Pirelli Motorsport Newsletter
Six-event calendar announced for inaugural Prototype Cup season with PirelliA six-event provisional calendar for the first full season of the Pirelli-equipped Prototype Cup series in 2017 has been announced.
The 12-race provisional calendar starts and end at Donington Park, with visits to Brands Hatch, Spa-Francorchamps, Snetterton and Silverstone inbetween. The series will join the GT Cup – also organised by Bute Motorsport and running on Pirelli tyres – in headlining at each race weekend.
Created for LMP3 cars, the Prototype Cup held its first ever race at Snetterton in October and has been met with great interest from teams, drivers and media.
"We are really happy with the calendar," said Bute Motorsport Director Hannah Wilson. "The Bute Motorsport team have worked very hard with MSVR to get all the dates and circuits we wanted. We've had a lot of interest in the series and this calendar will show people that we are serious about putting on an exciting and high profile championship."
2017 Prototype Cup calendar April 22-23: Donington Park (National) May 20-21: Brands Hatch (Grand Prix) June 9-11: Spa-Francorchamps June 24-25: Snetterton (300) July 29-30: Silverstone (Grand Prix) September 16-17: Donington Park (Grand Prix) *All dates provisional and subject to change
Pirelli-supported GT Cup to visit Spa in 2017A trip to the legendary Spa-Francorchamps is included on the provisional 2017 calendar for the Pirelli-backed GT Cup.
The season will start at Donington Park in late April, then race on the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit in May before the trip to Belgium in June. Spa replaces Rockingham on the calendar.
Snetterton, Silverstone and Oulton Park follow, with the season rounded out by races at Donington Park in September and Snetterton in October.
2017 GT Cup calendar April 22-23: Donington Park (National) May 20-21: Brands Hatch (Grand Prix) June 9-11: Spa-Francorchamps June 24-25: Snetterton (300) July 29-30: Silverstone (Grand Prix) August 12: Oulton Park (International) September 16-17: Donington Park (Grand Prix) October 14-15: Snetterton (300) *All dates provisional and subject to change
Byrne eyes more British Superbikes glory on Pirelli tyres in new dealShane ‘Shakey’ Byrne is aiming to add to his record five titles in Pirelli-supplied MCE British Superbikes after agreeing a new multi-year deal with his team.
Paul Bird Motorsport (PBM), which runs Byrne’s Be Wiser Ducati squad, has secured the services of the 2015 champion until at least the end of the 2018 season.
Byrne said: “I am so happy to have signed this new deal with Paul. The really strange thing for me is this is the first time that I have agreed a two year contract in BSB and I have a massive grin on my face!
“I am so, so happy to have the opportunity to fight for another two titles; the fifth one was the groundwork, the foundations, and now I want to continue the success. I only ever want to line up on the grid to win races and fight for championships.”
Ahmed thrilled by Pirelli-equipped Autumn Trophy successUp-and-coming racer Enaam Ahmed said his triumph in this BRDC British Formula 3 Autumn Trophy was “really special”.
After finishing fifth in the 2016 BRDC British F3 season with Douglas Motorsport, 16-year-old Ahmed agreed a deal with the renowned Carlin team for the single-event Autumn Trophy and won two of the races at Snetterton on his way to the title.
“It feels great to win a title this year so it is really special to me,” he said. “It was a really tough weekend as we had a lot of strong drivers including Joey Mawson, Dan Ticktum, Marcus Armstrong and Callan O’Keeffe. They are all great drivers who have proved themselves in European racing so it was really tough to beat them and I had to up my game quite a lot to beat them.
“I really want to thank the championship for putting together such a good event as it was good to race in the winter and we got so much mileage in such a short amount of time. It is really good preparation for drivers like me heading into next year and allows you to bond with a new team. We shall see how it goes next year but I will be seeing you on the grid.”
