Andrea Crugnola has won the Monza Rally Show, while Adrien Fourmaux is the winner of the Monza Master Show. That’s how Pirelli’s 2024 rally season came to a close, celebrating at the Monza circuit its four year partnership with the WRC, by bringing together all the main players at the very pinnacle of off-road competition.

Present in Monza for the final challenge of the season were the champion elect Thierry Neuville, the eight time world champion Sebastian Ogier, this year’s WRC2 champion Sam Pajari, along with Dani Sordo and Fourmaux. On Sunday morning, they put on a show with their rally cars in the Master Show, while earlier this weekend they took part, but not in competition, in the Rally Show. 

Over the course of the weekend, Casa Pirelli proved to be the most popular meeting point for all the protagonists of the world rally scene, including Jona Siebel, the WRC Promoter managing director and Jari-Matti Latvala, the Toyota team principal, as well as many of the large number of fans who flocked to the circuit paddock. 

“It was a very exciting weekend, which exceeded our expectations. Apart from providing the opportunity to look back at our four years in the WRC, we were also surrounded by a great sense of affection, with many drivers, team members and fans, expressing their regret at our departure. Along with the Monza circuit, the teams, the FIA, the WRC Promoter and the ACI, we promoted this 2024 Monza Rally Show to end in style an exciting four years which provided plenty of opportunities for our people to grow and four our product to progress and I would say it was a success. As from next week, we will already be focusing on new development tests aimed at future projects which await us in the European and national championships for which we are partners.”

Finishing second to Crugnola’s C3 in the Monza Rally Show was Nikolay Gryazin in a Skoda Fabia, with third going to 2024 European Champion Hayden Paddon in a Hyundai i20. In the Master Show final, Fourmaux beat Neuville.
 

Rally fans will be able to get a first-hand view of the two newly crowned world champions Thierry Neuville (WRC) e Sami Pajari (WRC2) from 6 to 8 December 2024 at the Monza Rally Show. The Belgian and the Finn will be among the stars of the weekend at the wheel of the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid and Toyota GR Yaris respectively. Also taking part will be France’s Sebastian Ogier, driving the Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid that took the constructors’ crown. 

Today, Pirelli and the WRC teams have announced the names of the drivers that will be at the Monza circuit to celebrate the Milanese company’s four years as sole supplier to the world championship. The list of famous names includes Spain’s Dani Sordo, also with Hyundai, France’s Adrien Formaux, at the wheel of a Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid, Finland’s two-time world champion Kalle Rovanpera, the youngest ever driver to take the title at the age of 22 years and one day back in 2022. On this special occasion, Toyota Gazoo Team Principal Jari-Matti Latvala will dig out his race suit and overalls.

The WRC drivers will take turns over the three days to tackle the Monza Rally Show course with guests in the passenger seat. Then, on Sunday, Neuville, Ogier, (Pajari in a Rally2 car), Sordo and Formaux will compete in the Masters’ Show on the main straight.

The Monza Rally Show gets underway on Friday 6 December with the shakedown. The programme features 9 special stages, covering a total of 154.38 timed kilometres. 
 

Toyota grabs the manufacturers' title at the last special stage

Pajari adds the WRC2 title ahead of Solberg and Gryazin

Testoni: “A thrilling season which is not yet over: for us and many of the competitors the conclusion will be at the Monza Rally Show”  

Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville has been crowned world rally champion, Toyota is the manufacturer’ champion while Sam Pajari (Toyota) is WRC2 champion. Those are the key facts from Rally Japan, which apart from deciding the outcomes of the 2024 season, also produced a thrilling rally with a surprise winner in Elfyn Evans (Toyota) after Sunday morning’s retirement of Ott Tanak, who had been the undisputed leader up to that point. 

THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
The destinations of the world titles remained undecided right up to the end, to the point that the Super Sunday of Rally Japan begun with a huge range of outcomes still possible and with favourite Neuville, who had suffered misfortunes on Friday, forced to claw back the points he needed to make his championship mathematically certain. The drivers’ title race only finally resolved itself with the accident on SS 17 for Tanak, who thus ended his season in third place behind Evans. The manufacturer’ championship was also up for grabs all the way to the final Power Stage, which was won by Sébastien Ogier – a result that handed Toyota the championship in the tightest of circumstances. As for Hyundai, the favourites heading into the event, it turned out that the Super Sunday performances by the rejuvenated Andreas Mikkelsen, who had thus far been in the shadows, and Neuville were not enough. In the WRC2 title race, second place gave Pajari the points he needed to leapfrog Oliver Solberg (Skoda) who ended up second ahead of Nicolay Gryazin (Citroen). 

THE RALLY
Until his accident early on Sunday, the rally had an undisputed leader in Tanak, partly thanks to his accurate choice and management of the tyres, with Evans chasing him at a safe distance. Behind the pair of them, however, the battle was always very intense, with Sébastien Ogier fighting for the podium and Neuville doing everything to work his way back up the order in his bid to scrape together enough points to guarantee himself the championship. In the end the podium had Evans on the top step, Ogier second and Adrien Fourmaux third, with the new world champion down in sixth place. In WRC2 Gryazin was always the clear leader, followed by Pajari and Hiroki Harai (Skoda). 
The strategies employed by the teams varied when it came to tyres. The rally took place in dry weather, but on roads that were still quite damp and with grip levels that were extremely variable. This forced the teams to make regular use of the Soft compound P Zero tyres (which was the option at this rally) either in combination with the Hard or even by themselves, such as on Saturday morning (all five used the Softs except for Fourmaux and Grégoire Munster) and during the stages in the Toyota Stadium (where most but not all chose the Softs).

PIRELLI QUOTE
Terenzio Testoni, Rally activity manager: “My compliments go to Thierry, Toyota and Sam for their championship victories. Congratulations to them all, along with their title competitors for offering us a thrilling season that remained on a knife-edge until the very end – just as happened with the rally itself in Japan. This event proved tough and often unpredictable, meaning the tyres – and the softs in particular – were forced to deal with the never-ending changes to the grip from the tarmac, a challenge that led to the main difficulty for the drivers. Yet the season is not yet over either for us or for some of the key competitors of the championship. The next date is set for the Monza Rally Show in Italy on December 5-8. Apart from seeing the WRC1 cars taking part in another battle, we will talk about our future in rallying. We will also carry out an analysis of the extraordinary last four years, during which we have learned so much, a period that has given us the chance to take stock both individually and as a team. We have kept making developments until the very end and we have continued to collect information which will serve us in the future, seeing as on the one hand we are coming to the end of the 2021-2024 cycle as the sole tyre supplier for the WRC and on the other hand a new cycle has already begun that will see us taking part in other rally championships. Many people have asked me if we will feel nostalgic about the world championship… but we have only beautiful memories and the certainty of having got to know some wonderful people. Nostalgia is reserved for those who are departing the scene, and that isn’t the case for us.”
 

Always closely contested and unpredictable, Rally Japan once again brings the WRC season to a close and already one thing is certain: whether it will be for the favourites, Thierry Neuville and Hyundai or whether their closest rivals, Ott Tanak, Elfyn Evans and Toyota respectively, come the end of the rally, there will be celebrations for the 2024 drivers’ and constructors’ world champions, as well as for the winner of the WRC2 championship, which will be decided by Sam Pajari, taking part in Japan, or Oliver Solberg, who having already taken part in the maximum number of events, can only wait and keep his fingers crossed. Whatever the outcome, as always on this event, the weather along with the twisty, slippery roads around Nagoya will have the last word.

THE CHALLENGE
The surfaces of the 21 special stages, including two in the Toyota Stadium, held in the prefectures of Gifu and Aichi are generally demanding, especially in the early hours of the morning and in the mountain sections where the grip, already not great because of the condition of the asphalt, often becomes very poor. Drivers must not underestimate the risks associated with the grooves that bring dirt, stones and leaves onto the surface. A close eye must be kept on the weather, which is often unpredictable, with a constant threat of rain and even snow, which last year unexpectedly dusted some of the special stages in the mountains.

PIRELLI QUOTE
Terenzio Testoni, Pirelli Rally Activity Manager: “An exciting season is coming to an end and it will be fought out to the last kilometre, in a rally that is always hard to read, in which clean driving and the ability to manage pressure will count for a lot. There are several possible tyre strategies and the drivers know, that in both dry and wet conditions, they can count on reliable and versatile products which we have evolved continuously over time to ensure the maximum in terms of consistency and performance. To the drivers I say pay close attention during the recce, as the slightest error of judgement can really cost you dear.”

THE PIRELLI TYRES IN JAPAN
P Zero RA WRC: Pirelli’s asphalt tyre developed for the blue riband category is available in two compounds, both of them 2024 evolutions, more robust than their predecessors and which made their debut on the Central European Rally back in October. In Japan, the prime choice will be the hard compound (P Zero RA WRC HB), best suited to tackling the most abrasive surfaces and the longer stages, having also proved its reliability on asphalt that is not completely dry. The Soft compound version (P Zero RA WRC SB) is the option, best suited to more slippery surfaces or when the roads are damp from rain or night frost.
P Zero RA: this is the product range for Rally2 and Rally3 cars. In this case also, the prime is the hard compound RA5A, while the soft compound RA7+ is the option. The P Zero RA tyres share many of the characteristics of those fitted to the senior WRC category cars.
Cinturato RW: All four-wheel drive categories have a rain tyre available, suitable for wet or very damp asphalt. The Cinturato WRC RWB was developed specifically for Rally1 cars. The RWC is for Rally2 cars, while the Cinturato RW1C is available for Rally3 cars.

The regulations state that the Rally1 cars can use up to a total of 28 tyres over the course of the whole rally. The allocation is for 28 of the prime P Zero RA WRC HB, 18 of the option P Zero RA WRC SB and 12 of the Cinturato RWB wet tyre. The WRC2 and WRC3 cars can use a total of 26 tyres and in this case, the allocation consists of 26 prime tyres, 18 option and 12 wet.
 

The WRC1 and WRC2 champions will not be crowned until Japan

Testoni: “We are satisfied with our new solution which proved to have more endurance, versatility and reliability compared to the previous version”

There was a strong first appearance of the P Zero Pirelli tyres developed for Rally1 cars, while the WRC1 and WRC2 world titles will have to wait until the final round to be decided. That sums up the Central European Rally, which finished with results that will delay the coronation of the season’s champions until Rally Japan, the final round of the world championship.

Victory in this rally held in three nations went to Hyundai’s Ott Tanak, who managed to profit from the misfortunes of his direct opponents: team-mate Thierry Neuville, who finished in third place and Toyota’s Sébastien Ogier, who held second until the penultimate stage before handing the place to Elfyn Evans.

The Belgian driver remains the leader of the drivers’ classification, but the Estonian is chasing him 25 points behind. This is enough to keep the title battle between the two Hyundais mathematically open until the final rally. There is the same points gap in the constructors’ championship between leaders Hyundai and Toyota.

In WRC2 Nikolay Gryazin came out on top, while Yohan Rossel saw his title hopes vanish at the CER. The only remaining contenders are Oliver Solberg and Sam Pajari, who could recover the gap in Japan – but only by winning or coming second.

On Super Sunday victory went to Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta.

The overall star of the show, in almost all the special stages – including Sunday’s completely dry conditions – was the evolution of the soft compound of the P Zero RA which made its season’s debut on the slippery and quick roads of the Czech Republic, Austria and Germany.

Given the weather conditions, which were less cold and damp than expected – but not enough to lead to a wider use of the hard option (which was itself making its first appearance of the year) the teams made similar choices throughout the weekend. The P Zero RA HB tyres were a popular choice for Super Sunday (3 for the Toyota drivers as opposed to two soft, 2 for Jourdan Serderidis, as many as 5 for Andreas Mikkelsen, while Tanak, Neuville, Adrien Fourmaux  and Gregoire Munster were limited to 1). But on the other days it was more marginal (on Thursday there were one each for Mikkelsen and Fourmaux and one on Saturday morning by the Toyota teams). The wet-weather Cinturato remained all but unused by the Rally1 cars (only Serderidis used two) while they did appear on the Rally2 cars in some special stages.

PIRELLI QUOTE
Terenzio Testoni, Rally Activity Manager: “We are very satisfied with the new asphalt specifications that we brought to this rally, which proved treacherous because of the wide-ranging and changing surface conditions. The drivers said our soft compound P Zero tyres performed with flying colours as they displayed superior endurance to what we expected, while they were also robust and versatile on surfaces that were drier than anticipated. Those were the targets we had set ourselves as we developed the previous P Zero tyres – which were already greatly appreciated by everyone. To those asking why we would bring out a new tyre with just two rallies left, my answer is that continuous development is our philosophy and what we develop for the WRC will bring advantages to other championships and champions. Now I look forward to the last rally of the season with great interest: both as a technician – to gather more data on the asphalt tyres – and as a fan, like everyone, to watch how this season will finish after a year of so many surprises.”

WOMEN’S PROGRAMME
There were world championship rally debuts for Lyssia Baudet, Suvi Jyrkiäinen and Claire Schönborn, the three young drivers selected by the Women’s programme launched by the WRC promoters and backed by Pirelli to support and accelerate the careers of talented female rally drivers. For Schönborn, who came out on top of the three at the CER, it will open the doors to JWRC 2025.

See below for a graphic summary of the Central European Rally. 

The wet weather Cinturato is also available, having played a decisive role last year

Testoni: “I expect the rally to be as tough as last year’s with the weather a key factor”

It is time for the penultimate round of the WRC season, the first of two consecutive events on tarmac, and there is still all to play for in the drivers’ and constructors’ standings, in one of the most challenging rounds of the season. The Central Europe Rally looks like being a tough one, not just because of the different characteristics of the roads in the three different countries it visits – Czech Republic, Austria and Germany – but also because of the weather, which tends to be cold and damp, as well as because of the format, which sees the first flexi-service not scheduled until Friday evening, after eight special stages and two remote services, with tyre changes.

THE CHALLENGE
Even though the route is more compact with fewer kilometres of link section than last year, the CER still presents the teams with a significant test, also from a technical point of view and introduces new challenges compared to last year’s rally, which was already demanding.

There are two new special stages and the established ones feature several sections that have been modified, particularly those that pass through the forests.

The rally starts on the slippery roads in the Czech Republic, with the start ceremony taking place in Prague on Thursday followed by the show stage and the first of three runs through the 11.78 km Klatovy stage, which is different in parts to the 2023 edition. On Friday, before the service in Bavaria, the rally continues on Czech roads, while on Saturday and Sunday, the majority of the special stages run over twisty German tarmac roads, with the exceptions being SS 11 and 14 (Schärdinger Innviertiel), the only ones to be run entirely on the fast Austrian roads, with a revised route compared to last year. The Granit Und Wald (SS 9 and 12) is completely new, as are the two runs through Am Hochwald on Sunday morning, while the Passau power stage is exactly the same as in 2023.

PIRELLI QUOTE
Terenzio Testoni, Pirelli Rally activity manager: “I expect the rally to be no less tough than last year’s, when the Cinturato Wet played a vital role in very difficult conditions, with rain combined with dirt on the asphalt making for very poor grip. Obviously, we can assume most of the work will be down to the soft tyres which have demonstrated their versatility several times already in recent years. Let’s see what the weather does, but the right combination of soft and wet weather tyres will probably hold the key to success. The challenges the drivers will face will be intensified by the fight for the titles which means they cannot afford to be too cautious or focus too much on tactics.”

