San Remo Rally

The World Rally Championship faces its fifth and final asphalt challenge with the San Remo Rally (September 20-22), the 11th of the 14 events that comprise the global challenge. Ahead lie a trio of gravel events - New Zealand, Australia and Great Britain - that will determine the identities of this year's champions. San Remo is Pirelli's home event and is naturally well known to everyone involved but in no way does that lessen the technical challenge. The difficulty is to manage the choice of tyres to maximise the efficiency and reliability on surfaces that can vary on every Stage thanks to changes in grip and weather conditions. Compund choice remains free but the problem centres on the rule that permits only two tread patterns and demands a tyre range that is restricted yet versatile.

"Ever since Monte Carlo," says Pirelli Rally Manager Fiorenzo Brivio, "Pirelli has constantly introduced new innovations of construction and materials. In Germany a month ago we introduced a completely new tyre, the RX, that was designed to be extremely versatile in dry to damp conditions and especially when the surface conditions are mixed. Ford and Subaru have spent long hours during the summer months testing this tyre".

Recent San Remo rallies have tended to be run in warm and dry conditons but the history of the Italian WRC round includes many occasions when heavy rain made the roads in the mountains of Liguria treacherous. Pirelli can look back on many victories on the San Remo Rally and always on occasions when the versatility of the tyres has been the crucial factor. In planning its PZero tyre range for this year's event, those same considerations of performance, reliability and versatility have again been taken into account.

Two Patterns - One Common Aim
With a mixture of smooth and abrasive asphalt the Special Stages are fast and sometimes very twisty. The roads of San Remo are steeped in the history of the World Rally Championship and it was here that the PZero tyre range was created with the aim of guaranteeing top performance on all Stage types and in all weather conditions.
Ford and Subaru have chosen the well known RE damp to wet weather tyre and the new RX pattern (with new construction and tread pattern) for dry to damp roads that was debuted in Germany. All will be fitted with the EMI anti-deflation system.

From Dry Surface To Humid
RX (Size 225/650-18)
Type A tyre for dry to damp asphalt
Compound options 50, 70 and 90
Description For all dry surface conditions and also slightly damp asphalt. The shoulders of the tyre may be hand-cut to deal with particular sections of patchy damp roads.


From High Humidity To Wet
RE (Size 225/650-18)
Type Intermediate tyre for damp to wet surfaces
Compound options 70 (with 2 evolutions)
Description A very versatile tyre, designed for damp to wet surfaces. The RE tyre can be further hand cut for heavy rain or where there is a lot of standing water on the stages.

Note: The higher the compound number the softer the tyre.

The Pirelli Squad For San Remo
3 Subaru Impreza WRC Makinen-Lindstrm* , Solberg-Mills* & Mortl-Wicha*
3 Ford Focus RS Sainz-Moya*, McRae-Grist*, Martin-Park*

Plus other cars of teams not regularly engaged in the World Rally Championship.
* Registered for Manufacturers' Championship points

Pirelli's San Remo Record
Munari, Waldegard, Andruet and Alen - all winners of the San Remo Rally in an unbroken run of success for Pirelli between 1974-1978. Subsequent seasons saw wins for, among others, Walter Rohrl's Fiat and Stig Blomqvist's Audi. Alen won again for Lancia but his 1986 "win" was later declared void after Peugeot successfully appealed to the FIA over its controversial mid-event exclusion. Third place in 1990 was enough to secure Carlos Sainz's first World title while Franco Cunico's 1993 win (when the factory stars faltered around him) was the last time a privateer won a European round of the World Rally Championship.

Recent winners
1990 Didier Auriol/Bernard Occelli (Lancia Delta Integrale)
1991 Didier Auriol/Bernard Occelli (Lancia Delta Integrale)
1992 Andrea Aghini/Sauro Farnoccia (Lancia Delta HF Integrale)
1993 Franco Cunico/Stefano Evangelisti (Ford Escort RS Cosworth)
1994 Didier Auriol/Bernard Occelli (Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD)
1995*Piero Liatti/Alessandro Alessandrini (Subaru Impreza 555)
1996 Colin McRae/Derek Ringer (Subaru Impreza 555)
1997 Colin McRae/Nicky Grist (Subaru Impreza WRC97)
1998 Tommi Makinen/Risto Mannisenmaki (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo)
1999 Tommi Makinen/Risto Mannisenmaki (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo)
2000 Gilles Panizzi/Herv Panizzi (Peugeot 206 WRC)
2001 Gilles Panizzi/Herv Panizzi (Peugeot 206 WRC)

