Pirelli and Ford Together in World Championship Rallying

Milan, 1 September 2000 - Pirelli signed an agreement with Ford of considerable importance in the world of motorsport: from next season, the Ford Focus WRC cars will compete for the World Rally Championship on Pirelli tyres. The accord will come into effect in January 2001. "This partnership with one of the most important car manufacturers in the world", said Giovanni Ferrario, Managing Director of Pirelli Tyre Sector, "is further confirmation of Pirelli's commitment to rallying, which we have always considered an irreplaceable source of technological knowledge for the development of our road tyres: a real mobile research and development laboratory". Adding "It is a very positive moment for World Rallying, with growing audiences, new developments concerning commercial rights, and a lot of activity surrounding the new communication medium of Internet and Video games, all of which adds up to a strong sporting and marketing opportunity for Pirelli". Working with Ford throughout the next World Rally Championship will be a further step forward in a relationship in which Pirelli is already one of the principal suppliers of original equipment tyres for Ford cars in Europe. Of particular success has been the pairing of Pirelli's P6000 road tyre and the Ford Focus, Car of the Year and the basis of the WRC's development. And reaching this agreement with Ford will secure maximum techno-sporting support for the further development of Pirelli's PZero motorsport tyre range for use on asphalt, unmade surfaces, snow and ice. Ford's contracted drivers for 2001, Colin McRae and Carlos Sainz, both have wide experience of Pirelli tyres. Indeed, when Pirelli last won the world drivers' championship in 1995, it was McRae who took the honours. On the previous two occasions, in 1990 and 1992, it was Sainz. "We're very much looking forward to linking up with Pirelli -said Malcom Wilson, the Ford team director- It has a highly successful career in motorsport, particularly in world championship rallying, and both Colin and Carlos have won world titles in partnership with the company. Both our drivers have considerable experience of working with Pirelli's engineers and it's a relationship that we see working very well.". Testing on Pirelli tyres will begin immediately after the Rally of Great Britain, the final round of this year's championship, to ensure the drivers and the team as a whole have the maximum time to adapt before the start of the 2001 championship in Monte Carlo in January. The new partnership with Ford will reinforce the Pirelli presence on the special stages of the World Rally Championship. Pirelli and Subaru have competed together for the world title since 1994 and now have a long-term technical agreement between them: the two have achieved excellent results - four World Championships (three manufacturers' and one drivers' title) and 30 victories. A co-operation agreement also links Pirelli with the promising young SEAT team. The new partnership with Ford clearly underlines Pirelli's intentions in and commitment to motorsport. A commitment which has produced significant techno-sporting results over the years: 116 World Championship rallies have been won on Pirelli tyres.