SAFARI RALLY, DRIVERS FILL UP ON SOFT TYRES TO TACKLE MUD AND SLIPPERY SURFACES

Safari Rally Kenya under the banner of rain and mud, which could change the fate of the race, as well as loose stones lurking more than ever in every special stage. Keeping up with all the pitfalls coming from the often changing road surfaces will be the soft version Scorpion KXs, proposed by Pirelli as prime and chosen by the crews as practically the only tire: 28 per car, i.e., the 24 assigned by regulation plus the additional 4 for the shakedown, dominated yesterday by Kalle Rovanpera. This is enough softs for the drivers to fit four new tires at each of the seven services lent over the course of the race weekend.

From the analysis carried out by Pirelli engineers, these are the attention points that emerge for a race that promises to be more unpredictable than usual:

• Saturday's is set to be the toughest of the three race days, although the most demanding single special stages are at SS 14 and 17 Malewa on Sunday morning.
• On these stages, as on all of them, the greatest dangers come from loose stones, which combined with the high average speeds increase the risk of puncture
• Tyre wear is expected to be low on average
• Rain, which the weather forecasts give as highly probable at the end of each day, means the presence of mud and standing water in numerous sections, with an increased risk of rocks emerging

Given the weather and the general road surface conditions, the Rally 1 drivers opted to have the maximum number of soft tyres at their disposal, in order to cope with the wet and slippery surfaces. Hard tyres, which are the option, have little chance of use.

Below the day-by-day analysis tables

PIRELLI TYRES IN KENYA
The tyres available in Kenya are:

Scorpion KX WRC, which in the soft compound SA version are the optimum solution for such a race, being designed to ensure grip even in the most slippery conditions and on wet terrain so as to ensure balanced performance and endurance. The HA hard compound version are the options and are suitable for the more abrasive surfaces and longer trials.

As for the other categories, in Kenya the Rally2 cars will have Scorpion K6B (soft) and K4B (hard) tyres available, while the Rally3 cars have K6A (soft) and K4A (hard). For these cars, the allocations are 22 and 8 tyres for the prime and option respectively, to which must be added a set for the shakedown.