Pirelli at the Sanremo rally

Pirelli heads for its home event, the all-asphalt San Remo Rally (October 20-22), with Richard Burns hoping to launch a major attack on the Drivers' title and with Subaru aiming to do the same in the Constructor's series. The 12th round of the championship, and the final one on asphalt, is run on the special stages of Liguria and Piemonte. These roads offer varying levels of grip as the asphalt is sometimes smooth, sometimes abrasive, sometimes twisty and sometimes fast which means a big difference in average speeds. The question of the changeable weather is also relevant here. The middle of October can sometimes see warm weather of late summer or the cold and rain of early winter.

These conditions further complicate an already difficult technical challenge and ensure the need for a range of super-competitive tyres that are fully adaptable to the diverse conditions and demands. Not only must they be reliable but they have to have wide-ranging versatility to ensure maximum performance in conditions that can change very quickly.

For Pirelli the 12th round of the World Rally Championship presents an important challenge. Following the recent Corsica Rally, where Richard Burns was able to win Special Stages at the beginning and end of the event, it is clear that the development work on the PZero range of asphalt tyres has paid dividends. It is now important that the Subaru-Pirelli partnership works perfectly to regain the advantage held early in the season but lost after some problems with the mechanical reliability of the Impreza WRC2000.

After San Remo begins the final rush for the championship. Both remaining events are on gravel. First the fast and slippery sand of Australia and then the rain and mud associated with the Rally of Great Britain which will decide the final destination of the championship. First, however, is San Remo where we will be giving full support to Subaru and SEAT, also to Mitsubishi who dominates the World Group N Championship and also to Andrea Aghini's Group A Mitsubishi.

THE QUEST FOR MAXIMUM VERSATILITY

A range of 2500 tyres using the latest construction materials has been created by Pirelli to tackle the challenge of San Remo. Running in October the event could face summer weather and also wintry conditions. Here are the technical details of the tyres that, as ever, all feature the latest EMI anti-deflation system.

FROM HOT TO COLD

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. There are two 'evolution' versions using new materials.

RS (Size 225/650-18)

Type - A tyre for all conditions
Compound options: Level 3, 5 and 7
Description: This tyre is ideal for a dry surface but also in damp or cold conditions. There is one evolution version for each level using new construction and materials.

RE (Size 225/650-18)

Type - Pirelli's 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 SAN REMO

3 Subaru Impreza WRC2000: Burns-Reid , Jean-Joseph-Boyere & Solberg-Mills
2 SEAT Cordoba WRC E2: Auriol-Giraudet & Gardemeister-Lukander
3 Subaru Impreza: Dallavilla, Andreucci and Al Wahaibi
1 Mitsubishi Lancer Group A: Aghini
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
The recce is going to be very important here. We've lost the stages near Acqui Terme, which is a shame because I enjoy them, and we will be tackling some stages in both directions. When we do them in reverse we will have to consider how much gravel has been pulled onto the roads from the previous run and we may have to take a different tread pattern.

SIMON JEAN-JOSEPH
I know the San Remo Rally better than I knew Corsica so I hope that I will be able to make better use of this opportunity. The stages are quite smooth around San Remo so we will need to work quite hard to find solution that gives us the best grip, compared to the old roads we used to drive on around Acqui Terme.

DIDIER AURIOL
Everybody is talking about a new route but don't forget that it's really some old stages run the opposite way! We could have problems with gravel being pulled onto the road as each car passes and so we will need to think very carefully about tyre choice. We could do quite well because I like the stages near to San Remo very much.

TONI GARDEMEISTER
I really like the stages in San Remo and so I'm looking forward to this event a lot. If everything goes well then I really feel that we can get a good result there. I'm not sure how the new format will work. Maybe it's better to do the same stages two or three times, maybe not. We'll have to wait and see.

THREE 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
The asphalt event started well for Burns, fastest on the first stage for Subaru-Pirelli. Unfortunately the changeable weather and an uncomfortable balance with the Impreza WRC2000 cost Richard the chance to challenge the Peugeots and the Ford of Carlos Sainz. Nevertheless fourth place closed the gap to the series leader.

San Remo, 19-22 October - Asphalt

Australia, 9-12 November - Gravel

Great Britain, 22-26 November - Gravel


Milan, 13 October 2000