World Rally Championship Archives

Pirelli to debut latest Scorpion WRC gravel tyres

Pirelli’s latest Scorpion gravel tyre will make its debut on the milestone Rally de Portugal. The first gravel event of the 2022 FIA World Rally Championship season is also the 50th edition of the event, with the new hybrid Rally1 cars running on Pirelli’s updated range of Scorpion KX WRC gravel tyres. Pirelli will bring around 2400 tyres to Portugal, of which 520 will be for the top class of Rally1 cars. Rally1 drivers may use up to 28 tyres during the rally and shakedown.

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17th May 2022/by Andrew

Matteo Bonciani heading Pirelli’s motorsport communications

Career Tracks

Pirelli has named former FIA head of F1 communications Matteo Bonciani its head of motorsport communications. In this role, Bonciani takes responsibility for communications throughout all the company’s motorsport programmes, including Formula 1, the World Rally Championship, and GT. Pirelli says Bonciani’s appointment as head of motorsport communications represents part of a restructuring of its motorsport department within the overall communications and brand image department.

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24th February 2022/by Stephen

Pirelli presents 2022 motorsport plans

Company News, Motorsport

Technology, sustainability and support for young talent – Pirelli states that these are the three cornerstones of its 2022 motorsport campaign. During a live-streamed press conference hosted by Mario Isola, the tyre maker’s head of motorsport, supported by rally activity manager Terenzio Testoni and GT circuit activity manager Matteo Braga, Pirelli set out its plans and priorities for the year.

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19th January 2022/by Stephen

Pirelli’s hybrid-tweaked tyres ready for new WRC season

Motorsport

A new generation of hybrid-powered rally cars that generate more than 500 hp and over 500 newton-metres of torque make their debut when the 2022 FIA World Rally Championship season begins with the Rallye Monte-Carlo, which gets underway on 20 January. This presents a fresh challenge to Pirelli as the Italian company enters its second season as exclusive supplier to the top category and new-look support series. To equip these cars, Pirelli has optimised the entire range of P Zero, Scorpion, and Sottozero tyres to cope with these tech-rich vehicles’ extra weight and additional torque.

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18th January 2022/by Stephen

Rallye Monte-Carlo marks Pirelli’s exclusive WRC comeback

Motorsport

Pirelli

On Thursday, Pirelli will return as exclusive tyre supplier to the FIA World Rally Championship after an absence of more than ten years. The Rallye Monte-Carlo – itself 110 years old in 2021 – is considered one of the most demanding anywhere in the world because of the often changeable weather conditions encountered on the asphalt roads that snake their way through the French Alps. Pirelli is bringing around 3,200 tyres to this challenging rally round.

19th January 2021/by Stephen

Pirelli WJ tyre to debut on Arctic Rally

Motorsport, Product News

Pirelli

Pirelli’s new rally tyre for snow and ice, which has studs longer than 8mm, will make its first appearance this weekend. Fitted to R5 cars on the Arctic Rally from 15-16 January, the Sottozero Ice WJ debuts at the opening round of the Finnish Rally Championship. Its long titanium-tipped studs are locked into place using Pirelli’s patented vulcanisation process for retention. A new tread pattern design helps the tyre to capitalise on the increased grip supplied by the studs. Pirelli says the new tyre will be available commercially for national championships run in extreme winter conditions, such as those run in the Scandinavian and Baltic regions. It is suitable for R5, R2 and historic rally vehicles.

11th January 2021/by Andrew

Pirelli presents 2021 WRC tyre range

Motorsport

Despite disruption from the coronavirus pandemic, Pirelli maintained its schedule for developing the WRC tyres for the start of its three-year tenure as sole WRC tyre supplier in 2021. The tyre maker showed off the range today at an event on the opening day of Rally Italia Sardegna.

