Pirelli at the Corsica Rally

Back, then, to asphalt. No ordinary asphalt, either, for this is Corsica (September 28-October 1) and the eleventh round of the World Rally Championship. It has a unique surface: abrasive and offering high levels of grip that are very demanding for the tyres. These conditions are combined with twisting roads that have given the Tour de Corse its unofficial name, the Rally of a Thousand Corners.

Asphalt is a relatively rare surface for the World Rally Championship and is therefore quite difficult for the tyre manufacturers to provide for just three true asphalt rounds (before this event there was Catalunya and after there remains only San Remo) the necessary range of super-competitive tyres. The tyres need not only be competitive but also to be reliable and versatile to assure maximum suitability for the variable asphalt and ever-changing conditions. The date change for Corsica, to the end of the summer, will play a significant part in determining if the event takes place in warm sunshine or bad weather and rain.

For Pirelli this event represents a challenge within a challenge. Pirelli last won Corsica in 1997 and 1998, both times thanks to Colin McRae and Subaru. In Catalunya, last spring, the PZero asphalt range gave a major boost to Richard Burns who was able to challenge for victory throughout the event, thereby confirming the success of Pirelli's development programme for asphalt. The improved technology and experience of recent years has led to a range of tyres that is optimised for every stage of the World Rally Championship.

During 2000 this has combined with Subaru-Pirelli in the quest for ultimate perfection and to return to the winning ways of the early summer events on gravel, before the recent disappointment of a loss of mechanical reliability in the Impreza WRC2000.

Corsica begins the final push to the end of the championship. The final asphalt event is San Remo before the series returns to gravel in Australia and Britain where winter has the last word on the destination of the championship. Pirelli, with a PZero range for all conditions, is ready. In Corsica we will be giving Subaru and SEAT, also the Mitsubishi drivers that dominate Group N, the support necessary for victory.

OBJECTIVE: RESISTANCE TO WEAR

A range of 2500 tyres in the latest evolutions following a recent test in Corsica and more especially typified by the use of the latest construction materials have allowed Pirelli to tackle the challenge of these asphalt roads with high grip levels. As ever, all of these tyres will be fitted with the latest EMI anti-deflation system.

THREE PATTERNS, MANY EVOLUTIONS

RP (Size 225/650-18)

Type: A tyre for clean asphalt
Compound options: Level 3, 5 and 7 (from hard to soft)
Description: Level 5 is considered the key tyre with the soft compound
Level 7 designed for a damp surface or one that is dry but cold.

RE (Size 225/650-18)

Type: An intermediate tyre
Compound options - One: level 7.
Description: The tread pattern is not very open and is designed for damp to wet surfaces. It can also be hand cut. There are also two compound evolutions available.

N (Size 225/650-18)

Type: For heavy rain
Compound options: One
Description: For very wet surfaces or with hail and snow.

NOTE: The higher the relative compound number, the softer the tyre

THE PIRELLI TEAM IN CORSICA

3 Subaru Impreza WRC2000 Burns-Reid, Jean-Joseph-Boyere & Solberg-Mills
2 SEAT Cordoba WRC E2 Auriol-Giraudet & Gardemeister-Lukander
2 Subaru Impreza Group A Dallavilla and Al Wahaibi
4 Mitsubishi Lancer Group N Stohl, Trelles, Pozzo and Menzi


...plus other teams not regularly contesting the World Rally Championship.

OUR DRIVERS SAID...
 

RICHARD BURNS
I've never done a Corsica Rally this late in the year so the weather is a bit of an unknown factor. It's an event where Subaru and Pirelli have done well in the past and, after our big improvement in performance in Catalunya this year, I have every reason to be confident of another good result.
 

SIMON JEAN-JOSEPH
I retired on the first stage last year so my experience of Corsica isn't so great! The roads are famously twisty but they are a lot smoother than in the past as there is more new asphalt these days. I haven't had a lot of chance to drive with Pirelli but I can see already how much the tyres have improved on asphalt.
 

