TRANS AM
TRANS AM 101

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Trans Am 101
The Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli
Pirelli Tire North America and the Trans Am Series renewed their partnership until at least the end of 2024, with the Italian tire company as presenting partner for America’s Road Racing Series.
At the same time, Pirelli has also extended its agreement with SVRA – the Sportscar Vintage Racing Association – for the same period, as the ‘Official Street Tire of SVRA’. SVRA, the largest vintage racing organization in the United States open to virtually any vintage or historic race car, will share a number of key dates with the Trans Am Series as part of the ‘Speed Tour’.
The recent five-year extension between Pirelli and the Trans Am Series comes off the back of previous three-year agreement that ended in 2019. As a result, Pirelli will continue to be presenting sponsor as well as official tire supplier to one of the best-known road racing championships in the United States, which is rooted in popular culture as well as motorsport.
The Trans Am Series has been thrilling fans and drivers alike since 1966, with a range of classes that include production-based entries up all the way up to the iconic 850 plus horsepower TA Class. This complements Pirelli’s road to track philosophy perfectly, in which the lessons learned on circuits are put into practice on road car tires. Pirelli will continue to supply the entire Trans Am field, including a purpose-built competition tire for the TA and TA2 classes, enabling the drivers to get the very most out of their cars while spectators enjoy a spectacular show that highlights the very best of American racing.
Ultra high performance – as well as competition – is at the very heart of Pirelli, which celebrates more than 110 years of motorsport and recently renewed its exclusive partnership with Formula 1. As well as supplying more than 220 car racing championships worldwide, Pirelli is one of the companies that invests most into research and development through motorsport, in order for the competition product to be as closely aligned to road car tires as possible.
Consequently, Pirelli and Trans Am are currently testing 18-inch tires for the headlining TA class, which could be adopted from next season already: bringing the tires used on the track even closer to those on the road. In a similar move, Pirelli is introducing 18-inch tires to F1 from 2021.
About Pirelli:
Pirelli Tire North America designs, develops, manufactures and markets tires for passenger vehicles in both the original equipment and replacement markets as well as markets and distributes tires for motorcycles and motorsports. Located in Rome, Georgia, Pirelli’s Modular Integrated Robotized System (MIRS) employs state-of-the-art technology to manufacture tires for both export and domestic markets. For more information, please visit www.us.pirelli.com.
The Trans Am Series Competition Format
A Trans Am Series race is 100 miles in length, and does not require a mandatory pit stop for fueling, tires or driver changes. As a sprint, it is driver versus driver, and that means its flat out racing from start to finish.
The series generally has four to six on-track sessions, including two test sessions (35 to 40 minutes in length) one to two practices (typically 30 minutes in length), one qualifying session (sixty minutes broken into 3 sessions for Trans Am, TA2 and the production classes) and two 100-mile races (one for Trans Am and the three production classes; and the other for TA2). Depending on the circuit, the 100 mile race fits into a 90-minute window, including pre- and post-race activities.
Trans Am Series Management
The Trans Am Race Company, LLC manages the day to day business of the Trans Am Series, including marketing, public relations and promotions, while SCCA Pro Racing provides contracted event operations services.
Tony Parella is majority owner of the Trans Am Race Company.
Series Sanction
The Trans Am Series is sanctioned by SCCA Pro Racing Ltd., the wholly owned subsidiary of Sports Car Club of America, Inc.
SCCA Pro Racing has been at the forefront of the professional racing landscape in the United States with such landmark series as Trans Am, Can-Am and Formula 5000.