THE PIRELLI TYRES AT THE CER
The available tyres are:

 P Zero RA WRC: Pirelli’s asphalt tyre is available in two compounds. For the CER, the prime choice is the soft compound version (P Zero RA WRC SB), favoured on asphalt that is by its nature more slippery, or when wet from rain and overnight frost. The option is the hard compound version (P Zero RA WRC HB), best suited to tackle more abrasive surfaces and the longer stages. Both these tyres are actually making their debut at the CER, the first time that new versions of the previous types (SA and HA) will be used. The new versions are stronger, based on experience and data gathered over several rallies, while also adapting to the evolution of the Rally1 cars over this season.

P Zero RA: this is the product range for Rally2 and Rally3 cars. In this case also, there is a soft compound version (RA7+) which at CER is the prime, and the hard compound (RA5A) as the option. The P Zero RA tyres share many of the characteristics of the WRC tyres fitted to the top-tier cars.

Cinturato RW: available for all four-wheel drive categories is a rain tyre suited to wet or very damp asphalt. The Cinturato WRC RWB has been developed exclusively for the Rally1 cars. Rally2 have the RWC, while the Rally3 cars will use the Cinturato RW1C.

The rules allow for the Rally1 cars to each use up to 28 tyres over the course of the entire rally. The allocation consists of 28 prime P Zero RA WRC SB, 18 option P Zero RA WRC HB and 12 Cinturato RWB wet weather tyres. The WRC2 and WRC3 cars can use up to 26 tyres with the allocation being 26 prime, 18 option and 12 for the wet.

WOMEN’S PROGRAMME
Making their debut on the Central Europe Rally will be Lyssia Baudet, Suvi Jyrkiäinen and Claire Schönborn, three women drivers chosen from the Women’s Programme, a project launched by the WRC Promoter, backed by Pirelli to support and accelerate the rallying careers of talented youngsters.

The WRC1 and WRC2 titles are still up for grabs

Testoni: “The softs pass the final test, dealing with the lowest temperatures on gravel in recent years”

The Pirelli engineers and others had predicted this would be a very tough rally, as indeed it was in previous years. And according to those predictions, Saturday would be the decisive and hardest day, featuring the longest stage. In fact, the 2024 Rally Chile proved these predictions to be true and then some, providing a series of twists and turns at the front of the field, in both WRC1 and WRC2 where the titles are yet to be decided. Stamping his authority on the rally in the blue riband category was Kalle Rovanpera in his Toyota. He took the lead on SS11 on Saturday afternoon, while coming out on top among the Rally2 drivers was Yohan Rossel and his Citroen C3, who profited from the misfortune that befell Oliver Solberg, again in SS11.

Super Sunday was dominated by Sebastien Ogier, whose overall position was badly affected by incidents in SS3 and SS8.

After three days of close competition and spectacular action, in which fog and rain played their part, the outcome of the top two classes is still to be decided. Thiery Neuville and Hyundai (fourth behind Elfyn Evans and Ott Tanak) still lead the drivers’ and constructors’ in WRC1, while Solberg (also fourth in Chile) heads the WRC2 category.

THE CHALLENGE
As expected, given the nature of the fast, technical and slippery cambered Chilean gravel roads, the choice and management of the tyres, especially the combination of the soft (the prime on this event) and the hard, played a major role, giving the crews plenty to think about as they had to change their plans due to rain and fog that arrived as from the second half of the first day. As from Friday afternoon, the teams went with different strategies, the biggest differences being seen on Saturday afternoon, at which point the outcome was effectively decided in weather that was worse than usual with temperatures dropping. The choice of mixing 4 hard and 2 soft proved the most popular, as used by Rovanpera who took command as of SS11 and Neuville who was fastest of all through the thick fog in that stage, thus making up several places in the general classification. The choice to go with the hard tyre (6) worked well for Adrien Fourmaux, quickest in the final SS12, which was run in the rain. On Sunday morning, when it was even colder, everyone inevitably went just with the soft, the only difference being the number of spares, which in the case of that day’s champion, Ogier, was just the one.

PIRELLI QUOTE
Terenzio Testoni, Rally Activity Manager: “This rally was really very significant for us. On Sunday morning, we saw the coldest temperatures ever recorded in recent seasons for a gravel rally and I’d say that the 2024 evolution of the soft tyre passed yet another test, the final one, with flying colours. The severe weather surprised the teams but they were still able to manage the situation well, thanks to the versatility of the soft Scorpion. On the other days, the hard tyres also came into play and confirmed their reliability. Overall, we witnessed a really interesting rally with plenty of drama, which leaves the outcome of the world championship still hanging in the balance.”

Here is a graphic summary of Rally Chile 

The twisty, fast and often slippery roads require careful tyre management

Pirelli’s Terenzio Testoni: “I expect a closely contested rally, with both types of tyre coming into play”

Everything is still up for grabs in the World Rally Championship and now it’s time for the last gravel event, the seventh in a row on the calendar, run along the cold coastline of the South Pacific in the Chilean region of Bio Bio. As was the case last year, when teams at first rather underestimated its pitfalls, it won’t be a walk in the park, while there are also some new stages not seen in 2023. However, the format, somewhat put aside in recent rounds of the WRC, with the morning’s special stages repeated in the afternoons, has been reinstated.

THE CHALLENGE
The fast and technical gravel tracks in the forests and along the coast are usually slippery and cambered, with different characteristics from one stage to the next, thus requiring great care when it comes to the choice and management of the tyres. Particular attention must be paid to Saturday, the longest day of the whole weekend, featuring 139.20 timed kilometres out of the rally’s total of 306.76. The only special stage carried over from last year is the longest of the whole event, the Maria Las Cruces (SS9-12), at 28.31 kilometres which provided a stern test for the tyres in 2023, preceded by the 25.64 kilometres of the Lota section (SS8-11).

Another hazard not to be underestimated is the constant threat of rain and the generally low temperatures in the morning, along with the humidity.

PIRELLI QUOTE
Terenzio Testoni, Pirelli Rally activity manager: “I expect a great and closely contested rally, especially considering the situation in the drivers’ and constructors’ standings, which is still quite open with three rallies remaining. Good tyre management will be essential and I expect both the hard and soft tyres to come into play to tackle the various scenarios this rally presents. For example, with low temperatures in the morning, the softs will definitely be favoured, even in dry conditions, while I expect the hard tyres to be used in some of the second runs in the afternoons, when temperatures are higher, in order to reduce wear which, as we saw last year, is quite high.”

THE PIRELLI TYRES IN CHILE
The tyres available for the various categories in this rally are as follows:

Scorpion KX WRC, Pirelli’s gravel tyres developed for the top category Rally1 cars is available in two compounds, both in their 2024 evolution, which features reinforced construction and an optimised design. The prime is the soft compound Scorpion SB, designed to offer optimal grip even on low-grip surfaces. The option, the hard compound HB, provides greater resistance on more abrasive surfaces, as well as greater durability.

As per the regulations, the allocation for the prime is 28 tyres and 8 for the option. Crews can choose to increase the latter to 12, with a reduction of 4 of the prime. 

Rally2 cars have the K6B (soft) and the new K4C (hard) versions of the Scorpion K, while Rally3 have available the K6A (soft) and K4A (hard). For these two categories the allocation is for 26 and 8 tyres for the prime and option respectively, the crews being able to go up to 12 of the latter, while reducing the number of prime by 4.

The 2024 world rallying season will end with a grand finale, the Monza Rally Show, which is back on the calendar for the occasion over the weekend of 6-8 December. The event is promoted by Pirelli, in conjunction with the WRC Promoter, the FIA and Autodromo Nazionale Monza to celebrate the Italian manufacturer’s four years as the WRC sole supplier. Taking part will be the drivers, teams and cars that compete in the world championship.

Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid, the Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid and the Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid will be hurtling around The Temple of Speed.  Cars from Team Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT, M-Sport Ford WRT e Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT will put on a show on Friday and Saturday and also compete in the Master Show on Sunday afternoon.

Providing the action on the previous days will be the Rally 2 cars, tackling 8 special stages, all within the circuit.

“We are delighted to bring the world rally championship back to Monza, which we consider our home,” commented Terenzio Testoni, Rally Activity Manager of Pirelli. “For us it will be an opportunity to look back at our time as sole supplier to the WRC, four successful years, during which we learned a great deal. It will also be the occasion to say goodbye to the world championship while reiterating that rallying is still an important activity for us.”

“The return of the Monza Rally Show is the best way to end the 2024 season. - commented Giuseppe Redaelli, chairman of SIAS Autodromo Nazionale Monza - After the two editions of the World Championship in 2020 and 2021 and the last round of the Italian Championship in 2023, it will be a great pleasure to celebrate Pirelli together with the WRC champions and the great stars of Italian, European and World rallying on a totally renovated circuit ready to offer a great show”.

This season’s Junior WRC title goes to Jurgenson, who finished second on the rally

Testoni: “A very demanding rally, but no more than we expected”

It was expected to be one of the toughest Acropolis Rallies in recent years, the toughest of the season and it certainly lived up to the predictions. In fact, it was possibly even more difficult, with several incidents over the three days of the rally, run on Friday and Saturday on dusty terrain in hot conditions, with plenty of sharp stones, the same being true of the Power Stage, which saw Sebastian Ogier lose what had looked like a certain second place, having dominated Super Sunday. Victory went to Thierry Neuville who thus extended his and Hyundai’s lead in the title race. He was followed home by team-mates Dani Sordo and Ott Tänak, the latter never giving up despite the problems he encountered, to take the valuable points on offer on Super Sunday.

Sami Pajari won in WRC2 at the wheel of his Toyota, after recording exactly the same time as Robert Virves, who was however slower in SS1. That means the title fight now has two contenders: Oliver Solberg, who will compete in just one more round in Chile, and the aforementioned Pajari. Norbert Maior won in the Junior WRC of the Acropolis Rally, the last round in this category, while the title goes to Romet Jurgenson. Acropolis also crowned Armin Kremer in a Skoda as WRC Masters Cup 2024 champion.

THE CHALLENGE
As expected, given the length of some stages and the nature of the road surfaces which featured more large and sharp rocks than usual, thus leading to a high risk of punctures, the hard tyres saw the most use, especially on Friday and Saturday, when strength and durability were the main requirements.  

The soft compound Scorpions played their part in the first sections on Friday and Saturday, when they provided grip for the early runners on the stages which were always very slippery and dusty on the first runs. The softs then came into their own on Sunday morning, because of the nature of the terrain and the very heavy rain of the previous night. It meant the teams had expected the surfaces to be more slippery and wetter than they eventually were. The uncertainties thrown up by rain on Saturday night led to a large number of different strategies going into Super Sunday: these ranged from Neuville’s softs only approach (6) to a more balanced 2 hards and 3 softs for Evans, while Tänakand Ogier both went for 1 hard and 4 softs. The Power Stage also saw a variety of strategies, predominantly with the softs, although this was partly down to the availability of new tyres, as was the case for Ogier, who went with 5 hards due to a lack of new softs.

As highlighted in the Pirelli engineers’ post-recce Analysis, the toughest, most demanding stages which played a significant role in deciding the outcome of the rally, were the two longest ones of the weekend, the 38.67 km of SS7, Rengini and SS9-11 and the 25.87 kilometres Aghii Theodori.

PIRELLI QUOTE
Terenzio Testoni, Rally Activity Manager: “The rally was as hard as we expected and the way it tested the tyres, both hard and soft, matched our expectations. The hard Scorpion delivered the required robustness, even on the roughest terrain, while once again, the soft proved to be a great choice on dry surfaces. Excellent management of both tyres by the driver was essential and by no means easy: generally, on other rallies, one tyre was the dominant choice, especially the soft.”

Here below the graphs from the Acropolis Rally

Backing up that first assessment, these are the facts that emerged from the analysis carried out by the Pirelli experts:

• Looser surfaces than usual because of a large amount of large and sharp loose stones, carrying a constant level 4 to 5 threat of punctures, which is the highest of the season
• Very high vertical loads due to the presence of drops created by stones embedded in the ground and deep ruts created by rainwater
• Abrasive surfaces in almost all sections of all the special stages and many bed rocks that lead to a very high risk of tyre wear, especially on the second day which features both the longest stage of the weekend (the 28.67 kilometres of Rengini) as well as two passes through the second longest (SS9-11, Aghii Theodori, 25.87 kilometres)

Furthermore, the forecast is for dry weather throughout, with constantly high temperatures. In previous years a combination of rain and stages cancelled due to wildfires led to shorter sections.

Given these conditions, it is likely that the crews will always choose the hard compound KX WRC HB (the prime for this event), although in some cases the possibility cannot be ruled out that strategies might also lead to the use of the soft compound in the mornings of Friday and Sunday, but always in combination with the prime.

Here is a complete analysis of the special stages.

Many changes to the route compared to last year

Testoni: “Pay attention to tyre management, especially wear”

After three dramatic Nordic rallies which have left the championship battle wide open  and where the soft Scorpions ruled, for the Acropolis Rally, the hard version of Pirelli’s dirt tyre will be back in the spotlight. This is the traditional and indeed inevitable choice, given the nature of one of the toughest if not the toughest event of the season because of:

• hard and stony roads that stress not only the tyres, but the cars too
•  dirty and sandy surfaces that favour the later starters
• the twisty nature of the mountain stages
• generally high, if not torrid temperatures and the forecast for Saturday predicts heavy and intense downpours which could shake up plans and make for complicated choices for the crews

Furthermore, compared to last year’s Acropolis Rally, there are some changes that mix things up a bit, making what is already a very challenging event for drivers, cars and tyres, ever more uncertain.

Unlike last year, Friday will be the longest in terms of kilometres, with 135 in total split exactly in half between the morning and the afternoon. These include two runs through the famous Tarzan stage, although the longest section of the entire rally takes place on Saturday morning. Featuring on the second day are the three long Rengini stages, at 28.67 km the longest of the rally, Thiva (20.95) and Aghii Theodori (25.87) the latter the only one to be repeated in the afternoon, after the visit to the tyre fitting zone at Loutraki, which in 2023 was on the Friday. Sunday will also be a busy day with 54.05 kilometres, of which over half is made up of Eleftherohori, with the second run through it being the power stage.

The Acropolis Rally will decide the outcome of the 2024 Junior WRC title with Estonia’s Romet Jurgenson and Australia’s Taylor Gill in the running, currently separated by just 8 points.

PIRELLI QUOTE
Terenzio Testoni, Pirelli Rally Activity Manager: “Over the past few years, the Acropolis has proved to be an extremely spectacular and interesting rally, even if compared to the past, the road surfaces in the stages have become kinder. As we have often seen, errors in strategy and tyre management, as well as driving mistakes are always lying in wait and can carry a very high price. When it comes to tyre choice, particular attention needs to be paid to wear, which can be high in Greece, even allowing for the right balance between strength and performance provided by the Scorpions.” 

