After an impressive performance at the beginning of the year in the Paris-Dakar rally Pirelli truck tyres strengthened their reputation last weekend by winning the Rally of the Pharaohs, one of the most demanding desert rally-raids in the international calendar.
Pirelli PS22 tyres swept the board in the Baja Aragon, round of the FIA Rally-Raid World Cup, at the end of July with two Iveco Eurocargo 140E24 WS trucks of Team Motorsport Italia crewed by local drivers Selga-Torra and Roque-Asurmendi-Diamante, taking first and second places respectively in the truck category of the event, preceding the third placed Mercedes-Benz 1844 AK on Pirelli, driven by Spain’s Oliveras-Campa/Capsada. The news comes six months after Markku Alen’s seventh place in the 2005 Paris-Dakar driving a Pirelli PS22-shod Iveco Eurocargo and Miki Biasion’s great performance in a similar vehicle on Pirelli until a simple technical problem stopped him from finishing the race, and the second place in Turkey’s Rally of the Orient, last June.
The 2006 World Rally Championship will not be a battle between Pirelli and Michelin, but BFGoodrich and Pirelli. The French manufacturer has decided to substitute Michelin name for the brand that uses to compete in the Rally Raid World Cup.
Mitsubishi driver, Stephane Peterhansel, has won the Dakar rally for the second consecutive year. The Frenchman finished in an overall time of 52 hours, 31 minutes and 39 seconds – 27 minutes and 14 seconds ahead of compatriot Luc Alphand. Third place was taken by Vokswagen’s Jutta Kleinschmidt, with Giniel de Villiers of Nissan and Volkwagen’s Bruno Saby taking fourth and fifth places.
At the finish, Stephane Peterhansel told BBC news it was a huge relief just to have finally finished. “We were very stressed this morning and everything went well so it’s really a big, big relief,” he said.
This year BF Goodrich supplied all of the main manufacturers’ and some private teams. The teams tackled the notoriously difficult desert terrain with the company’s Baja T/A Rock tyres in 235/85 R16.
Whilst the fight for victory between the car drivers was exciting right into the final stage of the Paris Dakar rally (the winner was Hiroshi Masuoka, second place went to Jutta Kleinschmidt). The tyre supplier to Mitsubishi was not to be beaten – the first eight vehicles were fitted with BF Goodrich tyres.
Regarding tyre related brand names the team of Jutta Kleinschmidt/Tina Thörner taking part in this race shows a remarkable performance: Their Mitsubishi Pajero is supplied with Michelin tyres (18/80-16) while the tyre service is managed by Euromaster and on the drivers‘ caps you can read the name Vergölst.
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