Pirelli wraps up a winning rally season with more success at Monza

Pirelli has triumphed once more at the Monza Rally Show, using the P Zero RK tyres that won the European Rally Championship this year, as well as many other national championships all over the world.

Overall winner: Multiple MotoGP champion Valentino Rossi won the Monza Rally for the sixth time, making him the most successful driver in the history of the event. Pirelli occupied the top 15 places apart from the runner-up spot (clinched by the factory Hyundai WRC duo of Andreas Mikkelsen and Thierry Neuville) with racing driver Marco Bonanomi third and Pirelli’s multiple motocross champion Tony Cairoli fourth.

Pirelli dominates the classes: Not only did Pirelli win overall after nine stages and 178.250 competitive kilometres, but the Italian firm dominated all the classes as well. Pirelli cars were first and second in R5, Super 2000, and R4, as well as all the two-wheel drive categories.

Success in historic cars as well: Completing a clean sweep at the Monza Rally for Pirelli was a top three in the historic section, with a Lancia 037 Rally driven by Marco Bianchini leading from a Porsche 911 and a Subaru Legacy: Pirelli’s P7 Corsa Classic tyres proving equally effective on a wide variety of different vehicle architectures.

Quotes: Pirelli’s rally activity manager Terenzio Testoni said: “The combination of cold conditions and some long stages provided a particular challenge for the tyres, but the P Zero RK rubber managed both to warm up quickly and provide the necessary driving precision on the many chicanes, giving the drivers the same control in extreme conditions that characterise Pirelli’s range of high-performance road cars tyres as well.”

Accent on youth at Bologna Motor Show: The rally season for Pirelli isn’t quite over yet. At next weekend’s famous Bettega Memorial Rallysprint, the Italian firm will run three up and coming Scandinavian drivers in identical Ford Fiesta WRC machinery, 16-year-old Oliver Solberg (the son of 2003 World Champion Petter), 17-year-old Kalle Rovanpera and 23-year-old Teemu Suninen. This underlines Pirelli’s commitment to providing opportunities for young drivers, which will be highlighted at this week’s launch of the 2018 Junior World Rally Championship, which will be exclusively supplied by Pirelli.

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