THE PIRELLI TYRES IN GREECE
For this rally, the prime choice is the hard version of the Scorpion KX HB, a tyre that provides strength and long life on the longest stages with the most abrasive surfaces in the highest temperatures. The option will be the soft compound Scorpion KX SB, a very versatile tyre which ensures optimum grip even on slippery low grip surfaces.

The regulations state that 28 prime and 8 option tyres can be used, while the latter can be increased to 12 if the crews so choose, which entails reducing the number of primes to 4.

As for the other categories in Greece the Rally2 cars will be using the Scorpion K6B (soft) and the new K4C (hard), while Rally3 will have available the K6A (soft) and the K4A (hard). For these categories, the allocation is 26 and 8 for the prime and option respectively. Crews can choose to increase the number of the latter to 12, which requires reducing the number of prime by 4.

Very high average and top speeds, especially on Saturday with the soft tyres once again the outright choice

Testoni: “As proven by how the event ended, only one thing was certain about Rally Finland: the versatility of the soft compound Scorpion”

The unexpected can catch out even the very best drivers, and this time it happened to reigning world champion Kalle Rovanpera. It looked as though the Finn was set to prove he was the absolute master over the last three rallies run on the fast and slippery dirt roads of Northern Europe, thanks to his usual sage attention to tyre management. However, a large piece of stone made contact with his Toyota on the penultimate number 19 stage, where drivers had reported the presence of deep ruts. His car left the road and that put an end to any thoughts of a Baltic hat-trick. At the end of what was an exciting and spectacular rally, victory therefore went to his team-mate Sebastian Ogier. It means that despite not having a full programme this season, the Frenchman finds himself fighting for the title behind Neuville, who moved up to the second step on the podium following the Finn’s retirement. Adrien Fourmaux was third for Ford.

The race was less hectic, but just as thrilling among the WRC2 competitors, with Oliver Solberg taking firm control right from the start in his Skoda Fabia, finishing ahead of the Toyota driven by the Japanese company’s team principal, Jari-Matti Latvala, back behind the wheel for his home rally. Third was another Finn, Lauri Joona.

THE CHALLENGE
As always, the rally based around the lakes in the Jyvaskyla region was fun and spectacular, with its long jumps, the road surfaces made even more slippery by intermittent and occasionally heavy rain, combined with high average speeds, often exceeding 130 km/h (the maximum recorded was 135.3 by Rovanpera in SS16 Ouninpohja 2). There were plenty of incidents and crashes apart from Rovanpera’s, with the Toyota drivers Takamoto Katsuta and Elfyn Evans knocked out of the fight for the podium places, while Hyundai’s Ott Tanak spoilt his chances of a top place as early as SS3, as did Esapekka Lappi , who also had a couple of misadventures before fighting back to win the Super Sunday.

As predicted going into the event, the tyre strategy was clear-cut: whether on the longest stages on Sunday, or the shorter ones, come rain or shine, the only choice for ensuring grip and performance was the soft compound Scorpion, with all crews choosing 5 on all days of the rally with the exception of SS1 run in the city on Thursday evening.

PIRELLI QUOTE
Terenzio Testoni, Rally Activity Manager: “Looking at it from the outside, Rally Finland looks easy, but that’s far from the case for the drivers, even very talented champions like Kalle. The only aspect that was easy for them was tyre choice, because the soft compound Scorpion, thanks to its versatility, is the best compromise in rallies like this one. I’d say that, after proving itself in previous events, in Finland the Scorpion passed the sternest test of all, with its combination of high speeds and heavy landings after the very long jumps, especially in the double pass through Ouninpohja, the longest stage of the rally. These conditions put a lot of stress on the tyres, cars and drivers, for whom the slightest error is paid for with a high price, as was seen throughout the weekend. After these three Nordic rallies dominated by the soft gravel tyres, the next event in Greece will mark the return of the hard compound, facing very different but no less demanding challenges.”

Here is a graphic summary of Rally Finland.    

In fact, the single longest special stage of the rally takes place on Saturday. The 32.98 kilometre-long SS13-16 Ouninpohja returns TO the Rally Finland route for this year and, apart from its length, it also presents other challenges that explain why this event is sometimes referred to as the Finnish Grand Prix: many crests and long jumps throughout the entire route, stones especially in the final two sections and several sections with loose gravel. On the same day, it will also be worth keeping an eye on SS11-14 Västilä (18.94 kilometres) which has similar characteristics to Ouninpohja, although it is less severe.

PIRELLI TYRES IN FINLAND
In Finland, the prime is the new-generation soft compound Scorpion KX WRC SB, featuring a revised construction that ensures greater durability and resistance compared to its predecessor, while delivering the same level of performance. The option tyre is the hard compound Scorpion KX WRC HB, suitable for more abrasive surfaces and longer stages.

As for the other categories, in Finland, the Rally2 cars will have available the Scorpion K6B (soft) and the new K4C (hard), while the Rally3 cars will run the K6A (soft) and the K4A (hard). For these categories, the allocation is 26 and 8 for the prime and option respectively.

As usual, occasional rain is forecast for the weekend

Testoni: “It’s one of the most interesting rallies of the year in which the accuracy of the notes can make all the difference”

The stage is set for the ninth round of the WRC season, the fifth consecutive one to be run on gravel and the third in a row on the shores of the Baltic. Rally Finland boasts the longest jumps and the highest speeds of the whole championship and in the past few years it has certainly provided some spectacular action. All the elements are in place for the 2024 edition to also be very closely contested, not only because of the essential nature of the 20 special stages, but also because the fight for the drivers’ and constructors’ titles is still very open. 

Once again, the forecast is for occasional, but never heavy, rain over the course of the weekend. The probable increased dampness of the road surfaces will only serve to accentuate the main challenges to be faced by the drivers, cars and tyres: they are low grip, despite the high top and average speeds, the narrow stages featuring straights interspersed with more technical sections, and the very long jumps, sometimes almost reaching 60 metres.

QUOTE PIRELLI
Terenzio Testoni, Rally activity manager: “Finland is a rally that can be won or lost even before the start of the event. That’s because the accuracy of the recce and the notes can make all the difference on such fast and narrow stages, characterised by low grip and made even tougher because of the many long jumps. With their wide working range and robustness, the Scorpions are the perfect tyres for this event. As always, I expect to see little signs of wear, but the tyres will be subjected to a lot of forces. I also expect to witness a great show, as has been the case in recent years, confirming that Rally Finland is one of the most interesting rounds of the world championship.”

THE PIRELLI TYRES IN FINLAND
In Finland, the prime is the new-generation soft compound Scorpion KX WRC SB, featuring a revised construction that ensures greater durability and resistance compared to its predecessor, while delivering the same level of performance. The option tyre is the hard compound Scorpion KX WRC HB, suitable for more abrasive surfaces and longer stages.

As per the regulations, each crew can use 28 of the prime and 8 of the option tyres. The number of options can be increased to 12 if the crew so wish, which reduces the number of primes by 4. 

As for the other categories, in Finland, the Rally2 cars will have available the Scorpion K6B (soft) and the new K4C (hard), while the Rally3 cars will run the K6A (soft) and the K4A (hard). For these categories, the allocation is 26 and 8 for the prime and option respectively. Crews can increase the number of the latter to 12, reducing the number of the prime by 4.

Tyre strategy centred on the softs to tackle the fast Latvian gravel roads, but the hard also played its part

Testoni: “Under stress, the tyres reached a record temperature of 150 degrees centigrade”

Two out of two. That’s Toyota’s score, with its drivers occupying the top two steps of the podium, but also a personal one for Kalle Rovanpera who took his second consecutive rally win, having also claimed victory a fortnight ago in Poland. It is the Finn’s third win of the season, including Kenya. The Finn held the lead right from the start, in part down to intelligent choices and management of the tyres, never allowing his rivals a look-in, including team-mate Sebastien Ogier, who finished second. Behind the Toyota crews, Ott Tanak was the best of the Hyundai runners, mounting a long challenge including a hard charging final day which saw him take all the spoils on Super Sunday, ahead of Ogier and Rovanpera.

In WRC2, Oliver Solberg had the upper hand over his rivals right from the early stages, building up a lead that his closest rivals Mikko Heikkila and Sam Pajari in their Toyotas were unable to close down for the rest of the rally.

THE CHALLENGE
The fast roads, featuring loose gravel and dirt covered surfaces pushed the teams towards favouring the soft compound Scorpion tyres, which were the prime in Latvia. However, the hards also had a part to play, especially for the drivers who started further down the order and found cleaner, very abrasive surfaces, particularly on Friday, the most demanding day of the weekend. The asymmetry of the loops contributed to introducing more variety to the rally and to tyre strategy, as some stages didn’t have a second pass, while some first passes also took place in the afternoons.

PIRELLI QUOTE
Terenzio Testoni, Rally Activity Manager: “Once again, we witnessed an interesting rally, partly due to the format which included first passes also in the afternoon. The tyres were subjected to rather significant stresses, especially on Friday, when the surfaces were more abrasive and tyre temperatures exceeded 150 degrees centigrade, something that’s never happened before. This once again underlined the versatility of the softs and their adaptability to all race conditions. Furthermore, wear was generally well within the limits expected prior to the event. In Finland, before the summer break, the rally will be similar to this one in terms of the speed of the stages, but generally with lower abrasiveness than we experienced here on Friday.”

Below is a graphic summary of Rally Latvia

These are the main characteristics of Rally Latvia that have emerged from the analysis carried out by the Pirelli engineers following the recce.

Specifically, the Latvian rally can be categorised as being of medium severity in terms of both tyre wear and risk of damage, with reasonably good grip levels on Saturday and Sunday, although it will be poorer on Friday’s stages.

It seems that the road surfaces should generally be dry, especially on the first day, while they will tend to be a bit damp on the first of the morning passes over the rest of the weekend.

The surfaces are moderately abrasive.

It is worth noting that all crews have opted to take their full allowance of the soft compound Scorpion SB, therefore only taking 8 hards with the 28 softs, apart from the Ford drivers (Fourmaux, Munster and Sesks) who are going with 4 additional hard tyres (12 hard and 24 soft).

Below is the full analysis provided by the Pirelli engineers

TYRES AVAILABLE
In Latvia, the new generation soft compound Scorpion KX WRC SB is the prime tyre, featuring a revised construction which ensures increased durability and resistance compared to its previous iteration, while maintaining the same level of performance. The option tyre is the hard compound Scorpion KX WRC HB, recommended for the more abrasive surfaces and longer stages.

As for the other categories, in Latvia, the Rally2 cars will have available the Scorpion K6B (soft) and the new K4C (hard), while the Rally3 cars will run the K6A (soft) and the K4A (hard). For these categories, the allocation is 26 and 8 for the prime and option respectively.

All the champions on parade for Latvia’s debut on the world stage

Testoni: “It’s easy to make mistakes on these roads that are not well known to everyone, but by now, the drivers are familiar with the new gravel tyres and know how to get the most out of them”

After being well received as a round of the European FIAERC championship, next weekend, Rally Latvia makes its debut as a round of the World Championship with a more than respectable entry list. Among those taking part are Sebastien Ogier, as well as reigning world champion, Kalle Rovanpera, off the back of his win in Poland and the Toyota pair of Katsuta Takamoto and Elfyn Evans. For Hyundai, Esapekka Lappi is joining Thierry Neuville and Ott Tanak, currently first and third in the standings which could yet throw up some surprises. Ford is also entering three drivers, namely Adrien Fourmaux, Gregoire Munster and Martins Sesks. In WRC2, notable entries include Nikolay  Gryazin and Oliver Solberg, both of whom have won several times on Lithuanian soil, as well as Gus Greensmith and Sami Pajari.

THE CHALLENGE
Only a handful of the WRC1 crews entered have experience of the characteristics of a rally that is representative of all those held in the Baltic region, namely high speed gravel roads with low grip, combined with twisty technical sections along with many jumps and crests that provide a stern test for tyres and cars. Added to this is the uncertainty about the weather and the fact the roads get more slippery because of overnight dew. While Saturday is going to be the longest day, on Friday, the absence of a midway service point will further complicate matters.

Accompanying the drivers in Latvia, the new generation soft compound Scorpion KX WRC SB is the prime tyre, featuring a revised construction which ensures increased durability and resistance compared to its previous iteration, while maintaining the same level of performance. The option tyre is the hard compound Scorpion KX WRC HB, recommended for the more abrasive surfaces and longer stages.

PIRELLI QUOTE
Terenzio Testoni, rally activity manager: “On all rallies, mistakes incur a cost and make the difference, but in an event such as this one in Latvia, it’s much easier to make a mistake because of the high speeds and the slippery surface. Even if this is the first time that Rally Latvia has appeared on the WRC calendar and will be new to many drivers, it is well known to Pirelli. On these same roads, we have won several times in the FIAERC European Championship and, at least in theory, there’s a limit to the surprises it can provide. In any case, all the crews are now fully familiar with the new Scorpions and are capable of getting the most out of them in any situation, even challenging ones like these.”

THE PIRELLI TYRES IN LATVIA
As per the regulations, each crew can use 28 of the prime and 8 of the option tyres. The number of options can be increased to 12 if the crew so wish, which reduces the number of primes by 4.

As for the other categories, in Latvia, the Rally2 cars will have available the Scorpion K6B (soft) and the new K4C (hard), while the Rally3 cars will run the K6A (soft) and the K4A (hard). For these categories, the allocation is 26 and 8 for the prime and option respectively. Crews can increase the number of the latter to 12, reducing the number of the prime by 4.

A wide range of strategies among the crews for the second passes and on Sunday morning

Testoni: “A nice rally in which tyre reliability was vital”

Even if it’s only by chance, or by necessity, they sometime return and make their mark. That was the case with Kalle Rovanpera who won Rally Poland having been called up at the last minute by Toyota, to replace Sebastian Ogier who had to pull out following a road accident during the recce. It was also the case for Andreas Mikkelsen, who Hyundai only bring out for a few rallies during the season. He challenged the Finnish champion as an equal and looked capable of winning up until an unfortunate incident on Sunday morning on SS16 when he knocked a tyre bead off its rim. There was another return of sorts for Ott Tanak, who rejoined the rally on Sunday morning after two days marred by accidents, winning 2 stages out of 4, going on to score the most points on Super Sunday.

THE CHALLENGE
All these unexpected comebacks definitely pleased the spectators who witnessed a closely fought event, with plenty of drama, in which tyre reliability proved to be vital on the fast, slippery, dirty gravel roads on the first passes, which then turned more abrasive second time around, usually with high temperatures. These conditions set the crews some questions relating to the best combination of tyres to carry, often resulting in various different strategies.

While on Friday morning, all the teams were unanimous in choosing the soft tyres with just one spare, in the afternoon, tackling the more abrasive surfaces, most drivers went for the soft, with the only but important exceptions being Rovanpera, Evans and Katsuta (2 hard and 3 soft) and Mikkelsen (2 hard and 4 soft), the latter first losing ground to the Finn before ending the day in the lead.

The softs were still the main choice on Saturday morning, while in the afternoon, there were some different choices made among the crews, Mikkelsen went for the hard (3 to 2 soft) without it delivering any great advantage over his closest rivals, Rovanpera and Evans, who had gone for just one soft compound and four hard.

