Doohan helps Pirelli ‘make up for lost time’ ahead of rules revamp
Jack Doohan helped Pirelli ‘make up for lost time’ after a
technical problem with his Alpine on Wednesday restricted track
action. In the final two-day test of this season for Pirelli in
building towards the finalisation of its tyres for 2026, Doohan
only managed 47 laps on the opening day, running dry, intermediate
and extreme compounds on an artificially watered Magny Cours
circuit. Using a modified version of last year’s Alpine, adapted to
accept the new size of wheel rim for ’26, Pirelli completed a full
day of wet-weather running on Thursday with Doohan behind the
wheel, the Australian racking up 106 laps. With the rims possessing
a slightly smaller width and external diameter on both the front
and rear axles, it is a small part of a major revamp of the
regulations for 2026 when new power units and chassis will be
introduced. Doohan’s leading lap on slicks was 1:16.641s, whilst on
the inters, it was 1:27.352s. Pirelli confirmed that the work
“partially made up for time lost yesterday”. It added that “the
programme focused mainly on assessing prototype extreme wet tyres,
with a few runs on intermediates”. For the Italian manufacturer, it
was the third and final test of this year, all lasting two days.
The previous tests were at Barcelona and Mugello, running dry
weather tyres. The tests will resume next year. Before then, on
December 10, two days after the final grand prix of the season in
Abu Dhabi, Pirelli will conduct one final test that will allow all
teams to assess for the first time the final version of the dry
weather tyres for 2025.
technical problem with his Alpine on Wednesday restricted track
action. In the final two-day test of this season for Pirelli in
building towards the finalisation of its tyres for 2026, Doohan
only managed 47 laps on the opening day, running dry, intermediate
and extreme compounds on an artificially watered Magny Cours
circuit. Using a modified version of last year’s Alpine, adapted to
accept the new size of wheel rim for ’26, Pirelli completed a full
day of wet-weather running on Thursday with Doohan behind the
wheel, the Australian racking up 106 laps. With the rims possessing
a slightly smaller width and external diameter on both the front
and rear axles, it is a small part of a major revamp of the
regulations for 2026 when new power units and chassis will be
introduced. Doohan’s leading lap on slicks was 1:16.641s, whilst on
the inters, it was 1:27.352s. Pirelli confirmed that the work
“partially made up for time lost yesterday”. It added that “the
programme focused mainly on assessing prototype extreme wet tyres,
with a few runs on intermediates”. For the Italian manufacturer, it
was the third and final test of this year, all lasting two days.
The previous tests were at Barcelona and Mugello, running dry
weather tyres. The tests will resume next year. Before then, on
December 10, two days after the final grand prix of the season in
Abu Dhabi, Pirelli will conduct one final test that will allow all
teams to assess for the first time the final version of the dry
weather tyres for 2025.
Ian Parkes
Go to seatrade maritime