Cyprus Rally
'When Cyprus came into the championship the conditions were similar to Acropolis,' says Pirelli Rally Manager Fiore Brivio. 'Now the date has changed from summer to early spring when the southern Mediterranean can be very wet and the road surface can quickly turn into 50cm of mud. The past two Cyprus rallies have seen temperatures around 35 degrees and the stresses on the tyres were much higher than they will likely be this year. What we have to find is a range of tyre compounds to cope with the possible temperature differences.'
The Cypriot roads have a hard base but with a surface of stones or loose gravel. They can also be rutted, forcing drivers to follow a defined route that places higher demands on both tyres and suspension. The different compound options between the XR and K tyres (both chosen by Subaru and Ford) will assure maximum performance and reliability on all surfaces and weather conditions.
'The risk of punctures will be just as high, whatever the
temperature,' concludes Brivio, 'and so it will be important to
make the EMI anti-deflation system work at its most efficient. The
problem on really twisty events like Cyprus is that, if you get a
puncture, the EMI hasn't always fully worked and expanded before
the next corner and it is easy for a tyre to then come off the
rim.'
HARD BASE - SANDY SURFACE
With slow and tortuous roads, always with a hard and rocky base
covered in sand or dust, Cyprus will see Pirelli present with two
tread patterns (XR and K) designed for this very surface. All are
equipped with Pirelli's EMI anti-deflation system.
For Hard Base Surfaces Or With Gravel On Top
XR (Size 225/65-15)
Type Wider tyre for most conditions
Compound options 2 and 4
Description This tyre (in compound 2) is
likely to be the base tyre for the Cyprus Rally. It will be used on
surfaces where the base is hard and compact with a surface of
gravel or sand.
For Dirty Or Muddy Surfaces
K (Size 225/55-15)
Type A tyre for 'specialist'
conditions
Compound options 2 and 4
Description Compound 2 is for a dry
surface, compound 4 is for damp or wet roads. All the K-pattern
tyres are able to be additionally hand cut.
NOTE: The higher the compound number, the harder the
tyre.
The Pirelli Team For Cyprus
5 Ford Focus RS McRae-Grist*, Sainz-Moya*, Martin-Park*, Duval-Fortin & Tuohino-Aho
3 Subaru Impreza WRC Makinen-Lindstrom*, Solberg-Mills*
1 Subaru Impreza GpN Arai
8 Mitsubishi Lancer Gp N Fiorio, Trelles, Ferreyros, Iliev, Rowe, Baldini, Ligato & Manfrinato
* Registered to score manufacturers' Championship points
plus other teams not regularly contesting the World Rally Championship.
Pirelli's Cyprus Record
Pirelli can be proud of its record on this recent addition to the
World Rally Championship. The event joined the WRC in 2000 after
many years as a leading round of the European Championship with
Colin McRae a dominant winner of last year's rally ahead of Richard
Burns, Carlos Sainz and Toshihiro Arai in a fantastic Pirelli
1-2-3-4. Alex Fiorio's hat-trick of wins between 1992-1994 remain a
unique achievement in the history of the rally but they didn't lead
him on to the European title. However, Andrea Navarra's 1998 win
most certainly did.
Recent winners
1990 Dimi Mavropoulos/Nicos Antoniades (Audi Coupe Quattro)
1991 Antonis Jeropoulos/Michael Michael (Mitsubishi Galant
VR-4)
1992 Alex Fiorio/Vittorio Brambilla (Lancia Delta
Integrale)
1993 Alex Fiorio/Vittorio Brambilla (Lancia Delta
Integrale)
1994 Alex Fiorio/Vittorio Brambilla (Lancia Delta
Integrale)
1995 'Bagheera'/Naji Stephan (Lancia Delta Integrale)
1996 Armin Schwarz/Denis Giraudet (Toyota Celica GT-Four)
1997 Krzystof Holowczyc/Maciej Wislawski (Subaru Impreza 555)
1998 Andrea Navarra/Alexandra Materazzetti (Subaru Impreza
555)
1999 Jean-Pierre Richelmi/Stephane Prevot (Subaru Impreza
WRC98)
2000 Carlos Sainz/Luis Moya (Ford Focus WRC)
2001 Colin McRae/Nicky Grist (Ford Focus RS WRC)
Contact website: www.cyprusrally.org.cy
Around The World In 14 Events
Monte Carlo 18-20 January Asphalt/snow/ice
The perfect start to the season for Pirelli with an historic victory going to the Subaru of Tommi Makinen and with four cars fitted with Pirelli PZero tyres in the top six places. The rally was run almost entirely without snow and saw a superb result the RS tyre in the level 9 'thermal' compound that gives maximum performance in conditions of dry asphalt with only a little ice.
Sweden* 1-3 February Snow/ice/gravel
Unfortunately early snow turned quickly into mud but already the
Subarus of Makinen and Solberg had retired with engine problems and
McRae's Ford suffered a heavy penalty, breaking a wheel after
hitting a rock. Third place for Sainz in the other Ford was the
best result although again the competition showed the positive
steps forward made by the PZero studded tyres.
Corsica* 8-10 March Asphalt
A mixture of dry asphalt on the first day and then wet or damp for
the next two days provided a difficult test for tyre choices.
However the latest evolutions of the PZero asphalt range proved to
be exceptionally competitive in all conditions. Unfortunately
Makinen and McRae crashed out of the event but Pirelli's asphalt
performance brought fastest times for both Ford and Subaru.
Catalunya 22-24 March Asphalt
Another good test of the PZero asphalt tyres on the variable
asphalt surfaces that are a feature of this event. Although the
final podium was dominated by drivers from Peugeot and Citroen
there were excellent performances by Solberg (Subaru) in fifth
place ahead of the Fords of McRae and Martin. Unfortunately both
Makinen and Sainz had to retire from the event.
Ciprus * 19-21 April Gravel
Argentina * 17-19 May Gravel
Acropolis 14-16 June Gravel
Safari * 11-14 July Gravel
Finland * 8-11 August Gravel
Germany 22-25 August Asphalt
San Remo 20-22 September Asphalt
New Zealand * 3-6 October Gravel
Australia * 1-3 November Gravel
Great Britain 15-17 November Gravel
* WRC Production Car World Championship (Group N) events