Pirelli denied chances of victory

Limassol (CY), 15 May 2005 - The Pirelli-equipped Peugeot of Markko Martin has finished on the podium of the all-gravel Rally Cyprus, round six of the World Championship. Extraordinarily rough stages and extremely hot weather meant that Martin was the only Pirelli driver to avoid mechanical problems throughout the event, to maintain Peugeot-Pirelli's lead of the World Championship for manufacturers. Drivers compared the extreme conditions in Cyprus to those of the old Safari Rally, yet despite this punishing test the Pirelli P Zero tyres performed impeccably. Unfortunately Pirelli's partner teams (Subaru, Peugeot and Mitsubishi) hit mechanical problems which caused several retirements and denied them the chance to fight for the lead. The Peugeot-Pirelli of Marcus Gronholm demonstrated its potential performance by setting a time 16 seconds quicker than any other competitor on the first split time of SS1, before retiring immediately afterwards with engine problems. Conditions throughout leg three were once again warm, with temperatures exceeding 30 degrees centigrade. The stages were similar to those run on the second leg, with a layer of sand and rough gravel over a hard base. Although they were denied any opportunity to fight for victory, all the Pirelli drivers were extremely pleased with the tried-and-trusted XR3 rubber used throughout the event, which has won twice in Cyprus over the last five years. Pirelli has also monopolized the podium on the third round of the Production Car World Rally Championship in Cyprus, thanks to the Group N Subarus of Brice Tirabassi, Sebastien Beltran and Marcos Ligato. Fiorenzo Brivio, Pirelli's Rally Manager, comments: " We are happy with the performance of our tyres in Cyprus, but the extraordinary conditions caused mechanical problems which robbed our partners of the chance to win. Nonetheless, we have collected a lot of data which will be extremely useful for the forthcoming rough gravel rallies in Turkey and Greece: both held on surfaces that have been very favourable to us." Rally Cyprus (6/16) - Final Classification

Drivers Championship: 1 Loeb 45; 2 Solberg & Martin 34; 4 Gardemeister 28; 5 Gronholm 26; 6 Rovanpera 13; 7 Stohl 11; 8 Henning Solberg 9; 9 Kresta 8; 10 Panizzi 7 Manufacturers: 1 Peugeot 62; 2 Citroen 53; 3 Ford 44; 4 Subaru 38; 5 Mitsubishi 29; 6 Skoda 8 Next round: Rally di Turchia, 3-5 giugno More information and photographs on Pirelli's motor sport activities: www.pirellicompetizioni.com