The slick tyres selected for the A1 Car were the result of extensive testing in the UK, Spain and Italy. Lola International, Zytek Engineering and world-renowned race tyre specialist Cooper worked together on a parallel development programme, to ensure the best possible combination of car, gearbox and tyres.
The huge torque of the A1 Engine requires a significantly larger rear tyre to successfully complete a race distance and still feel good to drive. Two wide rear tyre options were tested in the extreme heat of Jerez and were pushed up to and beyond their limits by A1 Test Drivers Ralph Firman and Stephen Watson. The lap times and both driver comments all pointed to the larger 370/660R13s, fitted to 16' wide rims. That's a total of 30' of rear tread width.
The slick Cooper A1 Tyres give very progressive levels of grip and feedback that lack in treaded or grooved tyres. Unlike road tyres, which have to last for thousands of miles, the Cooper A1 Tyre is made of a unique blend of materials, only one of which is rubber.
Operating at racing temperatures of up to 90 degrees Celsius the tyre surface becomes almost gel-like. This, coupled with the A1 Car's downforce, makes the tyre 'squash' into the race track surface - giving awesome grip and cornering abilities.
With a high sidewall, the tyre also plays an important part in the car's suspension set-up. Tyres 'spring' and deform over bumps in a controlled, regular fashion, and the A1 teams and engineers will use this property to best set-up their A1 cars for great handling, and close racing.
The Cooper A1 Tyres also need to cope with up to 550 bhp and full-throttle acceleration - but with no traction control other than the driver's right foot, racing fans can expect plenty of tyre-smoking action from start to chequered flag.
The A1 tyre is a control tyre - all teams use the same compound. In wet conditions, a specially-developed rain tyre has been carefully selected to cope with monsoon conditions while being tough enough to complete a race distance on a drying track. The compound, construction and pattern design are unique and perfectly tailored to A1 Grand Prix providing the best possible product for this extreme application.
You never know what's going to happen. - Daniel
...60G of force 
