.
“Kit Loong Tayaria sees great potential in our partnership with Pirelli in Malaysia, especially with the greater visibility granted through its relationship with Formula One,” said Jacob Chen, CEO of Kit Loong Tayaria. “We are already seeing more customers enquiring about Pirelli’s products and with our extensive customer service, we will make quality Pirelli tyres available through an extensive dealer network in Malaysia.”
Pirelli has had a presence in Malaysia for more than 30 years. With a newly renewed partnership between Pirelli and Formula One, Pirelli in Malaysia is expected to continue to grow in the years to come.
