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Pirelli Geared Up For 2009 WRC

The 2009 World Rally Championship kicks off in Ireland and again this year Pirelli, the championship’s exclusive tyre supplier, plays a pivotal role in proceedings. From the season’s opening race, which gets under way on 30th January, Pirelli believes the 2009 WRC will be a series full of technical challenges for both teams and drivers. Mud, snow and ice are just a few of the weather related obstacles the opening rally will hand drivers, making tyre choice a critical factor in the race. The other 11 rounds feature conditions that are no less exciting: from snow in Norway to the dirt roads of Australia and Argentina.

27th January 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Yokohama Pledges to Support Sporting 2009

Yokohama has told Tyres & Accessories that it intends to continue to support motorsport in 2009 following its positive experiences in 2008. Yokohama Motorsport manager Mark Evans, looking back on the previous year’s action, said, “2008 was an exceptional season for Yokohama in motorsport, particularly in the UK.” The manufacturer’s ADVAN brand provides the control tyre for the FIA World Touring Car Championship, while the company boasts involvement in rallying (both covered in the November editions of Tyres & Accessories).

Continuing, Evans was keen to stress the victories won on Yokohama rubber, perhaps indicating the competitive nature of motorsport as key to its survival: “We achieved some excellent success with our partners, including Nick Crowe on the Isle of Man and Tristan Pye, Paul MacKinnon and Tom Cave in rallying. I think this and the success we had with Aston Martin at the Nürburgring 24 Hours shows that Yokohama has winning products across all forms of motorsport and at every level.”

14th January 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Pirelli Announces Snow Tyre for WRC Ireland

The opening round of this year’s World Rally Championship kicks off in Ireland at the end of January and Pirelli – the competition’s control tyre supplier – is taking no chances when it comes to selecting the best rubber for climatic conditions. The Italian manufacturer has announced that it will be adding three 40ft truckloads of its Monte Carlo Snow tyre to its usual offering, allowing competitors to find additional grip in the ice – a major problem at 2008’s concluding Welsh rally.

Gordon Noble, the course clerk for Rally Ireland, said that while challenging conditions are a necessity for any world class rallying event, the additional safety offered by the tyre shows that competitors’ wellbeing has been taken into consideration: “Many competitors at Wales Rally GB struggled for grip on the icy roads so it is great that we have this option in place for all entrants in Rally Ireland ’09. The conditions, as in 2007, will be testing for all the drivers but at all times safety must be to the fore. With these provisions in place we will get to see the best of what the world’s top drivers have to offer.”

5th January 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Subaru Withdrawing From WRC After 2008 season

Only days after Suzuki announced it will not participate in the 2009 World Rally Championship, Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. (FHI), the manufacturer of the Subaru vehicle brand, announced on December 16 its withdrawal from the WRC at the end of the 2008 season.

The Japanese manufacturer has participated in the WRC together with UK based motorsports and automotive engineering group Prodrive during the past 19 years. Its reason for involvement was to enhance awareness of the Subaru brand by showing the vehicles, with their horizontally-opposed engine and symmetrical all-wheel drive system as core technologies, offer safe, comfortable and pleasurable driving regardless of weather or road conditions. From the beginning FHI also wished to featuring horizontally-opposed engine and transfer the results of race-tested technical improvements into Subaru passenger vehicles.

17th December 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Gould Wins Pirelli Star Driver Award

Following two days of hard-fought competition in Cumbria, 21-year old Bristol driver Adam Gould has become the recipient of the Pirelli Star Driver Award. This honour was gained through winning the Pirelli Star Driver Shootout competition, held on December 11 and 12. In order to win, Gould participated in a range of tests that extended beyond his driving prowess; the judging panel also examined the contenders’ fitness, interview presentation skills and knowledge of the sport. Gould finished the weekend ahead of seven other hopefuls, and in addition to the kudos attached to the distinction of winning, Gould’s prize covers a full funding in the 2009 British Rally Championship.

15th December 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Suzuki Withdraws WRC Team

Japanese manufacturer Suzuki has announced that it will not take part in next year’s World Rally Championship including its Junior counterpart, having competed in each of the last seven series. The company says that business concerns “caused by recent global economic turmoil” have caused it to review its financial commitment to the tournament.

A company statement said that “the organisation reviews every aspect of the operations and decided to focus on the core business functions such as the manufacturing system, environment technologies, and development of new-generation powertrains for cars. As a result, Suzuki concluded to suspend the WRC activities from 2009.” The team’s sponsors, which include Italian tyre giant Pirelli among their number, have agreed to end their current deals with the team.

15th December 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

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.

10th December 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Yokohama-shod Cave Dominates Class in Wales

The only runner on Yokohama tyres at last weekend’s Wales Rally GB, Tom Cave led from the first stage to beat the rest of his class by almost 15 minutes, finishing 30th overall. Cave was the youngest driver ever to enter the UK round of the FIA World Rally Championship, but in the face of regular runners in the Fiesta Sporting Trophy International, the one-make series for Group N Ford Fiestas, he put in a demonstrative performance on his WRC debut.

