Giti Tire and Dörr Motorsport have teamed-up to compete in the ADAC 24-hour race at the Nürburgring, following the German outfit’s exit from the VLN Endurance Championship in 2014.
Giti currently competes in several race series in Asia, the USA and Australia with its GT Radial brand, however this will be the first time it has entered into the European motorsport arena. A newly established development team within the company comprises experienced engineers and motorsport enthusiasts who are based at Giti Tire’s R&D center in Hanover, Germany.
As part of the ambitious program, Giti will supply privateer team Dörr Motorsport for the ADAC 24-hour race at the Nürburgring. The motorsport stalwart retired from the VLN Endurance Championship in 2014, having won its class nine times in total, but will return to the series to compete once again in a Lamborghini Hurrican Super Trofeo.
Giti’s European motorsport director Tobias Stöckmann said that the team assessed a number of potential other partners for the championship: “We looked at several teams and evaluated which one would be a good fit for us, including BMW and Porsche. We really wanted to work with Dörr Motorsport, however at that time we didn’t think it was possible because Pirelli was their supplier.
“We decided to go for it anyway, even though we thought we had no chance. After extensive discussions with Rainer Dörr and his team we were able to get them on board. He then personally visited our factories in China and met the rest of the Giti team before signing the contract.”
Giti and Dörr Motorsport are working in close collaboration to develop tires for the grueling 24-hour race, which will serve as an ideal R&D platform. Stöckmann said, “The Nürburgring is a really tough track to drive on. We’ll be able to run numerous iterations on different surfaces and we will be able to compare our technology with competitors’ and use all the knowledge to improve our road tires.”
The two are also said to be assessing various other 4-8-hour endurance races as part of the partnership. The ADAC 24-hour race at the Nürburgring takes place on May 25-28, 2017.
