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Pirelli Reviews Star Driver Inauguration at WRC Portugal

Citroen driver Sebastien Loeb maintained his dominance of the 2009 World Rally Championship with victory on the fourth round of the series, the Rally of Portugal, which ended in Faro on Sunday afternoon (5 April). There’s nothing new there, considering Loeb’s early season form, though the Portuguese WRC stage represented a landmark worthy of note for tyre suppliers Pirelli. The Italian giant’s Star Driver scheme – undertaken with collaboration from the FIA in order to develop new young drivers – inaugurated five new drivers, all of whom will compete at a further five events. Jarkko Nikara of Finland, Nicos Thomas from Cyprus, the Czech Republic’s Martin Semerad, Mark Tapper from New Zealand and South African Jon Williams tackled Portugal as the first stage in their WRC education.

Pirelli rally manager Mario Isola said, “We are very pleased with the way this event has gone. We had no problems with the tyres. Okay, there were some punctures caused by accidents, but otherwise the hard-compound Scorpion tyre coped very well with the conditions. This has been another very strong drive from Sebastien Loeb, but once again we saw Ford pushing Citroen hard. This was also a historic rally for Pirelli with the Star Driver Scheme. This association with the FIA to help young drivers in the sport has made us very proud as a company. All five of the drivers have performed well and we now look ahead to the rest of the season with these exciting guys.”

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“A Very Demanding Situation for Our Gravel Tyres”

Drivers at the upcoming Cyprus round of the World Rally Championship are to face an increased challenge on the island following the decision to supply competitors with only hard compound gravel tyres, despite the change of format to include a first day on asphalt in addition to the more traditional gravel surfaces of the later stages.

Mario Isola, the rally manager at Pirelli – the official tyre supplier to the WRC – stated, “this is a very demanding situation for our gravel tyres and surely the skills required from the drivers will be somewhat different. There is surely less grip but everyone has been surprised by how well the tyres stood up in the tests.”

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Pirelli WRC Sottozero Debuts Rally Norway

Rally Norway, the second round of the 2009 World Rally Championship, begins in Hamar, 60 kilometres north of Oslo. While the mainstay of the action runs on the frozen roads around the rally’s hometown, this year on a surface that spectators can barely stand on. Heavy snowfalls in the lead up to the event have been compacted to make a near-perfect ice base for the stages. And while such conditions are a true test of man and machine, Pirelli argues that it is probably its Sottozero tyres that face the biggest test; the Italian manufacturer’s rubber is the sole link between vehicle and slippery surface.

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Sebastien Loeb wins a dramatic rally Great Britain

The very first World Rally Championship of the Pirelli era drew to a close in Wales on December 7, with the recently-crowned five-time World Rally Champion Sebastien Loeb breaking his own record by claiming his 11th win in one season. Citroen-Pirelli has now taken the 2008 World Championship for Manufacturers, thanks also to a strong third place for Loeb’s teammate Dani Sordo.

Ice and frost was once again the order of the day for the final day of the Wales Rally Great Britain, which marked the end of the first World Championship held under the single tyre rule with Pirelli as the exclusive supplier. Despite the wintry conditions, Pirelli reports that its soft-compound Scorpion tyres worked well in the tricky weather, contributing to a dramatic finish. The factory Ford Focus-Pirelli of Jari-Matti Latvala led from the opening day, but Loeb overcame the deficit on the final stage to win the rally by only 12.7 seconds and give Citroen its third manufacturers’ title.

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Pirelli-equipped Citroën C4 Wins Acropolis Rally

In an Acropolis stage famed for its punishing surfaces, Sebastien Loeb claimed his fifth victory in seven events to regain the lead of the Drivers’ championship.

After the event, Loeb was full of praise for his C4 WRC, reserving particular commendation for the performance of his Pirelli Scorpion tyres: “We drove with the idea of preserving the car and the tyres on an incredibly rough surface. The Pirelli Scorpion tyres were able to resist stages that were truly a massacre, so the overall conclusion is very positive – particularly considering that these tyres do not have anti-deflation mousse and that they have to adapt themselves to a very wide range of different surfaces.”

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Pirelli’s ‘Scorpion’ for Gravel Making its WRC Debut in Mexico

Pirelli’s new Scorpion tyres will make their first appearance on the opening gravel event of this year’s World Rally Championship. The gruelling Mexican stages, which run at altitudes in excess of 2000 metres, will, believes Pirelli, be a baptism of fire for its new WRC gravel rubber.

The high altitude gravel roads that characterise the Rally Mexico (which runs between 27 February and 2 March) will form the backdrop to the debut of Pirelli’s Scorpion tyres, specifically designed for the rigours of the WRC. The event, which takes place on roads around Leon, not far from Mexico City, will prove an excellent test for the specialised rubber that Pirelli has painstakingly developed for gravel events. As gravel is the most common surface on this year’s championship, Pirelli believes the importance of this all-new tyre cannot be underestimated.

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New Pirelli Winter Tyres Ready for the Swedish Rally

The only snow event in this year’s FIA World Rally Championship commences in Karlstad, Sweden on February 7. When the teams get underway they will receive their first competitive taste of Pirelli’s new Sottozero studded tyres. The 145/85 R16 size tyres feature 2cm long studs that protrude 7mm out of the tyre’s tread, inserted during the vulcanisation process – these are tyres obviously not designed for racing on gravel, but the local weather forecasts for Thursday predict sufficient snow and ice to make this year’s Swedish Rally another thrilling event.

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Pirelli Scores Triumph in the Memorial Bettega

Italy’s Gigi Galli has once again driven to victory in this years’ WRC rally at the Memorial Bettega, held in conjunction with the Bologna Motor Show. The 2005 winner’s Pirelli-liveried Peugeot 307 won three of the race’s five heats. The Peugeot, riding on Pirelli’s P Zero tyres, also broke the stage record. Chris Atkinson took third place in his Pirelli fitted Subaru.

Also riding on Pirelli tyres was Toscana driver Tobia Cavallini, who also won the Trofeo WRC Italia in his Subaru Impreza WRC and another two successes came Pirelli’s way thanks to Anton Alen in the Subaru Impreza Cup and Tonino Tognana in the Historic Rally Show, driving a Lancia Rally 037.

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Valentino Rossi Wins Monza Rally on Pirelli Tyres

MotoGP champion, Valentino Rossi has won the Monza Rally, taking charge in his Ford Focus WRC to win by a clear margin on Pirelli P Zero racing tyres. Mario Isola, Rally Manager for Pirelli Competizioni: “We congratulate Rossi on his excellent performance, which we are extremely proud to have been a part of.”

Valentino literally left all rivals in the distance in the final race of the Italian rally season, which brought both rally and track racers together in a single event. Against such names as Dindo Capello, Markku Alen, Piero Longhi, and Didier Auriol, Rossi took to the front right from the start and finished the race with a comfortable margin over his adversaries.

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Pirelli Prepares for 2006 Monte Carlo Rally With Subaru

As tradition dictates, the 2006 season is about to begin with the Monte Carlo Rally. As one of the most demanding and unpredictable events in the championship, the rally will see Pirelli aiming for a significant result in partnership with the works Subaru team.

The Impreza WRCs will be competing on Pirelli P Zero tyres once again this year and will be able to depend on a comprehensive and targeted development program with tyres matched to the specific conditions of each rally. Besides the factory Subarus of Solberg-Mills and Sarrazin-Prevot and the Impreza of the Subaru Rally Team Australia, to be driven by Atkinson-McNeal, the Pirelli technicians will also supply tyres and service to private and semi-private entrants.

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