WRC
With a new brand film, Hankook Tire & Technology aims to capture the “thrilling action” of the 2025 FIA World Rally Championship (WRC). The exclusive WRC tyre supplier debuted the film Race Beyond Limits this morning on its official global website and social media channels, and it will also feature as a television advertisement.
The organiser of the FIA World Rally Championship has shared the “widespread praise” the series’ new exclusive tyre supplier has gained following its “impressive debut” at Rallye Monte-Carlo. WRC Promoter GmbH reports that in spite of the event being known for its “unpredictable stage conditions, ranging from dry to ice-patched asphalt,” Hankook “rose to the occasion” by delivering a range of newly developed tyres that “impressed drivers and teams across the service park.”
Today the rubber hits the road, and snow, for Hankook. More than a year after being named exclusive tyre supplier to the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) from 2025, Hankook-shod cars have got underway in the Rallye Monte Carlo. Leaving Casino Square at 2:30pm local time, over the coming three days, competitors will cover some 214 miles across 18 special stages in Monaco and France before returning to Casino Square on 26 January.
Hankook will exclusively supply rallying tyres for all three classes, WRC1, WRC2 and WRC3, for three years, beginning with the 2025 season of the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC). The WRC, one of the world’s top motorsports competitions, alongside Formula 1, is renowned for its extreme rallies across diverse terrains worldwide. In the 2025 season, three car brands – Hyundai, Toyota and Ford – will compete across four continents, Europe, Africa, South America, and Asia, for the championship title.
Pirelli has announced its tyre allocations for the ninth round of the World Rally Championship season, Rally Finland. In Finland, the prime is the new-generation soft compound Scorpion KX WRC SB, featuring a revised construction that ensures greater durability and resistance compared to its predecessor, while delivering the same level of performance. The option tyre is the hard compound Scorpion KX WRC HB, suitable for more abrasive surfaces and longer stages. Crews can use 28 of the prime and eight of the option tyres. The number of options can be increased to 12, which reduces the number of primes by four.
Tyre management at the Rally di Sardegna, the sixth round of the World Rally Championship, is “even more important” with a more compact 16-stage schedule, according to supplier Pirelli. Returning to Alghero, the event covers a total of 266.12 timed kilometres over three days of competition. There will be no service or tyre changing before the repeat runs, by which time the cars and tyres will have already been subjected to a lot of stress, meaning careful tyre management will benefit teams. In Sardinia the hard compound Scorpion KX WRC HB will be the prime and the soft compound Scorpion KX WRC SB will be the option.
The FIA World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) has convened for its final meeting of 2023, and during this meeting the WMSC approved the WRC Commission’s recommendation to appoint Hankook as the official tyre partner and supplier to the FIA World Rally Championship. Hankook will commence in this role in 2025, initially for three years.
Tyre supplier Pirelli is expecting a “heartfelt and hard-fought race” as well as an interesting event “from a technical point of view” at the eighth edition of Rally Japan (16-19 November), which ends the World Rally Championship season. Pirelli will supply the P Zero Hard as the prime tyre, with the P Zero Soft and Cinturato Wet also available to teams.
After serving as sole tyre supplier to the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) since 2021, Pirelli will pass on the baton at the end of next season. The tyre maker has announced having “not submitted its candidature” to supply WRC from 2025-2027. As a result, Pirelli will conclude its partnership as a single supplier to the WRC in 2024.
The FIA, World Rally Championship promoter and Pirelli are discussing the opportunity to make more diverse and challenging race strategies by enforcing the use of option tyres in future rallies. The tyre supplier revealed the plan following a Rally Finland won by British driver Elfyn Evans after a dramatic Friday in which many pre-rally favourites were eliminated. Pirelli said its Scorpion soft tyres performed reliably well, with all drivers (except Teemu Suninen on Sunday morning) using identical strategies to capitalise on its strength versus the option tyre.
Pirelli engineers predict its soft compound Scorpion KX WRC are the optimal choice for World Rally Championship contenders in Kenya, as the WRC Safari Rally commences on 22 June. Rain and muddy conditions, as well as loose stones and rapidly changing road conditions greet competitors, who have chosen to load up on the soft version of the Scorpion KXs. 28 sets per car – the 24 assigned by regulation plus the additional four for the shakedown – allow drivers to fit four new tyres at each of the seven services over the course of the race weekend.
Pirelli’s latest Scorpion gravel tyre will make its debut on the milestone Rally de Portugal. The first gravel event of the 2022 FIA World Rally Championship season is also the 50th edition of the event, with the new hybrid Rally1 cars running on Pirelli’s updated range of Scorpion KX WRC gravel tyres. Pirelli will bring around 2400 tyres to Portugal, of which 520 will be for the top class of Rally1 cars. Rally1 drivers may use up to 28 tyres during the rally and shakedown.
Pirelli has named former FIA head of F1 communications Matteo Bonciani its head of motorsport communications. In this role, Bonciani takes responsibility for communications throughout all the company’s motorsport programmes, including Formula 1, the World Rally Championship, and GT. Pirelli says Bonciani’s appointment as head of motorsport communications represents part of a restructuring of its motorsport department within the overall communications and brand image department.
Technology, sustainability and support for young talent – Pirelli states that these are the three cornerstones of its 2022 motorsport campaign. During a live-streamed press conference hosted by Mario Isola, the tyre maker’s head of motorsport, supported by rally activity manager Terenzio Testoni and GT circuit activity manager Matteo Braga, Pirelli set out its plans and priorities for the year.
A new generation of hybrid-powered rally cars that generate more than 500 hp and over 500 newton-metres of torque make their debut when the 2022 FIA World Rally Championship season begins with the Rallye Monte-Carlo, which gets underway on 20 January. This presents a fresh challenge to Pirelli as the Italian company enters its second season as exclusive supplier to the top category and new-look support series. To equip these cars, Pirelli has optimised the entire range of P Zero, Scorpion, and Sottozero tyres to cope with these tech-rich vehicles’ extra weight and additional torque.
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