Pirelli triumphs in Cyprus and launches a new talent
The Cyprus Rally, the final round of the FIA European Rally Championship, finished with three out of the top four drivers – including the winner Alexey Lukyanuk, in a Ford Fiesta R5 – running on Pirelli tyres. A particularly significant result was the second place overall secured by Marijan Griebel. As the winner of the ERC Junior Championship this year, which is exclusively supplied by Pirelli, the German was given a prize drive in a Skoda Fabia R5 on the final round of the series. His excellent runner-up spot on his R5 debut underlines Pirelli’s philosophy of supporting young talent.
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| Marijan Griebel finished second on his R5 debut with Pirelli support |
The result also confirms Pirelli’s domination of this year’s European Rally Championship. All the titles went to Pirelli this year, from Poland’s Kajetan Kajetanowicz (who claimed the title for the second consecutive year) ahead of Lukyanuk, who was runner-up: also for the second consecutive year. He and co-driver Alexey Arnautov secured the title after dominating in Cyprus, winning 11 of the 13 challenging stages. Lukyanuk said: "We know these tyres are quite tough and to give them a hard time is not an easy job. Thanks to Pirelli for these great tyres: unbelievable. I’m very happy with my performance as well as that of the car and the tyres, which always allowed me to push to the maximum and get the best results I could. Even on a rally like this one, which is unusual because of its mixed gravel and asphalt stages, the tyres enabled me to drive well and maximise every situation, even when my actual tyre choice was not ideal." Rally Cyprus contained only three speed tests run entirely on gravel while the others were mixed, with some featuring predominantly asphalt and others favouring gravel. On the slow and twisty stages with a hard gravel surface the Scorpion XR5 was used, while on the faster and sandier stages the drivers used either the Scorpion K4 or K6. Pirelli’s European Rally Championship titles in 2016 FIA European Rally Championship: Kajetan Kajetanowicz-Jaroslaw Baran (Ford Fiesta R5), runner-up: Alexey Lukyanuk-Alexey Arnautov (Ford Fiesta R5). ERC Junior: Marijan Griebel (Opel Adam R2), runner-up; Chris Ingram (Opel Adam R2) ERC2: Wojcech Chuchala (Subaru Impreza), runner-up; Giacomo Scattolon (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo) ERC3: Chris Ingram (Opel Adam R2), runner-up: Marijan Griebel (Opel Adam R2) Ladies’ Championship: Catie Munnings (Peugeot 208 R2)
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For further information please contact: Anthony Peacock • +44 7765 896 930 • anthony@mediaticaworld.com