Rally Australia

It's back to gravel for the two concluding contests of the World Rally Championship. From November 1-4 the championship moves to Australia for the 13th and penultimate round of a tense championship that promises drama until the last special stage at the final round, the Rally of Great Britain on November 23-25. There are no great changes to the stages of the Australian event, they will be the same as in the previous years: fast and slippery thanks to the presence of that special gravel (the famous rolling stones that present the drivers with a unique and particularly delicate challenge. Australia is also the last rally of the year that runs in practically summery conditions not any more the spring weather seen in September when the event used to be run in its early days. But the few doubts on what the weather will do will be met by the Pzero gravel range PZero designed for this specific event to offer maximum competitiveness and versatility.

For meeting this last requirement, Pirelli is fairly confident. On the gravel rallies so far this season the PZero tyres have taken four dominant victories. Last month in New Zealand it was Subaru (winning with Richard Burns) while Ford have been superb protagonists. Both the Ford team and Colin McRae lead the respective Manufacturers' and Drivers' Championships, partly due to dominant wins during the summer in Argentina, Cyprus and Greece.

For this latest contest, the Pirelli crews for the Australian gravel will utilise the K and KM tyres respectively for harder and cleaned up gravel and loose surfaces with the presence of a leyer of extra gravel. The possibility of rain is rare at this time of year in Australia but not impossible so the compound options available will range from level 2 (the hardest) to level 6 (the softest). The final solution, especially where the loose gravel is deep and particularly slippery the covers can literally be carved by hand in the finest Pirelli tradition. All the tyres will be fitted with the EMI anti-deflation system.

TWO PATTERNS WITH EVOLUTIONS

The PZero range of gravel tyres for Rally Australia includes approximately 1800 tyres in two tread patterns: K and KM with evolutions and in all the possible compounds from the most hard hard to the most soft. All the tyres can be hand cut and all are equipped with Pirelli's EMI anti-deflation system.
Here is the description and the characteristics of all the types of tyre available:


FOR HARD AND CLEANED UP SURFACES
K (Size 205/65-15)
Type Tyre for hard and compact surfaces
Compound options 2, 4 and 6 (all with evolution)
Description Level 2 for dry surface and high temperatures; level 4 for dry surface and lower temperatures or for mixed dry/damp surface; level 6 for damp/wet surfaces or low temperatures (under 10 degrees). All the K-pattern tyres can be hand-cut.


FOR SOFT OR DAMP SURFACES
KM (Size 205/65-15)
Type For use on soft surfaces and with loose gravel
Compound options 2, 4 and 6 (all with evolution)
Description The same rules apply as for the K-pettern tyres. Level 2 is used on dry surfaces with high temperatures; level 4 with lower temperatures or for dry/damp surfaces; level 6 for maximum performance on damp/wet surfaces or temperatures below 10 degrees.

NOTE :The higher the compound number, the softer the tyre.



THE PIRELLI TEAM IN AUSTRALIA
3 Ford Focus RS Sainz-Moya*, McRae-Grist* and
Delecour-Grataloup
3 Subaru Impreza WRC2001 Burns-Reid*, Solberg-Mills* and Bourne-Vincent
plus other teams not regularly contesting the World Rally Championship
* Drivers nominated to collect points for World Championship for Manufacturers

OUR DRIVERS SAID...
COLIN McRAE
The gravel set up of the Ford Focus is very good so we shouldn't have any big problems in Australia. Tyre choice won't be a problem if it's dry and thanks to our performances earlier in the season we'll be in a good position to get the best of the roads. I'm feeling pretty confident for both Australia and Rally GB so it could be a good end to the season for both myself and Ford-Pirelli, especially if we can secure the manufacturers' title on this round.

CARLOS SAINZ
I'm glad that the starting order will be sorted out before the rally begins as that means the problems of cleaning stages won't force us to play silly tactics like last year. Road position is important but once that is resolves then this is not an especially difficult event for tyre choice unless it rains. However, at this time of year we should be able to enjoy plenty of Australian sunshine!

RICHARD BURNS
I was second last year and won the event the year before (the last time the event used this system of choosing your start position) so I have to be pretty confident of another good result. It will be a level playing field and so that has to work in our favour. We won't get the first choice of start position but we shouldn't lose too much on the first day and hopefully we can still be leading in time to choose first on day two. We know just what the Subaru can do on Pirelli tyres on the unique Australian surface while the Ford drivers won't know exactly so I guess Colin and Carlos would like to listen when we make our tyre choices

PETTER SOLBERG
I only did seven stages of last year's Australia Rally but I set some fastest times and I'm confident that I can get a good result this time. Obviously I won't have the best start position but I'll just have to push like hell. I'm not so worried about this year's result, though, I'm looking at the event as a lesson for next year when I'll have Tommi Makinen as my team mate at Subaru-Pirelli. I've beaten him already so I'll just have to make sure I'm in the right condition to do it again!