*W2L event only

Contact website: www.rallysanremo.it
Around The World In 14 Events

Monte Carlo 18-20 January Asphalt/snow/ice
The perfect start to the season for Pirelli with an historic victory going to the Subaru of Tommi Makinen and with four cars fitted with Pirelli PZero tyres in the top six places. The rally was run almost entirely without snow and saw a superb result the RS tyre in the level 9 'thermal' compound that gives maximum performance in conditions of dry asphalt with only a little ice.

Sweden* 1-3 February Snow/ice/gravel
Unfortunately early snow turned quickly into mud but already the Subarus of Makinen and Solberg had retired with engine problems and McRae's Ford suffered a heavy penalty, breaking a wheel after hitting a rock. Third place for Sainz in the other Ford was the best result although again the competition showed the positive steps forward made by the PZero studded tyres.

Corsica* 8-10 March Asphalt
A mixture of dry asphalt on the first day and then wet or damp for the next two days provided a difficult test for tyre choices. However the latest evolutions of the PZero asphalt range proved to be exceptionally competitive in all conditions. Unfortunately Makinen and McRae crashed out of the event but Pirelli's asphalt performance brought fastest times for both Ford and Subaru.

Catalunya 22-24 March Asphalt
Another good test of the PZero asphalt tyres on the variable asphalt surfaces that are a feature of this event. Although the final podium was dominated by drivers from Peugeot and Citroen there were excellent performances by Solberg (Subaru) in fifth place ahead of the Fords of McRae and Martin. Unfortunately both Makinen and Sainz had to retire from the event.

Cyprus* 19-21 April Gravel
The PZero gravel tyre range dominated the stage times in Cyprus, winning 17 of the 19 stages contested and will every one of the Pirelli works teams' drivers from Ford and Subaru setting at least one fastest stage time. Unfortunately two accidents on the final day robbed Colin McRae of victory.

Argentina* 17-19 May Gravel
The result swung comprehensively Pirelli's way with a 1-2-3-4 success following the exclusions of both leading Peugeots, first of Gronholm and then of Burns. Sainz (Ford-Pirelli) took his first win for two years but the event could just as easily have been won by Makinen (Subaru-Pirelli) until he crashed while battling for victory with Gronholm on the final morning. Another good performance by the PZero gravel tyres in all conditions but always with the KM pattern.

Acropolis 14-16 June Gravel
Four PZero equipped cars ended the rally in the top six places with outright victory going to Colin McRae with his Ford-Pirelli team mate Carlos Sainz taking third place, Petter Solberg (Subaru-Pirelli) fifth and early leader Markko Martin (Ford-Pirelli) sixth. It was another demonstration of the strength of the XR tyre, used almost exclusively on this demanding event.

Safari * 11-14 July Gravel
The third gravel event win in a row, and the fourth of the season for the PZero tyre range. Pirelli lead from start to finish, first with Makinen (who retired with a mechanical problem) and then with McRae who completed his 25th WRC victory without a single puncture. This was a famous victory for the XR tyre that was used on every stage except one without the EMI anti-deflation system.

Finland* 8-11 August Gravel
A very good test of the PZero tyres on the fast, smooth and iper-technical gravel Finnish Stages. Rally dominated by the Peugeot 206s, but Pirelli scores from 3rd to 6th place thanks, respectively, to Solberg, Sainz, Martin and Makinen. Bad luck for Colin McRae, stopped with 2 SSs to the end when his Ford Focus caught fire preventing him to score a brilliant 3rd place.

Germany 22-25 August Asphalt
The Fords of Colin McRae and Markko Martin finished fourth and sixth respectively with the Subaru of Tommi Makinen seventh. A good performance from the PZero asphalt range of tyres, especially the new RX that coped well with the wet concrete roads of the second day.

San Remo 20-22 September Asphalt
New Zealand* 3-6 October Gravel
Australia* 1-3 November Gravel
Great Britain 17-19 November Gravel

* WRC Production Car World Championship (Group N) events