ROME RALLY, PLENTY OF PIRELLI DRIVERS AT THE START
The stage is set for the Rally di Roma, one of the top Italian motorsport events, which this year is the fifth round of the FIA European Rally Championship, as well as being part of the Italian Absolute Rally Championship. 103 crews are due to start, a record number for the event, which gets underway on Thursday 3 July, from the Colosseum and ends on Sunday 5th at Fiuggi, which is also the service park.
There are 13 special stages, totalling 207.8 timed kilometres. With the exception of the one in Rome, all stages take place on the fast and twisty tarmac roads of the Ciociaria region.
There are plenty of Pirelli-shod crews entered. Apart from the three who have taken part in all the ERC rounds to date, namely Jon Armstrong in a Ford Fiesta along with Jos Verstappen and Andrea Mabellini in Skoda Fabias, also on the entry list are Giandomenico Basso, also in a Skoda Fabia, Andrea Crugnola, winner of the past two editions in a Citroen C3, and Fabio Andolfi at the wheel of a Toyota GR Yaris.
“The Rome event is always one of the most eagerly anticipated of our rally season,” commented Terenzio Testoni, Rally Activity Manager Pirelli. “It’s also one of the rallies where we have always done well. We’ve won the last three editions and again this year, our drivers also have a good chance, at the very least of making it to the podium. They can rely, not only on knowing the stages but also on a very reliable and high performance product in the P Zero tyres.”
Pirelli is supplying its runners with tyres from the P Zero range in the RA5B hard versions, the prime for this rally given the expected high temperatures and based on past experience, the RA7E medium and the RA7+C soft. Along with the dry tyres are the Cinturato RWC tyres in the event of rain.
Pirelli is also the sole supplier for the Italian Junior Championship cars and those in the Trofeo M-Sport Fiesta Rally 3 category which, in Rome, are tackling the fourth round of five this season.