Estoril is a Portuguese freguesia – a town in the municipality of Cascais, counting 27.000 inhabitants. 31 kilometres from Lisbona, it is the home of the biggest casino in Europe, as well as the racetrack that hosted 13 Formula One Grand Prix, from 1984 to 1996. From April 3rd to April 8th, this small Portuguese village will welcome a new international attraction: Pirelli has chosen it as the location to introduce its newest top product, the P Zero tyre.
This international event aims at reinforcing and extending the Italian company's leadership in the field of tyre production for the world's most prestigious car manufacturers. The whole world has its eyes set on Portugal, with 80 dealers and as many journalists, from 18 countries, set to travel to Estoril to enjoy a fully customised experience, as it's Pirelli's prerogative. The choice of location is not at all random: it is from this coast that the world's greatest explorers set off to conquer distant lands. The aim behind Pirelli's event is much the same: to open up to new markets by introducing its most excellent product yet.
The key venue of the event is a gigantic cube, built especially for the launch of the new P Zero and located right next to the Estoril racetrack paddocks. Featuring 1000m2 floor space, and a 12x4m screen, this is the perfect setting to introduce the world's finest tyre, a perfect fit for the sleekest, most prestigious cars. 18 of them will test it on the track, 16 on the road.
Punters will be able to enjoy an exclusive and fully customised experience: in the same way as P Zero reinvents itself for the best fit to each individual car, the event will be fully tailored to the needs of each and every one of the journalists and dealers attending. First and foremost, thanks to the possibility to test drive the cars themselves, as each guest will get a chance to drive for 150 minutes overall: on track laps, driving solo for 100km and then alongside an expert pilot, then on the road for 80km. The same degree of attention and customisation will be paid to guest hospitality as well as the distribution of Pirelli-branded gadgets.
The morphology of the Estoril racetrack offers a perfect venue for the new P Zero test runs, with its balance of climbs, slopes and race symmetries, which allow for an optimal evaluation of tyre power and control. The Portuguese racetrack was always a favourite among pilots, thanks to its long and frequent straights and its legendary parabolic curve, which pushes every car to maximum speed; a perfect place to get to know the new P Zero and fully appreciate its reliability, performance and safety.
Estoril thus offers a luxurious stage to launching Pirelli's excellent product in style. It's easy to figure out by its numbers that this is going to be an event unique in its kind: over 1000 tyres, ranging from 19 to 21 inches in diameter, will be employed over the five-day event, customised to fit the world's most powerful cars, more or less 550-horsepower supercars employing ad hoc-built rubbers from the P Zero range. The whole five days promise to yield a truly spectacular experience: from the stunning futurist venue of the new-built cube to the show that's happening on the track – both the test drives and the evocative music and dance numbers taking place during the days of the presentation – another amazing surprise planned by Pirelli to woo its attendees, and certainly not the last.
There is still so much to be discovered in the stunning scenery of Estoril. A few steps away from the sea, this is a town that carries the histories of great explorers and their travels. Today, it marks the location of the new beginning of an adventure that first started thirty years ago: that of Pirelli and P Zero, who have chosen this southern-Portugal freguesia as the starting point to conquer the global market, with the confidence and enthusiasm of real leaders of their field, true protagonists of a future that's yet to be written.