The choices were also split for the Sunday morning sections. The most popular tyre was, as expected, the soft but the hard also came into play as the fifth tyre for most of the crews. The only ones to go for the Scorpion Soft exclusively were the Toyota drivers, who brought along 5.

It’s worth noting the high average speeds, with Thierry Neuville claiming the record with an average speed of 133 km/h, against 100 km/h maximum in the Portuguese Rally and 90 km/h in Sardinia.

PIRELLI QUOTE
Terenzio Testoni, Rally Activity Manager: “These days, it’s rather unusual to see such variety in terms of strategy on world championship gravel rallies. The drivers are well aware of the versatility of the Soft Scorpion and often rely on it in all conditions. On this rally, the strategy was usually dictated by the different driving styles, as in the case of Mikkelsen who generally prefers the harder compounds, and because the Polish rally is a relative newcomer, having been absent from the world championship calendar for the past seven years. In the end, those who opted for the soft, which was the prime here, did better. What is clear is that the updated version of the Scorpion which we introduced, has also passed the high speed test with flying colours. Let’s see what happens in Latvia, where I expect similar surfaces to those here in Poland.”

In Rally2, Sami Pajari and his Toyota Yaris Rally2 took command of matters right from the start, with no one able to get anywhere near him until halfway through the rally. In the end, second and third places went to Robert Virves and Oliver Solberg respectively, both at the wheel of a Skoda Fabia. As from SS 10, they began to distance the rest of the field, behind the Finn.

Here below a graphic summary of the Polish Rally

Saturday will be the toughest day of the rally

Testoni: “Watch out for deep ruts on the second passes”

The World Rally Championship returns to Poland after a seven year break and following a successful experiment with a new compressed format, at the previous round, the Rally Italia Sardegna in early June, this week’s event sees a return to the classic four-day timetable, with stages repeated in the afternoon.

THE CHALLENGE
One important characteristic of the Polish Rally, which has been a permanent fixture on the European FIA ERC calendar since 2018, is the variety of fast dirt roads in the Masuria region which usually present drivers with grip problems, while the tyres are subjected to medium levels of stress. Complicating the search for grip on the 304.10 timed kilometres over the 19 special stages could be the weather, as there is always a chance of rain, with the added factor of high humidity at night. The longest, toughest day would seem to be the Saturday.

Accompanying the crews in Poland in their search for grip will be the tyre that made its debut in this year’s Rally Portugal, the soft compound Scorpion KX WRC SB as the prime. The new generation of Scorpion features a redesigned construction that ensures even greater durability and resistance than its predecessor, while its performance characteristics remain unchanged. The hard compound is available as the option for Poland, best suited for the more abrasive surfaces and the longer stages.

PIRELLI QUOTE
Terenzio Testoni, rally activity manager: “Although Rally Poland has been off the world championship calendar for a few years, it is well known to many of the drivers and indeed to ourselves, as it was here a year ago on these roads that we had a clean sweep of the top three places in this round of the European Championship, thanks to the versatility of our tyres. Overall, I’d say the soft compound Scorpion could comfortably tackle all the special stages, leaving little need for the option. The thing the crews will have to pay the most attention to is the variation in surfaces, which are often different from stage to stage and tend to have deep ruts on the second passes.”

THE PIRELLI TYRES IN POLAND
The regulations allow for an allocation of 28 prime tyres and 8 option. Crews can choose to increase the number of options to 12, by having 4 fewer primes.

As for the other categories in Poland, the Rally2 cars will have available the Scorpion K6B (soft) and the new K4C (hard), while Rally3 can count on the K6A (soft) and the K4A (hard). For these categories of car, the allocation is 26 and 8 for the prime and option respectively. The latter number can be increased to 12 if the crews wish, but they must reduce the number of primes by 4.

The hard and soft tyres perform well on all road surfaces and overcome the unknowns of an all-new rally format

Testoni: “It’s nice to get compliments from the drivers, but it’s even better knowing we have achieved our development goals. I’d say the new rally format went down well”

Ott Tanak took his first win of the season in the Rally of Sardinia beating Sebastian Ogier by the skin of his teeth, fighting back all day, taking the lead in the power stage to come out 0.2 seconds ahead, after starting the Sunday 17.1 seconds down on the Frenchman. Rounding off the podium positions was Dani Sordo in the Hyundai at the end of an event that was very different to usual, with a shorter format making its debut in Sardinia. The valuable points for Super Sunday and the Power Stage actually went to Thierry Neuville who ruled himself out of a podium finish after going off the road on SS8.

Apart from seeing Tanak return to the winner’s circle, the Italian round also rubber-stamped the effectiveness of the new generation Pirelli Scorpion gravel tyres which, after making their debut in Portugal in mid-May, have now won on the Sardinian roads that represent probably the toughest challenge of the whole season. 

The tyre strategies adopted by the teams were largely influenced by the characteristics of the roads and the introduction of the format that saw crews having to make the second passes without service or tyre changes. Friday was the toughest test of the tyres, because of the abrasive nature of the road surface and the Scorpion Hard (the prime for this rally) was the only tyre chosen by all the cars. The only difference was in the number of spares, with Sordo, Neuville, Evans and Ogier risking just taking one. On Saturday morning, the more mixed surfaces of the four scheduled stages prompted the crews to go for a strategy with 4 Scorpion Soft and 2 Hard, apart from Adrien Fourmaux, who went 3 and 3 and Ogier who opted for 2 prime and 3 option. In the afternoon, only Hyundai favoured going with 4 prime and 2 option, while the majority of drivers chose 3 hard and 3 soft, including Ogier who, in the second part of the day, pulled away from the field. On Sunday morning, with softer and more consistent surfaces, all went for 5 soft compound tyres, apart from Sordo who inserted one hard in the quintet.

WRC2 was won by Finland’s Sam Pajari in a Toyota Yaris, while 24 year old Spaniard, Diego Dominguez, won in JWRC.

PIRELLI QUOTE
Terenzio Testoni, Pirelli Activity Manager: “Rally Sardinia has confirmed that our gravel tyre development of the past few months has produced the expected results. We are very pleased with the strength and durability they demonstrated on these very tough stages, even when already worn from the first passes and with the positive comments from the drivers. Especially on Friday, the new hard tyres clearly proved to be very resistant to wear, while on Saturday and Sunday, the new soft tyres demonstrated they were resistant to punctures. The new shorter rally format proved to be a challenge for everyone, but overall I’d say that this experiment carried out by the ACI at the behest of the Promoter and the FIA, was a success and was appreciated by the spectators. Apart from Ott, my congratulations also go to Sam who dominated in WRC2 and Diego for his win in the Junior, both youngsters are fine representatives of their two rally schools. It’s a shame for Seb who, starting last in the power stage, had to deal with a very cut up road surface and terrible conditions, which damaged a rim and lost him precious seconds.”

Worth noting the excellent performance from Roberto Daprà, supported by ACI Team Italia and Pirelli who finished ninth on his world championship debut in WRC2.

Here below a graphic summary of the Rally Italia Sardegna

The new hard compound gravel Scorpion will be the prime

Testoni: “With this interesting new format, tyre management will be even more important than usual”

Rally Italia Sardegna is the sixth round of the world championship and this year, it returns to Alghero, but in a more compact version, very different compared to past events, with 16 special stages instead of the usual 20, covering a total of 266.12 timed kilometres. There will in fact only be three days of competition, from Friday to Sunday, with the shakedown at the start of the first day, close to the first four special stages in the afternoon. That’s not the only change, as the stages will be repeated in the same section of the rally, as a result of which there will be no service or tyre changing before the repeat runs, by which time the cars and tyres will have already been subjected to a lot of stress. These changes,have been welcomed by the Sardegna Rally organisers, the ACI, at the suggestion of the WRCP and the FIA, as an experiment to make the rally more accessible and exciting for the spectators. They will have a quite a profound effect on the severity of the stages, which have always been challenging for drivers, cars and tyres. What makes the Rally Sardegna demanding is always the hard and uneven road surfaces in the north of the island, which become even rougher on the second pass, when the fine and slippery dust has been swept away. Complicating matters still further is the heat, with temperatures that can exceed the 30 degree mark.

THE CHALLENGE
Competitors will have to pay particular attention to the first stage, Tergu-Osilo, which will be longer than in the past and therefore likely to be one of the toughest of the entire season, with tyre management playing a key role. No less taxing will be the Tula SS, because of it many changes of pace from slow to fast, with a bumpy surface on narrow roads and the classic Monte Lerno, famous for its tricky jumps.

Tackling this challenge along with the crews will be the new Pirelli gravel tyres that performed well on their debut in the Portuguese Rally and feature a new construction, which ensures even greater durability and resistance than the previous generation, while their performance characteristics remain the same.

In Sardinia the hard compound Scorpion KX WRC HB will be the prime and the soft compound Scorpion KX WRC SB will be the option.

PIRELLI QUOTE
Terenzio Testoni, rally activity manager: “The changes introduced for this year’s Rally di Sardegna are noteworthy and very interesting and place the organisers at the forefront in terms of experimenting with a new rally format, at the behest of the Promoter and the FIA, which will probably become the standard one in the future. It means that this edition of the Sardegna rally will presumably be even more challenging and will require the drivers to be even more attentive than usual, especially when it comes to tyre management. We know that it’s when repeating the same stages that they are at their trickiest and having to do so without changing tyres means that sensible use of the tyres will play a key role.”

THE TYRES IN SARDINIA
For the Rally1 cars, the regulations stipulate an allocation of 28 and 8 for the prime and option respectively. The crews can increase the number of options to 12, which entails reducing the primes by 4.

As for the other categories in Sardinia, the Rally2 cars will be supplied with the new K4C (hard), which share the same development characteristics as the new Rally1 gravel tyres and the Scorpion K6B (soft). The Rally3 entries will use the K4A (hard) and K6A (soft). For these car categories, the allocation is 26 prime and 8 option, the numbers of the latter can be increased by the crews to 12, but they must reduce the number of prime tyres by 4.

Ogier takes his second win of the season, followed home by Tanak and Neuville

Testoni: “We are pleased with the evolution of the Scorpion which displayed their usual versatility combined with greater strength.”

On their first outing, the new Scorpion tyres passed the demanding exam set by the Rally of Portugal, which was won by Sebastien Ogier and his Toyota Yaris, in a rally with no shortage of excitement which featured several changes to the order. Standing on the second and third steps of the podium were the Hyundai pair of Ott Tanak, who won Super Sunday and Thierry Neuville, victorious on the Power Stage, while reigning world champion Kalle Rovanpera, who had been leading up to that point, paid a high price for a crash on SS 11 Montim 1.

Among the main features of a rally which, in some ways was atypical for Portugal, was the fact the road surfaces were often slippery in the morning, especially for the first cars, because of night time damp, with less dirt than usual, making it trickier to find grip.

In these conditions, it was no surprise that the soft compound Scorpion KX WRC SB, the prime on this event, was by a long way the preferred choice for the Rally1 drivers, who only opted for the hard on Friday afternoon, for the second pass of what was the most demanding day of the whole rally.

PIRELLI QUOTE
Terenzio Testoni, Pirelli Activity Manager: "We are very pleased with the new tyres, especially the soft which proved to be suitable for the wet and cold surfaces encountered in the morning, as well as the dry conditions in the afternoon, when they were used in combination with the hard, creating a great synergy. That versatility combined with greater strength, crucial in events like Portugal, is derived from the runflat technologies developed by Pirelli. It’s continuous development like this that serves to always push the limits with solutions designed for the top cars that then trickle down to all the others. As for the race, my compliments obviously go to Ogier, but also to the Hyundai drivers who fought right to the end, especially Tanak who deserved better luck. Takamoto also did an excellent job to dominate the first part of the rally.”

Jan Solans and his Toyota came out on top in WRC2, followed by the Skodas of Josh McEarlan and Joona Lauri, who made the most of the misfortunes that befell Oliver Solberg, Gus Greensmith and Yoan Rossel, who had led the category up until around the halfway mark.
Below a summary chart of the Rally of Portugal
 

Looking at the two Friday loops in detail, which effectively start the previous day with the superspecial stage, they have a 5 rating in terms of stress on the tyres, with the morning loop conditioned by the choice for SS1, while the afternoon will see a huge evolution in terms of road surface. It will be worth keeping an eye on SS3 and SS4, Lousa and Gois, especially on their second pass (SS6 and SS7) which will involve a high wear and load level.

In truth, Saturday won’t be a walk in the park either, looking at stages 12 to 16 with Amarante the longest of the rally and quite possibly of the entire season at 37.24 kilometres, and also because temperatures are expected to rise in the afternoon, getting to 25 degrees and higher.

As for Sunday’s stages, 19-21 feature ruts in the last eight kilometres that could cause problems for the drivers.

It’s worth noting that all crews have gone for the maximum allocation of hard tyres, namely 12, which brings the number of softs available down to 24.

THE TYRES FOR THE RALLY OF PORTUGAL
The soft compound Scorpion KX WRC SB, designed to ensure grip in the slipperiest conditions, striking a balance between performance durability and resistance, are the prime, while the hard compound Scorpion KX WRC HB, best suited to more abrasive surfaces and longer stages, are the option.

Both specifications are making their debut in Portugal and are an evolution of the SA and HA thanks to a revised construction which ensures even greater durability and resistance compared to the previous generation, while their performance characteristics remain unchanged.

As for the other categories, in Portugal the Rally2 cars will have available the K6B (soft) and the new K4C (hard), the latter also making its debut with evolved characteristics similar to those of the revised tyres for Rally1.

Rally3 cars will have available the K6A (soft) and the K4A (hard). The allocation for this category of car is 26 and 8 of the prime and option respectively. The crews can choose up to 12 of the latter, but that reduces their prime allocation by 4.

Even more robust, with increased durability among the attributes of the updated range

Testoni: “The WRC is an incredible platform on which to develop cutting-edge solutions for all categories and championships”.

A range of gravel tyres with an updated construction aimed at delivering longer life and with greater strength than its predecessor, while its performance characteristics remain unaltered. That’s the news from Pirelli at the Rally of Portugal, the second gravel event of the season. The update is in line with the programme of continuous evolution for WRC tyres. The new Scorpion KX WRC, designed for the Rally1 cars, features new markings, with the traditional SA and HA, for the soft and hard respectively, now replaced with SB and HB.

These new tyres have made particular use of the data gathered by Pirelli since 2021 in the highest level rally championship and have been tested in Sardinia and Portugal, in other words on the most difficult terrain encountered this season. The hard version of the Scorpion destined for the Rally2 cars features a similar evolution to that introduced for Rally1.

PIRELLI QUOTE
Terenzio Testoni, Pirelli Activity Manager: “The WRC is an important development platform also for all categories and championships in which we are and will continue to be involved, starting with ERC. Portugal is one of the toughest events on the calendar and will therefore be an excellent proving ground which is bound to bring us important findings. The teams have already expressed their satisfaction with the new product which is more robust than its predecessor, itself having proven to be very popular with the drivers. Its working range and performance are unaltered, therefore obviating the need for any specific learning process.”

