Pirelli ready to take on the loose stages of Argentina

Milan, 24 April 2006 - After two consecutive rallies on asphalt between the end of March and the beginning of April in Spain and France, the World Rally Championship goes back to the loose, unmade stages of the Rally of Argentina, one of the most famous events in South American motor sport. With the city of Cordoba as its base, the rally, which begins in a few days, will see Pirelli Competizioni deployed in the best possible way and aiming for a top result. The Petter Solberg and Chris Atkinson Subaru Impreza WRC06s and the Peugeot 307 WRC in red and yellow Pirelli livery prepared by Bozian for Gigi Galli will lead the Milan manufacturer's attack in the rally, which ends on Sunday 30 April after no fewer than 22 special stages and having covered almost 1,500 kilometres. To take on the second loose surface event of the season, the Pirelli Competizioni technicians directed by Mario Isola have developed a new tyre based on the KP, which improves steering precision and stability due to a reduction in tread block movement. The drivers on P Zeros will be able to choose between a number of tread compounds - from the two hardest to the six soft. Pirelli's standard bearer Gigi Galli, who will compete in Argentina as he will in Sardinia in a few weeks time with the Peugeot 307 WRC prepared in Lyon by Jacky Bozian, is very confident about next weekend's rally. He said, "The experience gained in Corsica, even though on asphalt, was useful to get to know the car well, a car that showed itself to be extremely sensitive to even the smallest change in its set-up or any kind of detailed modification. Certainly, the approach is much different for the loose in relation to a race pure and simple, but the Argentinean is a rally that I like and with the latest evolutions of the P Zero developed by Pirelli for the 307 WRC and the works Subaru Imprezas, it is undoubtedly fair to suppose that competitors on Pirelli will be able to aim for good results, certainly better than in Corsica". Mario Isola, Rally Manager of Pirelli Competizioni, underlined, "The results of our latest test driving auger well for a rally that will see us start in highly competitive form, as seen with Solberg and the Subaru in March in Mexico. With the latest P Zero we have developed for the loose surfaces of the Argentinean pampas, we have completed a range of tyres for WRC cars on Pirelli that should enable our drivers to battle on equal terms for the placings that count with all the competitors on our oppositions' tyres". At the Rally of Argentina, Pirelli P Zeros will also be fitted to the cars of a number of top drivers in the Production Car Championship. Among them are Ligato, Pozzo and Beltran, who will be competing with the Tango Rally Team's Mitsubishi Lancers, and two Subaru Impreza stars, Toshihiro Arai and Leszek Kuzaj. For more information and pictures on Pirelli's motorsport activities visit: www.pirellicompetizioni.com