8th October 2020/by Stephen

Pirelli World Rally Championship tyre testing begins in Sardinia

Motorsport

Pirelli

Pirelli has begun its 2021 World Rally Championship campaign with two days of private tyre testing in Sardinia. The first day is devoted to gravel and the second day on asphalt. At the wheel of Pirelli’s uniquely-liveried Citroen C3 WRC test car will be Norway’s Andreas Mikkelsen, co-driven by his compatriot Anders Jaeger. The former Volkswagen, Citroen and Hyundai factory driver will be spearheading the development of the latest-generation Pirelli Scorpion tyres for gravel and P Zero tyres for asphalt, which will be supplied exclusively to the World Rally Championship from 2021 to 2024. The new tyres will eventually join the studded Sottozero Ice already displayed at the 2020 GP Ice Race in January in the manufacturer’s WRC tyre line-up.

14th July 2020/by Andrew

Coronavirus: FIA evaluating upcoming race calendar

International News, Motorsport

The Chinese Grand Prix and Sanya E-Prix have already been postponed, now the FIA is preparing race fans for the possibility of further events being called off should the coronavirus continue to spread. In a statement published yesterday, the FIA said it is “closely monitoring the evolving situation” with relevant authorities and its member clubs, under the direction of FIA Medical Commission president, Professor Gérard Saillant.

2nd March 2020/by Stephen

Pirelli to show off 2021 WRC tyre this weekend

Motorsport

The very first public appearance of a Pirelli tyre for the 2021 World Rally Championship (WRC) will take place at the 2020 GP Ice Race this weekend. During the event, Pirelli will display will a Sweden-specification studded Sottozero Ice J1 tyre in 205/65 R15 size. This tyre will be one of several used by WRC cars from next season.

31st January 2020/by Stephen

Pirelli: WRC tyre supply confirms “leadership in world motorsport”

Motorsport

The era of Michelin tyres dominating the World Rally Championship (WRC) is drawing to a close. The FIA has chosen Pirelli as sole tyre supplier for the WRC from 2021 to 2024. With its selection, Pirelli sees itself at “the top of motorsport” thanks to its exclusive tyre supply to both the leading rally and single seater racing championships. “These successful campaigns confirm Pirelli’s leadership in world motorsport,” comments the tyre maker.

23rd December 2019/by Stephen

Cooper Tire Europe launches full rally tyre range

Motorsport, Product News

Cooper Tire Europe has launched an extensive new rally tyre range. Developed and manufactured by Cooper Tire Europe, the new range covers tarmac, classic tarmac, gravel and mud and snow (M+S) applications. The manufacturer states that the range is designed to provide ultra-high performance and reliability across numerous applications and levels of rallying competition.

3rd December 2019/by Andrew

Robust performance for Pirelli gravel tyres at WRC debut

Motorsport

The latest evolution of Pirelli’s Scorpion K gravel tyres received their WRC debut at Rally Turkey on the weekend, and delivered victory on this first outing. Pirelli-shod drivers swept the WRC2 class podium.

16th September 2019/by Stephen

Former World Rally Championship tyre supplier in administration

Company News, Motorsport, Premium, UK News

Carlisle-based tyre sales operation Technology Sinon UK Limited, the name of D Mack Global Limited since 19 December 2018, has entered administration with debts totalling more than £14 million pounds, according to its administrator Leonard Curtis. The company, which operated within the DMACK group of companies, was a supplier of tyres to the World Rally Championship from 2011, running its own team in the championship in association with M-Sport, until 2017. Shares in Technology Sinon UK are split between director Dick Cormack (70 per cent), a former Pirelli manager who set up the business in 2011, MEMW Management Limited (25 per cent), and Glenn Paterson (5 per cent), who has left the company after holding a variety of roles within the firm. The administrator reports that, as of 14 May, Technology Sinon UK owed just over £13 million to its list of creditors. Dmack brand rally tyres continue to be manufactured by DMack Srl, formed by Dick Cormack in 2018 when a deal was struck with Marangoni for operations to begin at the Italian tyre manufacturer’s plant in Rovereto.

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29th July 2019/by Andrew

New Michelin WRC tyres debut at Rally Finland

Motorsport, Product News

Michelin chose the fastest round of the 2018 FIA World Rally Championship to launch its latest range of WRC gravel tyres. For the first time since 2011, the tyre maker’s partners were able to select two compounds from a choice of three options, namely the existing H4 (hard compound) version of the Michelin LTX Force tyre, along with the new S6 (soft) and M6 (medium) variants.

3rd August 2018/by Stephen

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