Milan,
17
July
2023
|
13:00
Europe/Amsterdam

SCORPION SOFT COMPOUND TO TAME THE FAST AND SLIPPERY GRAVEL TRACKS OF ESTONIA

Scorpion KX WRC SA tyres are the first for round eight of the World Rally Championship

Fast, narrow roads and poor grip the biggest pitfalls of the Baltic race

Terenzio Testoni of Pirelli: "The wide working range of the soft gravel tyres ensures the highest possible grip and reliability in all race situations"

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After the African interlude, the WRC heads north for a one-two finish on the fast terrains of the two world championship countries on either side of the Baltic.  It starts in Estonia, the fifth round of the championship on gravel and the fourth round of the Junior WRC, where carelessness in driving approach and tyre management are not allowed.

 The main features of Rally Estonia are

  • The speed of most road sections, often consisting of long, narrow straights
  • The slipperiness of the surfaces and low grip, which is also lower than in Finland, which often has wide-radius bends
  • The numerous crests that impose medium-length jumps, demanding for tyres and car, although to a lesser extent than in Finland

PIRELLI QUOTE
Terenzio Testoni, rally activity manager: "By now the pitfalls of Estonia are well known to the world championship drivers, who know how to deal with them, although their guard must always remain very high on such fast and slippery terrain. Our soft Scorpions in past editions have proven to be the best allies of the riders on these roads as well. Last year in all the special stages the crews always came out with just one spare, confirming the great trust placed in these tyres which, in addition to resistance, ensure grip and have a very wide working range that guarantees performance in traction and braking both at temperatures of 30-40 degrees, in full wet situations, and at 60-80 degrees, at higher speeds and on dry surfaces".

PIRELLI TYRES IN ESTONIA
The tyres available in the various categories for this rally are:

Scorpion KX WRC, the Pirelli gravel tyre developed for the top category is available for Rally1 cars in two compounds, both in evolution 2022, which features reinforced structures and an optimised design. Given the slippery nature of Estonian road surfaces, it is inevitable that the first is the soft-compound Scorpion SA to ensure optimum grip even on surfaces with less. The hard HA compound - which offers greater resistance to the most abrasive surfaces and greater durability - is the option.
The regulations stipulate an allocation of 24 and eight tyres respectively for the prime and option, to which four must be added for the shakedown, in the compound chosen by the crew.

Scorpion K: the gravel tyres for WRC2 and WRC3 are also available in hard and soft compounds and share many of the same characteristics as the KX. In Estonia, Rally2 cars will use the soft K6B and hard K4B compounds, while Rally3 cars will use the soft K6A and hard K4A compounds.

For these car categories, the allocations are 22 and 8 tyres for the prime and option respectively, to which must be added a set for the shakedown.

Pirelli is also the exclusive supplier to the FIA Junior WRC, which will have at its disposal:

  • 22 soft K6 Scorpions
  • 6 Scorpion K4 hard