THE PIRELLI TYRES IN PORTUGAL
The main challenges of the Portuguese rally are:

• high speed and technical gravel roads with a surface that is initially soft and sandy, with poor grip
• rocky surfaces with sharp stones appearing after the first runs, thus making life difficult for those starting further back
• the possibility that deep ruts can form on the stages
• the weather is an unknown quantity and if it should rain the road surface can become a slippery, muddy quagmire

For those reasons, the Scorpion KX WRC SB soft compound tyre has been chosen as the prime in Portugal, as it provides grip even in the most slippery conditions, with a balance of performance, endurance and strength, with the hard compound Scorpion KX WRC HB as the option, best suited for the more abrasive surfaces and longer stages.

The regulations allow an allocation of 28 and 8 tyres for the prime and option respectively. Crews can choose up to 12 option tyres, but that reduces by 4 their allocation of primes.

As for the other categories in Portugal, the Rally2 cars will have the Scorpion K6B (soft) and the new K4C (hard), while Rally3 can use the K6A (soft) and the K4A (hard). These categories have an allocation of 26 prime and 8 option, the latter with the possibility of crews increasing the number to 12, with the number of primes therefore reduced by 4.

 

The Frenchman came out on top in a closely contested rally, with the turning point coming on SS 18

Testoni: “We witnessed a really interesting and close fought rally. The tyres were well suited to all situations and choices”

Sebastien Ogier took his Toyota to a first win of 2024, making him the fourth driver to win a rally from the four WRC events held so far. The multiple world champion came home ahead of Elfyn Evans (Toyota) and Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) at the end of what had been a close contest all weekend long. The key moment came on SS 18, when Neuville and Evans, both ahead of the eventual winner up to that point, suffered damage to their cars, having gone off the road at two different slippery points on the route. These two episodes summed up the slippery nature and dirt present on the Croatian roads, particularly on Sunday morning, which made for challenging conditions for drivers and tyres, despite the absence of the rain that had been forecast.

THE CHALLENGE
In fact, the rain that was expected to characterise the Croatia Rally did not materialise, although its very absence made itself felt, if not in the way expected. Contrary to the forecasts, it never rained throughout the entire weekend, but it did influence tyre choice for the drivers, as on Saturday, they all took on board a good number of wet and soft tyres, which dealt with the completely dry conditions without too many problems. However, in the end, the close fight for the lead on Saturday between Neuville, Evans and Ogier was only partially affected by this factor. The gaps between them remained pretty much unchanged, regardless of the tyres used.

Tyre strategies from driver to driver varied considerably over the three days, with the cars always coming out with a combination of hard and soft, with the addition of the wet tyre in the two sections on Saturday.

PIRELLI QUOTE
Terenzio Testoni, Pirelli Activity Manager: “We witnessed a wonderful and thrilling rally in which it was easy to make mistakes. Congratulations to all the winners in the various categories. From a technical standpoint, the rally produced the difficulties we were expecting, both in terms of the poor grip from the road surface and the dirt that was particularly significant on Sunday. The tyres responded well to the various demands placed on them, even when the choices made by the crews turned out to be wrong, because of the misleading weather forecast. The strength and wear resistance of the tyres meant the event went off smoothly, even when the wheel system was damaged several times on various cars. In fact, the use of the entire range of allocated tyres, including the wets, meant that all the cars had new tyres available to tackle the challenge of Super Sunday, which in the end was decided by two mistakes, completely understandable when one considers the level of competition and the rally still to be decided with three stages still to go.”

WRC2 AND JWRC
Nicolaj Grazin ran out the comfortable winner of WRC2 in his Citroen C3 Rally 2, controlling the rally from start to finish. Second and third places went to Yohan Rossel (Citroen C3) and Pepe Lopez (Skoda Fabia RS). In Junior WRC the win went to Romet Jürgenson (Ford Fiesta Rally3).

Here below a chart summary of the Croatia Rally

Main points:

• The toughest day of the whole rally should be the Saturday. During the 8 special stages the stress on the tyres should be particularly high for this type of asphalt and because of the dirt that tends to accumulate after each run.
• The most critical stages of the whole rally are 1-8 because of the deep ruts and the narrow roads and 9-13.
• On Friday, one will also need to watch out for Platak (SS 4-5) because of high stress and a high risk of failure.
• Sunday should be more straightforward, even if it looks like being slippery, with the two sections presenting very different challenges: the first (SS 17-19) is fast, while the second (SS 18-20) features narrow roads.
• Damp surfaces will play a part in managing tyre choice, which will most likely see crews use the entire range available.

Below are the day-by-day analysis charts

PIRELLI TYRES IN CROATIA
Pirelli’s asphalt rally tyre is available in two compounds. For Croatia, the prime will be the hard compound (P Zero RA WRC HA) which is best suited to tackling the more abrasive road surfaces and the longer stages, while the soft compound (P Zero RA WRC SA) will be the option, preferred when the asphalt is more slippery or damp because of rain or overnight frost.

P Zero RA: is the product specific to Rally2 and Rally3 cars, used therefore in WRC2, WRC3 and Junior WRC. In this case too, crews can choose from the hard compound (RA5A) which made its debut last autumn in the Spanish Rally, which here in Croatia is the prime and the soft compound (RA7+). The P Zero RA tyres share several characteristics with the WRC tyres fitted to the top tier cars

For the Rally2 cars, Croatia hosts the maiden outing for the new soft tyre the RA7+C, which delivers improved performance on slippery surfaces presenting a mix of damp and dry conditions. The RA7+A has similar characteristics and this new soft tyre is also making its outright debut on the roads of Croatia, developed for the Rally3 cars.

Cinturato RW: all the four-wheel drive categories have available a rain tyre aimed at wet or very damp asphalt. The Cinturato WRC RWB was developed specifically for Rally1 cars. Rally2 have the new RWC, while Rally3 cars will use the CInturato RW1C.

The P Zero Hard is the prime choice. Also available are the wet weather Cinturato and the P Zero Soft as the option

Testoni: “Watch out for the dirt that builds up on the road surface. Tyre management is a key to success”

The Croatia Rally is always a closely contested challenge and once again this year it marks the start of the asphalt events for both the WRC and the JWRC. The 20 special stages, over a total of 304.38 kilometres are now well known to the drivers, but that does not mean they are any less difficult or insidious. Here are the main challenges:

• A big discrepancy between the types of road surface, which are generally slippery, with different grip levels from one stage to the next
• Many sections with uneven asphalt and bumps, suffering the effects of the weather
• The nature of the roads, which are fast, but at the same time narrow, while the the surface itself can get worse as more cars drive through
• Occasional rain is forecast for the weekend and it can be intermittent, but also heavy

PIRELLI TYRES IN CROATIA
The available tyres are: 

P Zero RA WRC: Pirelli’s asphalt rally tyre is available in two compounds. For Croatia, the prime choice will be the hard compound version (P Zero RA WRC HA), best suited to tackling the most abrasive road surfaces and the longest stages, while the soft compound version (P Zero RA WRC SA) will be the option, usually best suited to more slippery conditions or when the asphalt is damp due to rain or night time frost.

P Zero RA: is the range for Rally2 and Rally3 cars, therefore used for WRC2, WRC3 and Junior WRC. Here too it is available in the hard compound version (RA5A), which in Croatia is the prime.  The P Zero RA tyres share many of the characteristics of the WRC tyres fitted to the top tier cars.

For the Rally2 cars, Croatia marks the debut of the new soft tyre, the RA7+C, which delivers improved performance when the road surface is a slippery mix of damp and dry. The new soft RA7+A tyre, developed for Rally3 cars, is also making its debut on the Croatian roads and has similar characteristics.

Cinturato RW: All four-wheel drive category cars have a rain tyre available, suitable for wet or very damp asphalt. The Cinturato WRC RWB was developed exclusively for Rally1 cars. Rally2 have the new RWC, while the Rally3 cars will use the Cinturato RW1C.

The rules state that each Rally1 car can use a total of 28 tyres over the course of the rally. The allocation is 28 prime P Zero RA WRC HA tyres, 18 of the option P Zero RA WRC SA and 12 of the wet Cinturato RWB. The WRC2 and WRC3 (as well as the Junior) category cars can use up to 26 tyres, the allocation being 26 prime, 18 option and 12 wet.

PIRELLI QUOTE 
Terenzio Testoni, Rally Activity Manager: “Tyre management has always been a key factor in Croatia, where the roads are fast but also very smooth. Actually, the real challenge for all crews will be grip, which can be really poor in some sections which tend to get very dirty. Last year, the dirt that built up over every run was a real feature of the rally, which is why use of the soft tyre was widespread even on perfectly dry surfaces. I expect it will be an unpredictable rally all the way to the finish, with plenty of drama as always.”

Kalle Rovanpera won with a careful drive, dominating right from the start

Testoni: “It’s a one-of-a-kind rally, rewarding those who focus on consistency and precision rather than outright performance”

It was expected to be a tougher rally than usual because of rain, but actually, its difficulty came down to very different causes, with plenty of twists and turns, although the rally leader was never in doubt. In fact, Toyota confirmed its mastery of the event with this its fourth straight win on the Safari Rally Kenya, with Kalle Rovanpera victorious, overcoming the unpredictable dirt roads through the savannah, ahead of team-mate Takamoto Katsuta, with Ford’s Adrian Forneaux coming home third. Once again, the Scorpion KX WRC was the only tyre used by all crews over all three days. In the Super Sunday stages, which provide added points for the Championship rankings, Ott Tanak (Hyundai) came out on top, beating team-mate Thierry Neuville (who won the powerstage) and Elfyn Evans (Toyota) who threw caution to the winds, to ensure the competition was very close and, at times, spectacular.

THE CHALLENGES
These were the main features of the 2024 Safari Rally, generally the most demanding event since its return to the world championship calendar in 2021:

• Very high speeds, despite the very bumpy road surface, which also changed considerably as more and more cars ran through the stages;
• A large quantity of loose stones, some of them actual boulders, which combined with the speed, really put cars and tyres to the test, that led to almost all crews reporting damage
• Very slippery terrain, made even trickier because of the inevitable fesh-fesh
• Saturday proved to be the trickiest day of the weekend, while the most demanding of all the stages were the first and third on both Friday and Saturday, especially the iconic Kedong (31km) and Sleeping Warrior (36 km)
• Generally high tyre stress and wear
• A common tyre strategy for all teams, who once again used only the prime soft compound, even if there were times when the surface was almost suitable for the option hard compound
• There was rain, but much less than feared prior to the event and it had no effect on the consistency of the road surface nor on the way the rally unfolded.

PIRELLI QUOTE
Terenzio Testoni, Pirelli Rally activity manager: “The Safari Rally confirmed its unique nature, not comparable to any other rounds of the world championship, with its own set of characteristics and difficulties, even if this year those difficulties were of a different nature and tougher than in previous years, because of the very high number of stones on the route. However, in the end, as usual the win went to the crew who reported no problems with either the car or the tyres, confirming that a steady pace and paying careful attention to the road pays off more than outright performance. For our part, we have again gathered invaluable data, which will be useful in the future for all the rally categories in which we will continue to be involved.”

In RC2, where the cars inevitably suffered heavily from the rapid deterioration of the stage surface, because of their running order on the road, Gus Greensmith won from Oliver Solberg, both at the wheel of the Skoda Fabia Rally2.

Below, a graphic summary of Safari Rally Kenya:

Here are the key points after studying the data for an event where the weather seems less threatening than previously thought, despite its switch to an end-of-March date, normally the start of the rainy season.

• Saturday looks like being the trickiest day of the rally weekend
• The most demanding special stages are generally the first and third on Friday and Saturday with a high tyre stress level, especially the iconic 31 kilometre Kedong stage and Sleeping Warrior (36 km).
• On these stages, and indeed on all of them, the major danger comes from loose stones, which combined with the high average speeds increases the risk of tyre and car damage. Also not to be underestimated is the threat posed by the fesh-fesh, both in dry and wet conditions, when it morphs into deep and sticky mud.
• Tyre wear is generally expected to be medium-low
• Rain forecast probably in the afternoon brings with it the risk of mud and standing water in several sections, with an increased risk of the aforementioned rocks being more exposed.

Here are the analysis charts for each day

Even if, for the moment only slightly, the move to a March date increases the risk of rain which could make the event even harder, with deeper ruts increasing the risk from rocks

Testoni: “The softs have always proved very reliable in Kenya and once again this year they will demonstrate their combination of resilience and performance”

The Safari Kenya Rally, the third round of the season and the first on gravel returns to its traditional end of March date. This change alone is enough to make a rally which already throws up plenty of unknowns, even more unpredictable because of the greater chance of rain, which was a factor in last year’s event. At the moment, the weather forecast does not give cause for too much concern on this front: rainfall is expected mainly in the afternoon and is unlikely to be as heavy as feared. The resilient and reliable soft compound Scorpion KX WRC SA will once again provide reassurance for the drivers, nominated as the prime for this event. It is actually the only specification used by all the drivers in the past two editions.

The pitfalls of the African rally are by now well known: slippery surfaces, along with rocks, bumps and deep ruts which means that resilience rather than performance is the quality that is valued most from both the cars and the tyres. Neither can one underestimate the perils of the “fesh fesh,” the very fine sand in which a car can easily sink. All these dangers linked to the road surface become even trickier to deal with when it rains. In these conditions the roads get even more slippery and muddy and the rocks become more exposed, thus doing more damage, while increasing the risk of cars getting bogged down, as well as leading to a reduction in grip levels.

THE PIRELLI TYRES
Even in the worst-case scenario, the soft compound Scorpion KX RWC SA is the most suitable choice, being designed to ensure grip in the most slippery conditions and in the wet, offering the right balance of performance and resilience as already demonstrated on other rallies. The hard compound Scorpion KX WRC HA is the option tyre, suited to more abrasive surfaces and longer stages.

As per the regulations, the allocation allows for 28 prime tyres and 8 option. A crew can choose to increase the number of option tyres to 12, in which case the prime allocation is reduced by 4.

As for the other categories in Kenya, the Rally2 cars can use the Scorpion K6B tyre (soft) and the K4B (hard), while Rally3 have available the K6A (soft) and K4A (hard). For these car categories, the allocation is 26 and 8 tyres for the prime and option respectively. The crews can choose to increase the latter to 12 while reducing the prime by 4.

PIRELLI QUOTE
Terenzio Testoni, Pirelli Rally activity manager: “The Scorpion SA have proved to be very versatile over the years in Kenya and other rallies. They are designed to ensure both grip and impact resistance, with a construction that is neither too soft to stand up to the severe demands of the event, nor too rigid which would damage the suspension. It is important for the drivers to tackle the Safari Rally for what it is, namely an event where endurance is more important than speed, unlike any other rally on the calendar.”

Testoni: “I admit I was a bit worried given the condition of the roads, but in the end, the studs stood up very well thanks to our exclusive technology”

Rally Sweden, won by Esapekka Lappi in the Hyundai i20 N Rally1, was run in extreme weather conditions, at times even beyond those expected. There were accidents that signalled the end for big names such as Kalle Rovanpera, Ott Tanak, while some of the WRC2 drivers proved their worth, with Oliver Solberg (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) winning the category and finishing fifth overall and Georg Linnamae (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) fastest on SS5.

For several reasons, the rally was surprising and unusual, with the right management of the only type of tyre available playing an essential role, with the one strategy choice being how many spare tyres to carry on board for each section.

