Dunlop rubber has been powering the lower categories of Moto racing for almost a decade, while Michelin has supplied the tyres for MotoGP. This year marks the end of Dunlop's existing relationship with Dorna Sports, the promoter of MotoGP as the involvement of Dunlop in the Moto3 and Moto2 World Championships, which began in 2010 and 2012, respectively, will come to an end after the conclusion of 2023. Pirelli will provide the Moto2 and Moto3 classes with official, exclusive tyres from 2024 through 2026. With the completion of this new three-year deal, the Italian tyre brand will be a vital element of the lightweight and intermediate classes in Grand Prix racing. For the next three years, until 2026, the Italian firm will be the exclusive supplier for the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup, the Asia Talent Cup, and the Northern Talent Cup, as well as all classes in the FIM JuniorGP series (including European Moto2, the European Talent Cup, and JunioGP itself).
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Pirelli and Motorsports
To begin with, Pirelli will only be involved in the Moto2 and Moto3 classes of the MotoGP World Championship until Michelin's exclusive arrangement with MotoGP ends in 2026. Michelin replaced Bridgestone in 2016 and has held the contract since. To help young riders progress from the MotoGP World Championship's lower divisions, Pirelli has agreed to supply tyres for the Junior GP World Championship, the Asian Talent Cup, and the newly established Latin America Talent Cup.
In 2011, Pirelli replaced Bridgestone as the exclusive tyre supplier for Formula One and the World Rally Championship. The Lombardy-based firm also supplies major teams in the MXGP and MX2 divisions of the Motocross World Championship, in addition to dominating those two disciplines and another 30 lesser ones in more than 40 nations.
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Dorna Sports is ‘looking forward to working with Pirelli’
Carlos Ezpeleta, Chief Sporting Officer, Dorna Sports: “We’re super happy to welcome Pirelli to the paddock as the sole tyre supplier for Moto2 and Moto3. These Championships are the best example in motorsport of strong feeder classes that also stand alone as high-level competitions, in terms of both their sporting and commercial value. So we’re very happy to have seen such a high level of interest from Pirelli and to reach this agreement. Welcoming a new partner also underlines our sport’s strong connections and relationships with the industry, and we’re very much looking forward to working with Pirelli across a number of areas, including performance, road-relevance and, of course, sustainability.”
After it was announced that Bridgestone will apply to become the official tyre supplier of the Formula One World Championship, Pirelli struck a contract with MotoGP to provide tyres for the Moto2 and Moto3 series. If Bridgestone were to win the Formula One contract, it would mark the end of Pirelli's 13-year engagement in the series.
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