Pirelli at the Rally of Finland

Once known as the 1000 Lakes Rally the ninth round of the World Rally Championship (August 17-20) is settling in to its new name; Rally Finland. However, the essence of the event has not changed. A year ago Pirelli took an emphatic 1-2 thanks to Juha Kankkunen and Richard Burns respectively and who dominated the event. It was a dominant performance by Subaru but also of the tyres that were, and remain, the very best for the World Rally Championship.

In Finland there are several factors that determine the technical and sporting challenge of this rally. The gravel is hard and smooth, almost like asphalt, but is capable of turning quickly to mud if it rains. The question of what the weather will do is a very serious one at this time of the year. However the unique characteristic of the Rally Finland is the jumps. At speeds of up to 200kph these can mean that cars fly very high indeed. This places higher demands on the skills of the drivers, the performance of the car and of course the tyres and calls for an even greater effort than usual.

Finland marks the sixth gravel event of the 2000 World Rally Championship. The early Pirelli results saw Richard Burns take three wins to bring Pirelli's total to 116 on the World Rally Championship. Unfortunately, last month, this run of success came to a halt in New Zealand where both Subaru Imprezas were struck with a mechanical problem. Nevertheless Subaru-Pirelli and Richard Burns continue to lead both the Manufacturers and Drivers championships.

Now the contest moves to Finland and one of the most specialised events in the series. Pirelli will use both the K and KM pattern tyres from the PZero gravel range with many evolutions within each tyre pattern. The objectives are also varied as we strive for optimum performance in changing conditions, high strength and low wear rate at the high speeds that characterise this rally.

JUMPING AT 180kph AND THEN...

A range of 2000 tyres with many evolutions that have emerged from recent tests and all fitted with the EMI anti-deflation system in its latest evolution will be at the disposal of the Pirelli-equipped teams in Finland. Although essentially soft they will all be capable of ensuring maximum resistance to wear over the high-speeds jumps that are a characteristic of this event.

The regulations again demand that only two tread patterns, approved in advance by the FIA, are permitted for each manufacturer although the compound options are free. Here are the details of the Pirelli range of tyres and their characteristics.

FOR SOFT AND SANDY SURFACES

KM (Size 205/65-15)

Type A tyre for soft, damp or sandy surfaces
Compound options Level 2, 4 and 6
Description - The KM will be the main tyre choice for the rally. Compound options include level 2, level 4 (the main choice) and level six with two additional evolutions of level 4 and one of level 6.

FOR HARD GRAVEL OR LONG STAGES

K (Size 205/65-15)

Type A tyre for hard surfaces and for long stages
Compound options Level 2, 4 and 6 -
Description - As with the KM pattern, there are two extra evolutions for level 4 (the main choice in this pattern) and one for level 6. All of the K-pattern tyres can be hand cut to optimise the traction and lateral grip.

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

THE PIRELLI TEAM IN FINLAND

2 Subaru Impreza WRC Burns-Reid, Kankkunen-Repo
2 SEAT Cordoba WRC Auriol-Giraudet, Gardemeister-Lukander
2 Subaru Impreza WRC AllStars Arai and Al Wahaibi
5 Mitsubishi Lancer Gr.N Stvhl, Trelles, Galli, Pozzo, Mendez

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

OUR DRIVERS SAID...

RICHARD BURNS
After finishing second last year I'm reasonably happy about Finland, although the route has changed and I've got to learn a lot of new stages again. We'll have to make some more detailed tests but the initial information is that we've got plenty of good options and we'll be as competitive as usual on gravel.

JUHA KANKKUNEN
What can I say about my home event that I haven't said 20 times before? It's the one event where I don't have to think too much about what tyres to use because I know exactly what works in each condition. It doesn't matter whether it is wet or dry as we'll have no problems there.

DIDIER AURIOL
Pirelli's gravel tyres work very well everywhere and so I'm happy about our options for Finland. We've got a new evolution tyre for the event and it's proved very good in testing. We've also got the new car and so hopefully we can have a good result for everybody.

TONI GARDEMEISTER
We will have the new Cordoba WRC E3 for the first time in Finland and so we're quite excited about it. We haven't had a lot of testing time at the moment but it's got a lot of improvements. Tyre choice will be quite easy if the weather is damp but it gets harder if the weather is warm and dry.

6 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

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, 10 August 2000