Commenting on the weekend’s result, Yokohama HPT Motorsport Manager Mark Evans said; “We are naturally delighted to have helped Tom to achieve an outstanding result on his WRC debut and offer our congratulations to him, Gemma and the rest of the Tom Cave Racing team.”

10th December 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

No Control Tyre for Australian Rally Championship in 2009

The Australian Rally Championship will be raced without a control tyre in 2009. The announcement that the upcoming season wouldn’t see the introduction of such a measure was made on December 6, following ongoing consultation between the Australian Rally Commission (ARCom) and tyre manufacturers during the course of 2008. The ARCom eventually decided the overall interests of the championship would be best served by continuing to work with the tyre companies throughout 2009 to ensure tyre parity between Group N and the lighter Super 2000 vehicles. The option remains, however, for the introduction of a control tyre at a later time.

8th December 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Youngest UK WRC Competitor Enters Rally Wales

The youngest competitor ever to enter the UK round of the FIA World Rally Championship, Wales Rally GB, will use Yokohama tyres at this year’s event. Welsh teenager Tom Cave, who turned 17 just 18 days before the rally begins, recently carried out a two-day test using Yokohama tyres on his Group N Ford Fiesta ST and will be competing on the Japanese brand’s rubber at the WRC finale in December.

Cave has already made an impression on the rallying world; he has been rallying in Latvia for two years and is the inspiration for the Junior Rallying scheme to develop the next generation of British rally drivers. Latvia was chosen as it allows drivers from the age of 14 to compete in genuine rallies, the RallySprint and the National championships.

1st December 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Innovations and Motorsports

Correggio, Italy-based Corghi are no strangers to innovation and adaptability. From building the world’s first fully-automated tyre changer – 2001’s Artiglio Master – the company has also specialised in a “Blue Light” vision system, which allows the engineer to interact with the wheel, balancing it from a touch screen monitor. The company also specialises in motorsport, supplying exclusively Ferrari workshops and the official tyre changer for the World Rally Championship (Artiglio 50).

Founded in 1954 by brothers Remo and Erminio, Corghi has strived to be at the forefront of its sector, especially from 1960 – the year in which the two Corghi brothers invented and patented the world’s first tyre changer. Corghi continued its development in this field, arriving at a position of leadership in the market for specialised tyre equipment. Now the firm boasts a wide range of products including automatic tyre changers, wheel balancers, wheel aligners, lifts, testing lines and applications for diagnostics, as well as many other products in the sphere of workshop equipment.

26th November 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Pirelli Offers Welsh Drivers Tyre Pressure Checks

The World Rally Championship arrives in Wales in early December (4-6) for its final stage of the season. To coincide with the event, Pirelli’s depots in South Wales are offering motorists in the region free tyre pressure checks between 1 and 13 December. The Italian manufacturer supplies the control tyres for the series, whose final leg takes place in the Cardiff area.

25th November 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Pirelli Signs Swedish Rally Supply Deal

Pirelli has added another set of supply dates to its famed calendar in a new three-year deal struck with Swedish motorsport, making the Italian giant the exclusive tyre supplier to the Swedish Rally Championship. In signing up for this exclusive supply deal, Pirelli restates its commitment to single tyre competitions, a subject currently debated in Tyrepress.com’s Question of the Month.

Pirelli states in its release that the agreement represents a vindication of the company’s decision to concentrate on the single-tyre philosophy in both racing and rally championships. This direction was set down by the FIA and has been fully supported by Pirelli, which has introduced a range of products designed to offer top performance whilst reducing overall costs: a move that makes sense in the current economic climate.

14th November 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

European Pirelli Star Drivers Chosen

Following two demanding days of rally action, the European winners of the Pirelli Star Driver have been named. Challenges faced by the 18 candidates included a series of interviews with the judging panel and a demonstration of practical skills on six driving stages, and based on their performance Finland’s Jarkko Nikara and the Czech Republic’s Martin Semerad were selected to represent the region.

27th October 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Pan-European Pirelli Star Driver Selection This Weekend

Pirelli reports that everything is now ready in Freistadt, close to the Austrian city of Linz, for the pan-European Pirelli Star Driver selection process. This will decide who gets two of the five Group N or Super 2000 cars available for six European rounds of the World Rally Championship next year (in the Portugal, Italy, Greece, Finland, Spain and Great Britain WRC events).

A panel of experts will have the responsibility of selecting the drivers who will go through. These people are Walter Rohrl and Michele Mouton (both former stars of the World Rally Championship), David Evans (journalist), Mario Isola (Pirelli’s rally manager), Joao Passos (rally organiser) and Kevin Morris (team manager, Tommi Makinen Racing).

24th October 2008/by Tyrepress Editors