Pirelli and Subaru to attack on the Asphalt of Catalunya

Milan, 21 March 2006 - After the excellent performance of Petter Solberg's Impreza three weeks ago in Mexico, and the more than positive tests carried out over the last few days by the Norwegian and his comrade in arms in Spain, Stphane Sarrazin, optimism is high in the Pirelli-Subaru camp. With the fourth round in the World Rally Championship due to take place next weekend in the Tarragona area of Spain, both Pirelli and the Anglo-Japanese team have worked hard to further improve the degree of competitiveness of the Impreza-P Zero duo, for which it is reasonable to expect that both Solberg and Sarrazin will be up among the leaders in the Iberian rally. "The work carried out in the Ligurian hinterland of Italy produced comforting results", said Sarrazin, who also defended the colours of Pirelli Competizioni at the 12 Hours of Sebring last weekend in an Aston Martin DBR9, which took pole position. "I am sure that, with the new evolution car and tyres, we are in a position to fight for victory against our adversaries. In addition, I like the Rally of Spain, as a result of which I shall allow myself the luxury of being optimistic - as I said at the end of the Rally of Monte Carlo two months ago". As Mario Isola, Rally Manager of Pirelli Competizioni, explains, "Having changed the time of year during which the Spanish rally is held from the autumn to the spring, we were induced to revolutionise our P Zero strategy. The climate is, in fact, markedly different, with a greater risk of rain and lower daytime temperatures. Therefore, the choice of tyres will be even more difficult, but we are confident, because it is also true that the new RX constructions tested by Subaru last week produced really comforting results from the point of view of consistency in all conditions and of mileage". The rally will start from Tarragona, cover more than 1,300 kilometres and include 16 stages, seven of them different from each other. For the event, Pirelli Competizioni will also supply its tyres to the Impreza WRC05 to be driven by Chris Atkinson, entered by the Subaru Rally Team Australia. Pirelli P Zero tyres will also be fitted to the cars of various talented drivers in Group N, including the Subaru Impreza STi of Oskar Svedlund and the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo to be driven by Fabio Frisiero.