DIDIER AURIOL
Actually this is not my favourite rally but it certainly seems to like me because I have won there so many times! It is a very hard rally for the driver and also, of course, for the tyres. It will be difficult for us but I'm confident that Pirelli can give us the right tyres for the job.
 

TONI GARDEMEISTER
Unfortunately this is another event that I've never done before so I'm not sure what to expect. From testing we know that the new car is better than the old on asphalt and I know that Pirelli has been working hard to give us the best possible chance. It will be an interesting event for me.

FOUR MORE ROUNDS TO...THE END OF THE WORLD

Monte Carlo 20-22 January Asphalt/snow/ice
Richard Burns (Subaru-Pirelli) was in second place and chasing a possible victory when his car failed to restart the second day. Juha Kankkunen (Subaru-Pirelli) finished third after setting a stunning fastest time on Sisteron while SEAT-Pirelli's young Finn Toni Gardemeister was acclaimed as a star of the rally in fourth.

Sweden 10-13 February Snow/ice/gravel
Burns claimed a few stage wins as well as being extremely competitive during the first leg and was looking to challenge the leader. Unfortunately the high speeds of the event did not allow the chasing drivers to significantly cut the leader's advantage. Subaru finished fifth and sixth while SEAT finished tenth.

Safari 24-27 February Gravel
No punctures for Subaru as Pirelli dominated the event from start to finish. Burns won from Kankkunen while Didier Auriol was third for SEAT-Pirelli. Pirelli enjoyed absolute domination in Group N. In a hard event from a technical point of view the durability of the PZero range was the key to Pirelli's success.

Portugal 16-19 March Gravel
The debut of the Subaru Impreza WRC2000 saw Burns take immediate command, lose the lead with hydraulic problems, regain it and then lose it once more before finally taking a winning lead on the final day. Kankkunen crashed out while SEAT-Pirelli finished ninth and 10th to confirm the performance of PZero gravel tyres.

Catalunya 30 March-2 April Asphalt
The Subaru Impreza WRC2000 proves impressively quick on asphalt. In a wet first leg, Burns takes command thanks to the N-pattern tyre before battling for the lead with the Ford of McRae who eventually takes a narrow win over Burns. Burns, however, consolidates his and Subaru-Pirelli's lead in the World Championship.

Argentina 11-14 May Gravel
Home again on gravel and the Subaru-Pirelli team was unbeatable. Richard Burns gave a driving lesson after overcoming an early overheating problem with the Subaru Impreza WRC2000, taking command and holding it to the finish. Once again Group N, with Mitsubishi, was wholly Pirelli's domain.

Acropolis 8-11 June Gravel
A difficult gravel contest with the Subarus and SEATs giving their Pirelli tyres a hard test thanks to the extremely rough Greek roads. Group N was again the sole domain of Pirelli. Unfortunately Burns did not make the finish but third place for Juha Kankkunen's Impreza WRC2000 ensured a good points score.

New Zealand 13-16 July Gravel
Bad luck for Subaru-Pirelli, especially for Richard Burns. After suffering through running first on the road for leg one, on a very dirty surface, the Englishman recovered from eighth to third on leg two but retired on the third day with an identical mechanical failure to that of team mate Juha Kankkunen.

Finland 17-20 August Gravel
Until the beginning of leg two Burns was challenging for victory but a violent accident put his Subaru Impreza WRC2000 out of the event on the first stage of the second day and his dream disappeared. Kankkunen scored some fastest times but had an unlucky event despite the PZero range rising to the Finnish challenge.

Cyprus 7-10 September Gravel
Burns was always in the battle for victory on this event, winning seven stages, but the Englishman was restricted to fourth overall by mechanical problems. Despite the problems Burns and Subaru continue to challenge for the championship. Once again Mitsubishi-Pirelli dominated Group N

Corsica 28 September-1 October Asphalt

San Remo 19-22 October Asphalt

Australia 9-12 November Gravel

Great Britain 22-26 November Gravel
 

Milan, 22 September 2000