Prometeon Tyre Group launches the first Prometeon-branded tyres of the Serie 02 range. The new product is called S02 Pista and is the first Prometeon-branded tyre in the Group’s history. 

It will be an adrenaline-filled debut: Prometeon S02 Pista will equip four trucks of the Italtrans and Tibau teams participating in the Dakar Rally to be held in Saudi Arabia from 5th to 19th January. The event will be the Group’s first official participation in a competition.  

Roberto Righi, CEO of Prometeon Tyre Group: “Launching a product in what is regarded as the world’s toughest race for trucks is a challenge we feel up to. The tyres to feature in the Dakar Rally will be the first bearing the Prometeon brand, which fills us with pride and marks an important step in our history. We chose two reference teams boasting extensive experience, with which we have established a fruitful collaboration”. 

PROMETEON S02 PISTA 

Prometeon S02 Pista is part of the new Serie 02 range, with which it shares the same technological package. The tyre is designed to offer great structural integrity for the most extreme off-road applications.  

Compared to the product it replaces (PS22), the speed rating has been increased from 90 km/h to 110 km/h, while retaining the same load capacity. The product features an entirely redesigned tread pattern, which increases its duration and structural resistance at cruising speed (90-100 km/h), since the tyre must withstand greater stresses at higher speeds. However, this improved resilience does not affect the tyre’s grip or mud expulsion capacity when used in the most extreme conditions. The S-shaped tread design guarantees progressive contact with the terrain, improving comfort and reducing noise when driving on asphalt. 

The new Prometeon S02 Pista tyre can also operate at low pressures and can be equipped with “run flat” and “bead lock” systems, on all types of terrain including asphalt, sand, gravel, grass and marshy or uneven terrain. 

Available in size 14.00 R20, it boasts a load capacity of 10 tonnes when used on its own, and 18 tonnes in the twin-tyre configuration. The load index is 164/160K and the speed index K.

OUR PARTNERSHIPS

Italtrans Racing Team Rally division. The Italian team will participate in the Dakar Rally 2024 with two teams and two Iveco Powerstar class T5.1 Prototype Cross-Country Trucks: the Italtrans truck driven by Claudio Bellina, participating in his 16th Dakar Rally (his best results include third place in 2005 as co-driver to Giacomo Vismara, followed by tenth place as driver in 2010), and the Petra truck driven by Gianandrea Pellegrini, in his first Dakar Rally. 

Italtrans Racing Team was born out of the motorsport passion of Laura Bertulessi and the brothers Germano and Claudio Bellina, who in 1985 founded Italtrans S.p.a., a company based near Bergamo (Italy) which is now one of the leading companies in the logistics and temperature-controlled transport sectors, with a turnover of 460 million Euro in 2022.  

Business and passion are values shared by Italtrans and Prometeon. 

The Italtrans Racing Team has also been featuring in the Moto2 motorcycle championship for over 10 years: in the 2023 season it celebrated its 14th participation.

In 2020 the team won the Moto2 World Championship with Enea Bastianini. 

Tibau Team. The Spanish team has a long experience in rally raids featuring trucks. The founder, Rafa Tibau Maynou, has participated in the Dakar Rally 33 times. The team is specialised in providing assistance during rally raids. Two of its trucks will be equipped with Prometeon S02 Pista tyres, both MAN TGA: one is registered in class T5.2 Race Service Assistance Trucks, while the other is in class T6 Support Trucks; the latter will have a trailer and will be used to support racing trucks. The team, consisting of 23 people, focuses on assisting three official teams: Prodrive, X Rally Team and YunXiang China Team. In particular, the MAN TGA T5.2 truck driven by Didier Monseu and equipped with Prometeon tyres will assist official BRX Hunter prototypes driven by nine-time Rally world champion, Sébastien Loeb, and by two-time Rally Raid world champion and five-time winner of the Dakar Rally, Nasser Al-Attiyah. 

THE DAKAR RALLY

The Dakar Rally is the most famous rally raid of all time. It is still known as the Paris-Dakar Rally, because up to 2007 the finish line was in the Senegal capital, in Africa. The Dakar Rally was invented by Frenchman Thierry Sabine, who died in a helicopter accident during the 1986 edition. The first Paris-Dakar Rally was held in 1979 and has always been open to cars, motorbikes and trucks since the beginning. The 46th edition will be held in Saudi Arabia, from 6th to 19th January 2024, and will consist of 13 legs, including the traditional Prologue. This year’s novelty is the Superstage Marathon, a 48-hour leg (584 kilometres), during which assistance will not be allowed and the teams will have to solve any problems that might arise on their own.