Pirelli at the Cyprus Rally

The World Rally Championship is preparing to tackle its new 'mystery' event, the Cyprus Rally (8-10 September). The Mediterranean island promises to offer a tough contest as the majority of teams and drivers have little detailed knowledge of the Special Stages and the characteristics of the Cyprus roads. With no previous data to work on, the crucial pre-rally tests will be the only chance to evaluate the settings for the Cypriot event where Richard Burns (Subaru-Pirelli) will aim to retake the world championship lead from Rally Finland winner Marcus Gronholm. Last month's Finnish event is now an unhappy memory after Burns crashed while chasing victory. It was a non-scoring event for the Subaru-Pirelli partnership that had dominated the early gravel rallies this season.

And so, therefore, to the unpredictable roads of Cyprus. Drivers and teams know that the Special Stages will be slow and so have carefully tested to find the kind of strength needed for events such as the Acropolis Rally. This technical and sporting challenge will determine how significant will be the tyre factor.

So far this season Pirelli has won three gravel events, bringing the Italian tyres' WRC winning total to 116. The failure maintain this success on the three most recent events have cost Burns and Subaru the lead in the World Championship but all is not lost. There remain five more events this season and therefore there are many possibilities to change this position.

At the Cyprus Rally, Pirelli will rely on the PZero range of gravel tyres with four tread patterns. K and KC will be the main pattern choice while KM and XR are expected to play a fundamental role at some point during the variable conditions that are expected in the intense heat of the island event. With four tread patterns and a full range of evolutions within each, the objective is to match high performance with low wear and maximum damage resistance.

FACING THE UNEXPECTED

A range of 3000 tyres - all fitted with the EMI anti-deflation system in its latest evolution - will be at the disposal of the Pirelli-equipped teams in Cyprus. The PZero range of gravel tyres include many new evolutions to offer maximum resistance to the demands of heat and rough roads. Unusually, because the event is relatively unknown, Cyprus is not subject to the 2000 rule that demands only two tread patterns per team on gravel events.

FOR HARD GRAVEL AND CHANGING SURFACES

K (Size 205/65-15)
Compound options: Level 2, 4 (base) and 6
Description: This is expected to be the base tyre for the event. All K-pattern tyres can be hand cut to optimise traction and lateral grip.

FOR HARDER AND 'DIRTY' GRAVEL

KC (Size 205/65-15)
Compound options: Level 2 and 4
Description: This tyre does not have such a 'full' tread pattern. It can be hand cut as the K-pattern and will be the other main tyre choice for Cyprus.

FOR DAMP OR WET SURFACES

KM (Size 205/65-15)
Compound options: Level 2, 4 and 6
Description: Level 4 will be used for damp roads, level 6 if it is wet. Level 2 is predominantly for use if the roads have thick dust on the surface.

FOR HARD AND CLEAN SURFACES

XR (Size 225/55-15)
Compound options: Level 2 and 4
Description: A less open tread pattern for use when the surface is hard, compact and clean.

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

THE PIRELLI TEAM IN CYPRUS

2 Subaru Impreza WRC2000 Burns-Reid & Kankkunen-Repo 2 SEAT Cordoba WRC E2 Auriol-Giraudet & Gardemeister-Lukander 1 Subaru AllStars Jean-Joseph 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
Cyprus is a bit of a mystery at the moment. I think the only thing we can be sure about is that we'll have the usual problems with the first cars clearing away loose gravel and later runners getting the advantage. Overall we know we have the right tyres for the conditions but we may have to accept that the leaderboard at the end of the first day might look a little strange.

JUHA KANKKUNEN
Like everyone it's a new event for me. I went to a press conference there once but that's all I know about the island. Everyone says it's like a harder Acropolis but I don't want to speculate until we've been there for testing. I expect we'll go out a bit earlier than usual to get the tyre choice exactly right but we know we've got an advantage.

DIDIER AURIOL
I've never been to Cyprus, even for a holiday! The only thing I know about the event is what people have told me so I must wait and see for myself. At the moment I am guessing that it will be like the Acropolis but slower and more rough but we should have the right tyres for those conditions.

TONI GARDEMEISTER
I'm luckier than most drivers because I've been to the event once before. It's quite slow and when I did it I thought it was rougher than Acropolis. The organisers may change the route to make it quicker and smoother so we won't know exactly what to do until we start testing there.

FIVE 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

Corsica 28 September-1 October Asphalt

San Remo 19-22 October Asphalt

Australia 9-12 November Gravel

Great Britain 22-26 November Gravel




Milan, 4 September 2000