The hardest day of the whole rally, even if it was not the decisive one, was Saturday, as had been predicted from the analysis of the special stages carried out by the Pirelli engineers following the recce. Long stretches of frozen roads put the drivers under pressure and really tested the tyres in difficult driving conditions. Particularly demanding on this front were the two runs through the longest special stage at 28 kilometres, Bygdsiljum (SS11 and SS14). On its second run in the afternoon, the terrain encountered was frozen gravel, despite heavy snowfall on Friday. On the first day, the ice and heavy snow gave rise to potential problems with grip, while on Saturday, the frozen gravel provided a stern test for the studs.

Terenzio Testoni, Pirelli Rally activity manager:  “Finally, we have witnessed a complete Swedish Rally, with plenty of snow on Friday and a lot of ice and frozen gravel on Saturday. Once again, the tyres got the job done, as on every other event in our time as the WRC sole tyre supplier, ensuring reliability, spectacle, and safety, even on road surfaces that turned out to be more challenging than the crews had expected. The Sottozero Ice was a match for every situation and both the Rally1 and Rally2 versions confirmed their worth. The stud retention was impressive, even on stages that were run practically on frozen gravel, which is down to our exclusive technology whereby the studs are vulcanised into the tyre. I admit that I was a bit worried, but it seems I had to no reason to be. Now our attention turns to Kenya, where for the first time the event takes place in March.”

In the first WRC Junior rally of the season, Mille Johansson won, followed home by Romet Jürgenson. The youngsters on the FIA Rally Star programme aimed at supporting talented newcomers and promoted by the FIA in partnership with Pirelli, also got off to an excellent start.

Graphic summary of Rally Sweden here below:

The 2024 route features some changes compared to last year, with more technical and slower sections

Testoni: “Surface conditions could change from stage to stage. Adapting to this will be the key to success”

The 2024 edition of Rally Sweden is the second round of the WRC and the first for the Junior category. There are some changes in terms of the route and it also features a tribute to Craig Breen, who made his last appearance on a world championship rally here last year.

Some of the special stages have changed, with more corners and jumps, as well as sections going through more populated areas. The first of these is SS3/6 Norrby on Friday, which uses a completely new section from the 3.51 kilometre mark to the finish. On Saturday, SS9/12 Vännäs is totally revised, over 15 kilometres long, featuring jumps and fast sections mixed in with narrow and more technical ones. Only the second part of SS11/14 Bygdsiljum has changed, being more technical and slower. There are also modifications on Sunday, with a very different SS16/17 Västervik, now including two brand new sections. There are also very slight changes to the power-stage, with the start a few hundred metres back compared to last year.

As a tribute to Craig Breen SS2/5 now goes by the name of #42Brattby.

PIRELLI QUOTE
Terenzio Testoni, rally activity manager: “The real unknown and the toughest challenge of Rally Sweden is down to the various road surface conditions that might be encountered. Last year, these matched what one expects from a winter rally, with packed snow and icy sections mixed in with others that featured gravel, less packed ice and deep ruts. These varied conditions need to be tackled carefully in different ways, especially when it comes to tyre management, bearing in mind that only studded tyres are available. Therefore, the only strategy choice is how many spares to carry on the rally. Our Sottozero has always been very reliable, with unrivalled stud strength and once again this year, it will play its part in delivering a fast and exciting rally. It will be interesting to see how Kalle Rovanpera performs on his season debut on a surface he likes, as well as how the many Nordic snow and ice specialists get on competing in Rally2.”

PIRELLI TYRES IN SWEDEN
The tyres available are:
Sottozero Ice J1B. In all classes of Rally Sweden, the regulations allow for just one type of tyre with one type of stud – a maximum of 20 studs per square decimetre of tread, with a maximum height of 20mm. The Sottozero Ice J1B, to be used by the Rally1 cars, features an asymmetric directional pattern, designed specifically for snow and icy surfaces with a total of 384 studs, with tungsten tips, with seven millimetres protruding from the tread and 13 millimetres buried in the tyre. The amount the studs protrude was decided on by the Pirelli engineers, taking into consideration all possible rally conditions from frozen hard ground to surfaces with a mix of ice and snow. To ensure the stud is as secure as possible, it is locked into place using Pirelli’s patented vulcanisation process, rather than just being inserted after the tyre is manufactured.

Rallly1 crews may use a maximum of 28 tyres, excluding the shakedown.

The Sottozero Ice J1C and WJC for the Rally2 and Junior WRC Rally3 cars respectively share some common features with the J1B, such as the studs and Pirelli's unique vulcanisation technology.

Rally2 and Junior WRC drivers can use a maximum of 26 tyres for this event, excluding the shakedown.

Neuville wins in WRC1 and Rossel in WRC2. A close contest meant the result went down to the wire on Sunday morning

Testoni: “The drivers did a good job in terms of choice and management of the tyres. The P Zero proved to be versatile and reliable in all conditions.”

The World Rally Championship got underway in Monte Carlo with a thrilling event that was undecided until the very end. It came down to a fight between Thierry Neuville (Hyundai), multiple world champion Sebastien Ogier and his Toyota team-mate Elfyn Evans, while the tyre to use was the P Zero. In the end, victory went to Neuville, while on the tyre front, the soft version of the P Zero made the difference, proving to be versatile and reliable in all conditions, which contrary to expectations, were mainly dry. The supersoft had its work cut out, having to do its bit on wetter surfaces and on some occasional sections where “verglas” was present, while the winter specification tyres stayed lock away in the boot and were not even out at the service park.  

THE CHALLENGE
Moving the event more inland compared to the previous two editions, had raised hopes of witnessing a traditional Monte Carlo rally, with snow and ice mixed in with wet and dry sections. However, the weather and temperatures had different ideas, leaving the drivers to face the difficulties of having to find grip on surfaces that changed, not just within the same section, but even in an individual stage, where there was verglas in some places. Given these conditions, the most popular tyre combination was between the soft and supersoft, the former seeing the most use on all days of the event.

The most demanding stages from a tyre perspective were SS3 and 6 because of the abrasive surface and SS5 and 8 because of “verglas” which cost some drivers several seconds.

PIRELLI QUOTE
Terenzio Testoni, Pirelli Activity Manager: “It was a really interesting and closely contested rally in both the top class and in WRC 2. Getting the strategy right and tyre management was the key factor, as is always the case in Monte Carlo, even if this time the choice was limited to two of the four available specifications.

To sum up, I would say all the drivers did a very good job on this front, to the extent that almost of all them had new soft tyres available for Sunday’s stages, even though this had been the most widely used specification over the course of the weekend. For the Rally 2 cars, the P Zero SA Rally1 e le Ra7+B clearly played a leading role, even though there were fewer of them in their allocation than the supersofts, which confirms their great versatility and reliability as well as durability. From our side, there’s only one slight regret at not having been able to test the evolution of our studded tyres on the event, which we had developed specifically for this rally. There will be no shortage of opportunities in the future. In fact, our development work is not just for the benefit of the WRC, but for all rally categories.”

There was also a great battle right down to the final special stage in WRC2, with victory going to Yohan Rossel in a Citroen C3 Rally2 ahead of Pepe Lopez in his Skoda Fabia RS Rally2.

Graphic summary of the Monte Carlo Rally here below

TYRE STRATEGY
Given the conditions, the challenge in terms of tyre management will come from the rather high abrasive nature of the majority of surfaces and the slippery conditions in several sections. The tyre wear rate is therefore in the medium-high range (3.5 out of 5). At the moment, it seems the need for winter tyres will be very limited, so the tyre strategy will be concentrated on the soft as the main choice and the supersoft.

SUMMARY OF THE MAIN DATA
Ambient temperature: generally high for this time of year, fluctuating between -1 (only on SS17, the Col de Turini) and 14 degrees.
Surface temperature: generally lower than the ambient, ranging from -3 to +30 (SS5, SS8 and SS15).
Type of surface: from very abrasive and medium abrasive asphalt for the majority of the route, to only occasional ice and snow.
Grip level: generally low and medium-low, especially on Thursday.
Risk of tyre damage: the Pirelli engineers employ a classification that goes from 1 to 5 and on this scale, the Monte-Carlo Rally is rated 3, with the occasional places that are 4 or 5 on Thursday and Saturday.
Tyre stress & wear: very high.
Most challenging sections: 4 and 5 on Saturday.
Most challenging special stages: SS1, SS 2, SS 9, SS11, SS12.

Below are the daily analysis charts in detail and the tyre allocation list per driver.

THE TYRES FOR THE MONTE-CARLO RALLY
P Zero RA WRC: the soft compound version of the asphalt tyre is the specification developed for dry and abrasive surfaces. The supersoft version, updated in 2023, is designed exclusively for the Monte-Carlo Rally, which requires asphalt tyres that work on slippery surfaces as well as in mixed dry-wet conditions and very low temperatures.

Sottozero STZ-B: a highly versatile winter tyres suitable for all car categories and designed for dry, wet, snow or mixed snow and ice surfaces. This specification is available in two versions, non-studded and studded. The most recent evolution of the latter will be supplied as the 2024 Monte-Carlo Rally’s route is more demanding and features more snowy sections than in the past two years. The new version of the studded Sottozero features a more robust and resistant construction than its predecessor.

Each driver in the top category has 80 tyres at their disposal but can use no more than 38 during the event, including four tyres for the shakedown. For the rally, each car’s allocation is as follows:

• 20 P Zero RA Soft SA
• 24 P Zero RA Super Soft SSA
• 24 Sottozero STZ-B studded
• 12 Sottozero STZ-B non-studded

Pirelli also supplies tyres to the other all-wheel drive cars, including the WRC2s entered in the event. For this category, the tyres have similar characteristics in terms of technological solutions and performance to those supplied for WRC1. The allocation for the all-wheel drive cars is as follows:

• 20 P Zero RA7+B Soft
• 16 P Zero RA9 Super Soft
• 24 Sottozero STZ-B studded
• 12 Sottozero STZ-B non-studded

On debut the latest evolution of studded tyres, developed with the characteristics of the 2024 edition of the rally in mind 

The toughest day promises to be Saturday with over 134 timed kilometres

Testoni: "The teams have a wide choice of strategies, as they know they can count on a reliable and versatile range of tyres"

The Monte-Carlo Rally returns to base itself in Gap, after a two-year absence, in search of more severely snow- and ice-covered surfaces than seen in recent editions. Even if at the moment the weather does not threaten particularly extreme conditions, the first round of the World Championship season will certainly be a severe test for everyone, in which drivers and teams will measure their ambitions for the continuation of the championship and will be called upon to show their ability to fine-tune their tyre strategy.  

THE CHALLENGE
The Rallye Monte-Carlo is, in fact, the race in which the right choice and the correct handling of the wide range of tyres available counts perhaps more than any other consideration, due to the extreme variety of road surfaces, which change from test to test and throughout the day.

Of the four days of the 92ndMonte-Carlo Rally, Saturday promises to be the most demanding with 134.86 timed kilometres divided into three special stages to be repeated twice. Sunday's finale will take place between Gap and Monte Carlo, where the prize-giving ceremony will take place. 

PIRELLI QUOTE
Terenzio Testoni, Pirelli Rally Activity Manager: "As was the case last year, we arrive at the Monte-Carlo Rally with already one victory in the season's palmarès, the one obtained in the demanding Jännerrallye.  From the first race of the World Championship we expect invaluable indications for the future development of our range, which in these years of participation in the WRC has continued to evolve, thanks to the experience accumulated and the collaboration with the teams. This rally is certainly one of the toughest of the entire season, in which the tyres make as much of a difference as the drivers' approach to the very different challenges they will face. The teams have a lot of strategies at their disposal, as they know they can count on tyres that in past editions have proved reliable and versatile in all conditions".

THE TYRES FOR THE MONTE-CARLO RALLY
P Zero RA WRC: the soft compound version of the asphalt tyres is the specification developed for slippery surfaces. The supersoft version, renewed in 2023, is a solution designed exclusively for the Monte-Carlo Rally, which requires asphalt tyres suitable for very low temperatures.

Sottozero STZ-B: a highly versatile winter tyre, intended for all car categories and designed for dry, wet, snow-covered or mixed snow-ice surfaces.  This specification is available in two versions: studless and studded. The latter will be supplied in its most recent evolution, developed taking into account the route of the 2024 edition of the Monte-Carlo Rally, which is more demanding and has more snowy sections than the last two years. The new version of the studded Sottozero features a more robust and resistant construction than its predecessor.  

Each driver in the top category has 80 tyres at his disposal, of which he can use up to 38 during the race, including four shakedown tyres. For the rally, each car has a total allocation of:

• 24 P Zero RA Soft
• 20 P Zero RA Super Soft
• 24 studded Sottozero STZ-B
• 12 Sottozero STZ-B studless

Pirelli also supplies tyres to the other four-wheel-drive cars, including the WRC2s, taking part in the event. The tyres for these categories of cars have similar characteristics, in terms of technological solutions and performance, to those developed for WRC1. All-wheel drive cars will have at their disposal:

•  20 P Zero RA7+B Soft
• 16 P Zero RA9 Super Soft
• 24 Sottozero STZ-B studded
• 12 Sottozero STZ-B

Little use was made of the P Zero Hard, which were the prime for the rally

Testoni: "The wet tyres, like the others in our range, also showed great versatility and reliability. It closes a very positive season for us, but head to the future: we are already working for Monte Carlo."

The World Rally Championship closes in Japan with a Toyota triple with Elfyn Evans, Sebastien Ogier and Kalle Rovanpera on the podium in one of the most surprisingly challenging races of the season. In this rally, characterized by extreme weather conditions well beyond all predictions that complicated the search for grip on the slippery roads around Toyota City, the versatility and reliability of Pirelli tyres once again proved their crucial importance for the proper management of the race.

THE CHALLENGE
The consequence of the severe weather situation, characterized by heavy rainfall and low temperatures, was the disruption of plans and strategies, with the choice of tyres reduced to soft and wet.  Although the rally was, in fact, supposed to be dominated by the P Zero Hard, indicated as prime, the rain, snow and cold brought the P Zero Soft and especially the Cinturato Wet to the center of attention. The wet Pirelli tyre proved decisive not only with the all-day rain on Friday, followed by an overnight frost, but also with the snow that fell in the following days. While in the former case the Cinturato's tread pattern sipes were decisive in expelling the large amounts of water on the road surface, in the latter it was the compounds that had to prove responsiveness and adaptability even in conditions far beyond those for which they were designed.

PIRELLI QUOTE
Terenzio Testoni, Pirelli Activity Manager: "It was a very difficult rally, but I don't remember any easy rally this season, which in general has been very positive for us. In all the races there were unforeseen events, often related to the weather situation, to deal with which our tyres always offered the solution. The Cinturato Wet remained the only ones in our range to be put to the test in extreme conditions. I would say they passed the test brilliantly, taking on some of the work that snow tyres do in Monte Carlo and proving to have the same reliability as our entire range of WRC tyres. Over the course of the season we have accumulated data and experience that will come in very handy for future developments that we are already working on. For the Monte Carlo Rally we have already scheduled tests that will take place in the coming weeks."

In WRC2 Andreas Mikkelsen won ahead of Nikolay Gryazin and Kajetan Kajetanowicz, all on the Skoda Fabia RS Rally2.