AROUND THE WORLD IN 14 EVENTS

Monte Carlo 19-21 January Asphalt/snow/ice
A great start to the season for Pirelli in Monte Carlo, with the Ford Focus RS of Colin McRae leading after Leg 2, before having to retire with a mechanical problem. The PZero range proved to be efficient, competitive and wear resistant on all surfaces including the traditional Monte Carlo asphalt/snow/ice mixture.

Sweden 9-11 February Snow/ice/gravel
The most stage wins but no victory - that was the result for Pirelli in Sweden. If it were not for the time spent off the road on the first day, either the Ford of Colin McRae or the Subaru of Richard Burns would most likely have emerged as the winner, along with the Ford of long-time leader Carlos Sainz. It was a superb performance by the new Pirelli PZero tyres with their Italian-made studs.

Portugal 9-11 March Gravel
Sainz drives his Pirelli-equipped Ford very close to victory, leading with just one stage to go before being narrowly beaten by Makinen's Mitsubishi. 4th place (and first points of 2001) for Subaru's ace Burns. Positive performance for the PZero gravel range of tyres, always in the KM6 option, with varying level of hand cuts

Catalunya 23-25 March Asphalt
Near summer temperatures drastically altered the technical challenge in Spain while the situation was also affected by technical problems for both Ford and Subaru on the opening day. As a result the Pirelli drivers were forced to run further down the order on the second day where dirty roads prevented an effective attack. A disappointing event.

Argentina 4-6 May Gravel
Victory was secured for Pirelli with a dominant performance by the PZero gravel range of tyres that won all but four of the 21 stages. Colin McRae brought the first win for the Pirelli-Ford partnership ahead of Subaru driver Richard Burns and of Carlos Sainz (Ford-Pirelli). This was a major result for the K and KM pattern tyres on a difficult event.

Cyprus 1-3 June Gravel
Once more the PZero range of gravel tyres dominated the first 4 places on the rally with Colin McRae (Ford-Pirelli) taking his 2nd win in a row from Richard Burns (Subaru-Pirelli). Carlos Sainz's Ford finished 3rd ahead of Toshihiro Arai's Subaru. This was a major result for the XR2 tyres used on every stage of the event to secure this top performance.

Acropolis 15-17 June Gravel
Another gravel victory for Pirelli and the 3rd win in succession for the Ford Focus WRC of Colin McRae and Nicky Grist. The Pirelli PZero range's domination was almost total, winning all but one of the Stages, with Petter Solberg's Subaru taking 2nd and the Ford of Francois Delecour 4th Only late mechanical problems for Richard Burns and Carlos Sainz denied them podium places.

Safari 20-22 July Gravel
Retirement from the contest by the Subaru of Richard Burns (suspension), the Fords of Colin McRae and Carlos Sainz (transmission and engine respectively). On the final day the Subaru of Petter Solberg (wheel bearing) retired to leave Pirelli with only the 4th placed Ford of Francois Delecour despite winning 7 of 12 stages. Another dominant Group N performance with Gabriel Pozzo 6th overall.

Finland 24-26 August Gravel
The Peugeot of Marcus Gronholm dominated the contest but, thanks to a late technical problem that befell his team mate Harri Rovanpera, Richard Burns (Subaru) and Colin McRae (Ford) claimed podium places respectively. Ford-Pirelli now shares the lead in the World Manufacturers' Championship. Group N was won by Marcos Ligato while second placed Pozzo extended his series lead.

New Zealand 21-23 September Gravel
A new chapter in Pirelli's continually successful gravel performance saw Richard Burns (Subaru) secure a hard-fought win from Colin McRae with fourth place going to Carlos Sainz (both with Ford). Thanks to this result Ford leads the Manufacturers championship, while McRae is tied with Tommi Makinen at the head of the drivers' fight.

San Remo 5-7 October Asphalt
The return to asphalt from gravel brought positive results for both performance and reliability with the PZero range proving especially competitive on the wet final stages where both Carlos Sainz (4th overall) and Francois Delecour took stage wins. The result saw Colin McRae retain his share of the overall championship lead and Ford extend its advantage in the makes' series. Gabriel Pozzo was confirmed as Pirelli's seventh successive Group N World Champion

Corsica 19-21 October Asphalt
Hard start for Pirelli: Sainz retired after SS2, the same one which saw Burns and Colin McRae over a minute late after the Subaru driver went briefly off the road and the Ford ace hit a rock. Good performance for the PZero asphalt range of tyres, which allows Colin and the Pirelli-fitted Ford to face the last two events of the season from their leadership in the World Championship standings.

Australia 1-4 November Gravel

Great Britain 23-25 November Gravel