Below is a graphic summary of the Rally Japan

The P Zero Hard is the prime. Also available are the P Zero Soft and the Cinturato for wet weather, indicated in case of rain

Testoni: “It closes a season marked by often spectacular races, during which we always learned something new and useful for the future development of our products”

The eighth edition of the Rally Japan, which features some changes in format compared to last year, closes a world championship that had already given its verdicts in the previous two races with the crowning of Kalle Rovanpera and Toyota as 2023 champions of drivers and manufacturers. But the Japanese team's home rally will surely have stories to tell, if only because of the unknowns reserved by a track that is by its nature challenging and relatively familiar to crews who will have to engage, before the race, in more thorough reconnaissance than usual on the 304.66 competitive kilometers scheduled on the roads around Nagoya. 

THE CHALLENGE
The asphalts on the 22 special stages, including three in the Toyota Stadium, which run in the Ena, Gifu and Chūbu regions are generally challenging and can be slippery, especially in the early morning hours, particularly on the mountain sections. The hazards posed by cuts that bring soil, stones and foliage onto the road should not be underestimated. However, the real attention must be paid particularly to the weather, according to which at the moment the race is presented with a rainy Friday and the rest of the weekend without precipitation, but with cold temperatures, especially in the morning, and predictably quite wet surfaces, opening the way for a plurality of possible choices. Thus, while on Friday an almost exclusive use of the Cinturato wet-weather tyres is to be expected, on the other two race days the options will focus on the other two tyres available, also in combination with each other: the P Zero Hard (prime), which over the course of the season have shown great versatility, offering reliability even on not entirely dry asphalts, and the P Zero Soft (option), more suitable in case wet conditions and lack of grip turn out to be greater than expected. 

PIRELLI QUOTE
Terenzio Testoni, rally activity manager: "Although the championship is closed, I expect a heartfelt and hard-fought race from everyone, as well as a very interesting one from a technical point of view. Japan's roads and weather conditions pose challenges that should not be underestimated and present risks that must be well analyzed especially in the reconnaissance phase, where any slightest error in judgment could cost a high price. For us, it will be an opportunity to accumulate more data for future developments of our products. After all, we have experienced an intense season in which we have always had the opportunity to learn something, with races that are always challenging and, often, notably spectacular."

TIRES FOR JAPAN RALLY
In Japan, for Rally1 cars allocations are:

• 28 tires for the P Zero RA WRC HA (hard), suitable for dry, more abrasive surfaces and longer stages
• 18 for the P Zero RA WRC SA (soft), ideal for the slipperier dry asphalts
• 12 for the Cinturato RWB wet-weather tyres.

Each Rally1 car can fit a total of 28 tires during the race, including 4 for the shakedown.

For WRC2, which can use up to a maximum of 26 tires per car, including shakedown, the allocations for each crew are:

• 26 P Zero RA5A
• 18 P Zero RA7+B
• 12 Cinturato RWB

Rain and wet tyres protagonists of the first two days of the rally, which turned out to be more challenging than expected

Testoni: "The weather conditions strongly conditioned the race, but both the P Zero dry and Cinturato wet tires provided grip and reliability as usual, even on often extreme surfaces."

It was a tougher rally than expected, with dirty and wet surfaces right up to Saturday, which complicated the drivers' lives in no small part, the one held this weekend on the roads of the Czech Republic, Austria and Germany. Grabbing the victory of the first Central European Rally was Thierry Neuville on Hyundai who was able to take advantage of Elfyn Evans' exit from the game on Toyota due to an accident at SS11, which allowed him to overtake him in the standings, but above all resulted in a shrewd management of the race by Kalle Rovanpera (Toyota) who only needed a good placing to be crowned world champion for the second consecutive time. With his teammate and direct rival for the title out of the picture, the Finn, who up to that point had dominated on the wet and dirty terrain on Friday and Saturday, took a few more risks to stay in the front of the race, but in the end preferred to administer the lead in the overall standings, leaving the race scepter to Neuville.  

From the point of view of tires, the teams' strategy was strongly conditioned by the weather conditions, which were worse than expected, just as the special stages on Friday and Saturday turned out to be more difficult than many had predicted on the eve of the race: The stages were characterized by muddy bottoms, due to the cuts,  and speed. In addition, the surfaces were made even more slippery by the rain, which fell in abundance. So on Friday and Saturday it was the Cinturato wet tires that dominated the scene. The P Zero softs, which were the prime for this rally, after an initial appearance in the opening two stages in Prague, only definitely regained space from the second passes on Saturday, when the special stages were less wet than in the morning. On Sunday, as predicted by Pirelli engineers in their post-reconnaissance analysis, P Zero Hard tires also appeared on almost all the cars (exceptions were the Toyotas of Rovanpera and Sebastien Ogier, who went all out on the softs), thanks to the dry asphalt and higher temperatures.

PIRELLI QUOTE
Terenzio Testoni, Pirelli Rally activity manager: "The Cinturato Wet tires once again demonstrated their reliability even in such difficult conditions, with asphalts on which grip was really very poor, not only because of the rain, but also because of the many debris on the surface, despite the many anti-cutting devices. The 12 wet tires available to each crew ensured not only grip but also great reliability, durability and performance. In Japan we expect less challenging conditions than these, but not too much at the end: rain is a constant in that rally as well. Congratulations to Kalle, who always shows his class in difficult conditions, and to all of Toyota for the drivers' title, which comes just one race after the constructors' title achieved in Chile."

In Rally2, Nicola Ciamin in a Skoda Fabia came out on top, but Andreas Mikkelsen by winning the power stage managed to conquer the season title in his category. 

Below is a graphic summary of the Central European Rally.

TYRE STRATEGY
Given the characteristics of the road surfaces and the highly variable weather forecast, the entire range of tires available, including wet tires, will play a role in this rally. There will be a decreasing importance for the Cinturato WETs, which will presumably be called into play along with the softs most in the Thursday and Friday morning special stages, and a possible increasing importance of the hard, which will take center stage most in the second part of the weekend on medium-abrasive asphalts, provided they have completely dry surfaces and temperatures at least 10 degrees. Central remain the soft P Zero, which for this race are the prime and most suitable for medium-smooth slippery asphalt in both damp and mixed dry-damp conditions.

MAIN DATA AT A GLANCE
Ambient temperatures: generally low with a low of 10 degrees to a high of 17, with major fluctuations throughout the day

Surface types: prevalence of medium-smooth asphalts

Surface roughness: generally, not high, with peak on Saturday

Grip level: generally medium

Tire damage risk: in Pirelli engineers' rating, which adopts a scale of 1 to 5, the CER gets an average rating of 2.5 with peaks of 4 in some stages

Tyre stress&wear: not high, but not negligible either, especially on Saturday

Most challenging section: section 4, i.e., the second passes on Saturday afternoon

Below are the day-by-day analysis tables, in detail

The road surfaces are expected to be different in the three countries touched by the rally. In common they have technicality and speed

Testoni: "It will be interesting to see the race strategies. Watch out for the weather, which could complicate things" 

The world rally returns after years of absence in Germany, although in "cohabitation" with the Czech Republic and Austria, for a race to be discovered, full of unknowns, no less than the previous one in Chile, which reserved several surprises.

THE CHALLENGE
What is known is that the asphalts of the three countries on which the Central European Rally will be run are relatively different from each other with a prevalence of slipperiness for the Czech ones, protagonists in the first stages, of high speed for the Austrian ones, staged on Saturday, and of tortuosity for the German ones.

What all the tracks have in common is that they are technical, generally very fast and presumably cold and humid,with temperatures expected between 10 and 15 degrees, as well as being generally characterized by poor grip due to slippery and dirty asphalts. The weather reports rain on Friday with a tendency for improvement over the rest of the weekend.

It is no coincidence that the prime tires for this first Central European rally will be the soft-compound P Zero RA WRC, the most suitable for the lower temperatures and for dealing with asphalts that are by their nature slippery or made so by rain and humidity. A key role could also be played by the wet tires, which are always available in asphalt races.

PIRELLI QUOTE
Terenzio Testoni, rally activity manager: “Such a test so uncertain in strategies and outcome, falls all in all at the right point of the season. In Chile The Championship crowned the winning Team of the season, but the fight for the drivers' title still remains open with two races to go. It will be interesting to see how the various crews and teams choose to approach the rally and who will go on the attack and who will choose caution. The return of Sebastian Ogier also puts even more salt to this race and raises the level of the challenge. From a tire point of view, I see a race under the banner of the P Zero soft and the Cinturato wet tires, which will take the lead in the rain.” 

PIRELLI TIRES FOR CENTRAL EUROPEAN RALLY
P Zero RA WRC: Pirelli's asphalt rally tire is available in two compounds. For IL CER, the first choice will be the SOFT compound version (P Zero RA WRC SA), while the option is the hard compound (P Zero RA WRC HA), designed to cope with the more abrasive road surfaces and longer stages.

P Zero RWB WRC: the rally tire for wet and damp asphalt 

P Zero RA: is the product line dedicated to Rally2 and Rally3 cars, thus used in both WRC2 and WRC3.  Again, hard compound (RA5A), and soft compound (RA7+B, the first in this race) versions are available. The P Zero RA tires share many of the characteristics of the WRC tires fitted on the first-tier cars. 

Cinturato RW: All all-wheel-drive categories have available a rain tire suitable for wet or very wet asphalts. The Cinturato RWB is available for Rally1 and Rally2 cars, while Rally3 cars use the Cinturato RW1C compound. 

The regulations state that each Rally1 car can mount a total of up to 28 tires throughout the race including the 4 for the shakedown, the compound of which is the choice of each crew.  The allocations are 28 tires for the first P Zero RA WRC SA, 18 for the option P Zero RA WRC HA and 12 for the Cinturato RWB wet weather tires. Cars in the WRC2 and WRC3 categories can use up to 26 tires. The allocation in this case is 26 tires for prime, 18 for option, 12 for wet.

The definitive turning point on the second day, when the Scorpion hard tyres made the difference

Testoni: "Saturday's stages, which were particularly hard on the tyres, confirmed our predictions".

A rally all or almost all about tyre strategy and the best use of tyres on more aggressive terrain than many could have expected, and with not a few surprises in the final ranking. The 2023 Rallye del Chile Bio Bio 2023 could be remembered in this way, as well as for the constructors' world title won by Toyota with three rally to spare, and for being a race that showed it was still an unknown for most of the World Championship drivers, with different challenges from day to day. 

And it was a more fortuitous choice of tyres on Saturday morning, when the surfaces became, as expected, more abrasive and tyre-wearing than the previous day, that put Ott Tanak on the run and led him to the overall victory. The Estonian, who immediately showed he wanted to duplicate his Chilean success of 2019, had already closed in on the lead the previous day but the turning point came at the dawn of the second day. It was when the Ford driver went all out for the hard tyres, choosing four out of six, while his pursuers made different and often opposite choices. In particular Toyota, which bet on the softs to save the harder compound tyres for the afternoon, a choice that cost Elfyn Evans and Kalle Rovanpera many seconds. It went better for Hyundai drivers Teemu Suninen and Thierry Neuville, second and third at the end of the day, who opted for a mixed strategy on Saturday morning, 3 hard on 5 tyres for the Finn, 3 on 6 for the Belgian. 

On Saturday afternoon, there was no history, at least in terms of tyre strategy: everyone went out with a full load of hard, 6 out of 6, to tackle the surfaces made even more challenging after the first passes. On Sunday it was back to softs on both the first and second legs.  

PIRELLI QUOTE
Terenzio Testoni, Pirelli Rally activity manager: "That Saturday was going to be the key day of the rally was quite clear from the start, as was also highlighted by the analysis of our engineers after the reconnaissance at the beginning of the week, which underlined the abrasiveness and consequent high wear of the tyres on the second day. After all, the teams had no shortage of hard compound tyres: all but one had filled up on them, choosing them for the shakedown and taking their equipment to the max. And in fact the Scorpion Hard tyres ensured, as always, maximum reliability even on those particularly aggressive and demanding surfaces, while the softs, with their wide working range, did their part very well in stages, where the surface was slippery and less abrasive as on Friday and Sunday, for which they were more suited. It still resulted in an exciting race that left the fate of the drivers’ championship still open. Two asphalt rounds await us, the next of which in Central Europe is totally unknown to everyone”.

 In Rally2, Oliver Solberg came out on top, thanks in part to a sensible tyre strategy. In second place was Gus Greensmith who, with the points won in Chile, keeps the race for the season title alive.

Below is a graphic summary of the Rally Chile

According to the analysis, the gravel roads in the Bio Bio region are generally fast and with numerous ups and downs, but with quite different characteristics from stage to stage, with a prevalence of compact or medium-compact terrain even if there is no shortage of soft gravel sections, as well as those covered in mud or with bed-rocks.

It is no coincidence that all the WRC1 drivers, with the exception of Alberto Heller, have chosen 12 Scorpion Hard tyres to go with the 24 Soft tyres, which are the prime in this race.

TYRE STRATEGY
Given the conditions, the low risk of tyre damage and the progression of the abrasiveness of the terrain a possible tyre strategy could be to always go out with a spare and an increasing number of hards from Friday afternoon through to Saturday afternoon, unlike Friday and Sunday mornings when softs alone may be sufficient. In particular, dry conditions are expected on Saturday which, together with the abrasiveness of the road surface and the consequent greater wear of the tyres, further reinforce the hypothesis of the massive use of hard tyres, which have been specially developed for conditions like these, in which they have always ensured reliability and consistency for the drivers. On Saturday morning, however, the full soft option or the hard-soft combination remain valid.

MAIN DATA AT A GLANCE
Ambient temperatures: generally low with fairly small fluctuations, with a minimum of 12 degrees and a maximum of 19

Ground temperatures: generally higher than ambient, ranging from 14 to 22 degrees, with the maximum expected for SS 12, Maria de las Cruces

Surface types: ranging from compact gravel to medium-soft, with sometimes muddy, sometimes rocky sections

Surface abrasiveness: generally medium to high

Grip level: generally medium to medium-high, especially on Saturdays

Risk of tyre damage: in Pirelli engineers' classification, which uses a scale of 1 to 5, the Chile Rally gets a rating of 2.5, equal to that of Estonia and Finland.

Tyre stress&wear: the most demanding stages are Maria de las Cruces and Rio Lia on Saturday, which present very high levels of both wear and tyre fatigue

Most demanding section: stage 4, the second stages on Saturday afternoon

Most demanding special stages: the rating of most stages is low to medium (2/5 or 3/5) with the exception of the Saturday stages, all of which are rated 4/5 or higher

Below the analysis tables day by day, in detail and the tyre allocation table, driver by driver

PIRELLI TYRES IN CHILE
Scorpion KX WRC which in the soft SA compound version are the optimum solution for a race on more slippery surfaces, being designed to ensure grip even in the most difficult conditions and on wet terrain in a balanced way to ensure performance and endurance. The hard HA compound version is the option and is suitable for the most abrasive surfaces and the longest trials.

As for the other categories, in Chile 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.

The winding but fast roads require very technical driving.

Terenzio Testoni of Pirelli: "I expect a hard-fought race in which the pitfalls will be numerous."

The World Rally Championship leaves Europe again, for the third time this year, to face the shores of the South Pacific. The scene of the eleventh stage of the WRC season will be the forests and coastal roads of the Bio Bio region around Concepciòn, which remains cool and rather humid at this time of year, despite the onset of the austral spring. For the Chilean rally this is the second time in the world championship, following the 2019 edition, won by Ott Tanak in a Toyota Yaris.   

Despite the precedent set four years ago, the track on southern Chile's gravel roads remains quite unfamiliar for most of the World Championship drivers, who will have to pay utmost attention in reconnaissance to spot the major pitfalls of the course, which runs a total of 1233.09 kilometers of which 321.06 competitive for 16 special stages.   

Basically, the more than 50 crews entered in the eighth gravel race of the season know they can expect: 

• Winding but fast roads, requiring very technical driving
• Wet, especially in the early morning hours, and fairly soft surfaces that tend to get dirty passage after passage

 Given the conditions, Pirelli's choice fell on the soft-compound Scorpion SA gravel tires as the prime, while the hard-compound Scorpion HAs will be the option.  

PIRELLI QUOTE
Terenzio Testoni, Rally activity manager: "Considering that the World Championship is still open, I expect a very hard-fought rally, spectacular and not easy from a technical point of view, as indeed every race on the calendar. The road surface of the Bio Bio region is the terrain of choice for our most used tires throughout the season, namely the soft-compound Scorpions, which are able to ensure grip in all conditions, as they also proved in the muddy opening stages of the last Rally of Greece."

PIRELLI TIRES IN CHILE 
The tires available in the various categories for this rally are:   

Scorpion KX WRC, the Pirelli gravel tire developed for the top category is available for Rally1 cars in two compounds, both in evolution 2022, which features reinforced structures and an optimized design. The first soft-compound Scorpion SA are designed to provide optimum grip even on surfaces with less grip. The hard-compound HA option offers greater resistance to the most abrasive surfaces and increased durability.   

The regulations call for an allocation of 24 and 8 tires respectively for the prime and option, to which four must be added for the shakedown, in the compound of the crew's choice.   

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

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

Pirelli – present in more than 350 motorsport championships around the world – remains committed to rallying, and will continue its participation in all the other rally competitions in which it is currently involved. 

These include the FIA European Rally Championship, won this year by Hayden Paddon in a Pirelli-equipped Hyundai. The ERC is organised by the same promoter as the WRC, with a number of different tyre manufacturers taking part. 

Pirelli is also present in more than 40 national rally championships worldwide, as well as a wide variety of other events for modern and historic rally cars.

Ireland's William Creighton takes the 2023 FIA Junior WRC title

Testoni: "The rain of the previous days highlighted the rocky surface which proved aggressive for tyres and cars"

For Pirelli victory in the Hokkaido Rally with the new Toyota GR Yaris JP4-Rally 2, driven by Latvala

"It's been a long time since we have seen such an eventful and tough rally." This was the most common comment in the service park in Lamia during the weekend that has just ended, which sums up well a race dominated by uncertainty from the eve. First, because of the fires that devastated Greece at the end of August, then the torrential rain that fell until Friday night and, finally, because of the state of the roads on which the race was run. The result was a rally full of twists and turns, changes at the top and surprises mainly due to accidents. As always, in such difficult races as this, definitely the toughest of the WRC season, the winner was the one who made the fewest mistakes and had the fewest problems: Kalle Rovanpera, who with his Toyota took advantage of the misadventures of his direct rivals and consolidated his chances of winning the Championship. World Champion is already William Creighton, meanwhile, who only needed a fourth place at the Acropolis to win the title of the FIA Junior WRC, the series dedicated to young drivers supported by Pirelli. Victory in RC2 went to Andreas Mikkelsen in a Škoda Fabia RS Rally2.

THE CHALLENGE
In such a scenario, which cost the cars a great deal of damage, the 24 hard (prime) as well as the 12 soft (option) tyres available played a decisive role in the drivers' strategies, offering reliability and endurance on difficult terrain, especially in the toughest section of all, that of Saturday afternoon, when they got progressively worse. In fact, as early as the morning of the second day, the surfaces were littered with loose stones and rocky dimples, with muddier sections alternating with drier ones. On Saturday's second passages the surfaces were cleaner and even more aggressive on the tyres, showing the typical abrasiveness of Greek roads. The tyre choices gradually adapted to the changing conditions, moving from a predominance of softs on Friday to a majority of hards on Saturday. As stated by the Belgian driver himself, the fortunate tyre choice had earned Thierry Neuville the lead on Friday, when his Hyundai came out in the afternoon equipped with 2 hard and 4 soft. On Saturday, the various drivers in the lead opted for 3 hard and 3 soft in the morning, which became 4 and 2 respectively in the afternoon, with some notable exceptions such as Ford driver Ott Tanak (2 hard and 4 soft in the morning, 6 hard in the afternoon) and Dani Sordo (3 hard and 3 soft both in the morning and afternoon). The softs were back on Sunday morning, given the softer road surfaces compared to the previous day.

PIRELLI QUOTE
Terenzio Testoni, Pirelli Rally activity manager: "The Acropolis Rally proved to be the toughest of the season, and not only for the tyres, which suffered numerous stresses of various kinds, but also for the cars. The biggest difficulties, in addition to the traditional ones in Greece, came from the rain that fell in the previous days, which cleaned the road, removing the dirt and highlighting the rocky surface, which often damaged not only the tyres but also the cars, as happened in Sebastian Ogier's case.  In three days we had three different situations, each with its own specific challenges that now the softs and then the hards had to face, often in combination. Both versions of our Scorpions confirmed the reliability that the drivers know by now, guaranteeing the necessary performance in the different race conditions: grip, robustness, resistance to fatigue and wear. In the end, the result was an exciting and interesting race from a show point of view as well as from a technical point of view, from which we and the teams can learn a lot".

SCORPION VICTORIOUS IN HOKKAIDO
Pirelli tyres were also decisive in the victorious debut of the new Toyota GR Yaris JP4-Rally 2, driven by Jari-Matti Latvala on the gravel roads of the Hokkaido Rally. The Finnish driver, who is Toyota's team principal in the WRC, finished with a good margin over Norihiko Katsuta (father of world driver Takamoto) also driving Toyota's debutant Rally2 car, which ran its first full race in Hokkaido.

Below is a graphic summary of the Acropolis Rally.

High heat, hard surfaces and twisty tracks the major challenges of the race that will have no service on Friday

Testoni: "Attention to wear, tyre management is crucial in a rally where every mistake can cost a lot"

After three rounds in which, from Kenya to Finland via Estonia, the soft Scorpion tyres ruled the day, the hard version of Pirelli's gravel tyres is back on stage. And it couldn't be any other way: the Acropolis Rally, as well as being one of the most legendary in the WRC, is also the toughest of the season for drivers, cars and tyres. What makes the often grueling Greek event, which this year will see a total of 72 crews - including 10 Rally1s - involved, are several concomitant factors:

• winding mountain roads
• generally very high, if not torrid temperatures
• dusty but hard-packed roads that favour drivers starting later
• the significant deterioration of the conditions of the special stages on the second passages

In addition to these typical Greek challenges, this year there will be an opening stage without assistance, but with only a tyre fitting zone at Loutraki for the mid-day tyre change, and the length of Saturday's stages, each of 70.76 competitive kilometres. These include the longest stage of the weekend, Karoutes, an extended, downhill version of last year's Bauxites. The famous Tarzan stage precedes the new Grammeni Power Stage on Sunday.

PIRELLI QUOTE
Terenzio Testoni, Pirelli Rally Activity Manager: "Although the road surfaces of the special stages have become less aggressive than in the past, the Acropolis remains one of the toughest races of the entire season, in which errors in strategy and tyre management, as well as in driving, can have a very high cost. The best chance of victory goes to those who are most careful with their tyres, knowing how to make the most of their characteristics, balanced between robustness and performance. Great attention must be paid to wear”.

For this race the first choice is the hard version of the Scorpion KX s, tyres capable of ensuring strength and durability even in the longest stages, with the most abrasive surfaces and at the highest temperatures. Option will be the soft-compound Scorpion KX SAs, which have great versatility and are able to guarantee optimum grip even on slippery surfaces and with less grip.

The regulations provide for an allocation of 24 and eight tyres respectively for the prime and option, to which must be added four for the shakedown, in the compound chosen by the crew.

The WRC2 and WRC3 cars will be fitted with tyres from the Scorpion K range which share many of the characteristics of the KXs developed for the Rally1 cars. Rally2 cars will be fitted with K4B (hard) and K6B (soft) versions, while Rally3 cars have K4A (hard) and K6A (soft) available.

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.

The only certainty was the tyres, which guaranteed durability, performance and robustness on gravel marked by puddles and ruts

FIA, WRC Promoter and Pirelli together for more diverse and challenging race strategies

Everything according to predictions - including more difficulties due to rain; usual performance and reliability and nothing else to report, except photocopied tyre strategies from the drivers, with the sole exception of Teemu Suninen on Sunday morning. Rally Finland 2023 told from the point of view of the tyres is all here. But if the Pirelli Scorpion soft tyres gave, as usual, peace of mind, the general trend of the race was a little different, which, especially on Friday, experienced exciting and decisive phases.

The Finnish race on the first day was a succession of accidents and unforeseen incidents that halved the group of Rally1 drivers and eliminated some of those who on the eve of the race seemed to be the main contenders for the crown of the so-called Finnish GP: in succession Ott Tanak, Esapekka Lappi and Kalle Rovanpera, as well as Pierre-Louis Loubet, who later returned to the race. In the end, it went to Elfyn Evans in a Toyota, protagonist on Saturday of seven victories out of eight special stages, who was chased by Thierry Neuville in a Hyundai and with the others far behind fighting for third place.

Making Rally Finland even more challenging than usual was intermittent but intense rain. The rainfall often created puddles and ruts on numerous passages, making the fast roads around Jyvaskyla more unpredictable and risky. As was easily predicted on the eve of the race, the only tyres used were the soft ones, which even in the most difficult sections and in the pouring rain did what was asked of them: ensuring grip on the often less compact and dirtier than usual surfaces and resisting the blows of the long and frequent jumps. The confidence with the Scorpions induced all the drivers to always go out with a spare, with the sole exception of Suninen who on Sunday morning went in pursuit of third place by renouncing his spare tyre.

The average and top speeds were remarkable, with Rovanpera winning the fastest stage of the race (SS3 Lankamaa 1) at an average speed of 143 kilometres per hour.  

PIRELLI QUOTE
Terenzio Testoni, Pirelli Rally activity manager: "The Scorpion soft tyres once again guaranteed not only grip and performance, but also great durability, cancelling out any possibility of strategies and diversification of choices by the teams. This is why we are working with the FIA and WRC Promoter to make the use of a set of option tyres, hard or soft, mandatory for every rally.  We think that in this way the races can become livelier and more interesting, raising the level of challenge for drivers and teams. In Greece the hard gravel tyres will return, also generally the only tyres used when they are first, to face totally different difficulties from those we have seen in the last three races of the championship".

In the battle for victory of Rally2 cars, Oliver Solberg came out on top in an intense duel with Sam Pajari. Once again, the Scorpions in the version developed for Rally 2 cars (the K6B) left the drivers to concentrate solely on driving, with tyre strategies in line with those adopted by the teams for Rally 1. 

Below is a graphic summary of the Rally Finland.

The gravel will generally be damp if not completely wet on all days of the weekend, particularly on Saturday which promises to be not only the longest but also the toughest of the entire rally, particularly on the second pass.

As well as tackling the very long jumps that are characteristic of Finland, the Scorpion Soft tyres, once again, will have the difficult task of consistently generating grip on the 2 types of surface that the drivers will face during the race, namely, medium gravel and soft gravel.

THE MAIN DATA AT A GLANCE
Ambient temperatures: fairly small fluctuations, with a minimum of 15 degrees to a maximum of 22

Ground temperatures: generally higher than ambient, ranging from 19 to 23 degrees, with the highest expected for Friday's Myhinpaa 2 (SS 8)

Surface conditions: the poor grip typical of Finnish surfaces is complicated by the particularly high humidity on Saturday, with peaks of 100%; wet surfaces are also expected on both Saturday and Sunday (Vekkula and Moksi in particular)

Surface types: ranging from medium to soft gravel, with the former predominating.

Surface abrasiveness: generally poor; the bottom is predominantly soft to the detriment of grip

Level of grip: generally medium to medium-low. The maximum is in the Lankamaa test.

Risk of tyre damage: in Pirelli engineers' classification, which adopts a scale of 1 to 5, Rally Finland gets a rating of 2.5, the same as Estonia.

Tyre stress and wear: the most demanding tests are Myhinpaa and Vastila, which present fairly high levels of both wear and tyre fatigue

Most demanding section: Section 6, the second stages on Saturday afternoon

Most demanding special stages: the rating of most stages is average (3/5) due to a combination of factors, ranging from the speed of the courses to the type of surface. The most challenging is once again the Myhinpaa, especially on the second pass.

Below are the day-by-day analysis tables in detail and the tyre allocation table, driver by driver

PIRELLI TYRES IN FINLAND
Scorpion KX WRC, which in the soft SA compound version are the optimum solution for a race on slippery surfaces, being designed to ensure grip even in the most difficult conditions on wet surfaces in a balanced way to ensure performance and endurance. The hard HA compound version is the option and is suitable for the most abrasive surfaces and the longest trials.

As for the other categories, in Finland Rally2 will have Scorpion K6B (soft) and K4B (hard) tyres available, while Rally3 will 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.

The weather threatens intermittent rain with temperatures between 13 and 23 degrees

Testoni: "It's the classic race that the one who makes the least mistakes wins and on these slippery and often wet grounds it's easy to make mistakes"

The fastest rally in the championship, also known as the Grand Prix of Finland, returns to the roads around Jyvaskyla for the ninth round of the WRC season, the sixth on gravel, which last year was the scene of a tight race right up to the last special stage.

Unlike last year's race, which was practically a multi-season rally with varying conditions from summer to autumn, this year's weather forecast announces intermittent rain and low temperatures in the morning and highs of 23 degrees for the entire weekend. 

The likely higher humidity on the road surfaces will only accentuate the characteristics of a rally generally dominated by the Finns, who know how to juggle better than others on the straight and fast tracks of their home forests, alternated with more technical sections. The main threats to drivers, cars and tyres notoriously relate to the low grip, despite the very high top and average speeds, and the very long jumps, which require the cars to jump up to almost 60 metres.

PIRELLI QUOTE
Terenzio Testoni, rally activity manager: "Finland is the terrain of choice for our soft tyres, which will be put to the test, even though in terms of working range and robustness they have the characteristics to ensure grip on the most slippery surfaces and to withstand the strong impacts of the very long jumps. The speeds are so high and the desire to win an iconic rally so strong that it is very easy to make mistakes, but those who make mistakes have little margin for recovery here. That's why the best strategy is to optimise the management of the tyres available, which will suffer little wear but many blows, trying to make the most of them in every situation. Last year this was the key to Ott Tanak's victory over Kalle Rovanpera, himself a master in knowing how to make the most of the potential of the tyres, especially in these kinds of conditions". 

PIRELLI TYRES IN FINLAND
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 the 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