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Loutraki, June 14, 2009 – BP Ford Abu Dhabi driver Mikko Hirvonen turned in a faultless drive on his Pirelli tires to collect his first win of the season on the Acropolis Rally of Greece, which ended in Loutraki this afternoon.
This seventh round of the FIA World Rally Championship is always a true test of man, machine and the tires beneath them– and this year’s Acropolis was an absolute classic from that perspective. Moving away from its Athens base for the first time since 2005, the shift west to Loutraki allowed the organizers to bring back classic Greek stages like Bauxites and Drossohori – and these infamous roads proved to be the biggest test to date for the Pirelli Scorpion rubber. The tires, supplied to all World Rally Championship competitors, passed through the mind-blowingly rough and achingly hot stages with flying colors.
For the second event in succession, a Ford Focus RS WRC 09 was at the front of the field from the start to finish. For the majority of day one, Jari-Matti Latvala (FIN), winner of the previous round in Italy, was leading. But a mistake on the final stage of the day dropped the Finn three minutes and left his countryman and team-mate Mikko Hirvonen (FIN) leading into Saturday.
Hirvonen’s job of staying out front was made easier when the Citroen Total World Rally Team pair Sebastien Loeb (F) and Dani Sordo (ES) his trouble on Saturday morning. Loeb crashed his C4 WRC out of contention on Saturday’s opener, while Sordo departed two stages later after breaking a wheel. Citroen Junior Team driver and reigning Junior World Rally Champion Sebastien Ogier (F) collected a career-best second overall behind Hirvonen, while Latvala recovered to third, ensuring Ford would close the gap on its French rival at the top of the FIA WRC Manufacturers’ Championship.
As usual, Greece provided an incredible test for all involved, with the temperatures in stages regularly topping 104 degrees Fahrenheit, and the second run of stages being among the roughest the drivers have ever seen. Ford’s Mikko Hirvonen said the event was among the toughest he’d done, but he added that the Pirelli Scorpion had been perfect for the task in hand.
Hirvonen said: “When Pirelli’s control tire was first announced and we knew the Scorpion would come in only two compounds; there were immediately worries over the hot, rough rallies for the hard tire. It was precisely this kind of event which was the big concern. Last year, I don’t think the tire was truly tested; here, on the Acropolis Rally of Greece, it absolutely was and I have to say it was absolutely perfect. I spent much of the second day looking after my tires to make sure there was plenty of tread left on them, but I didn’t need to. The tires were fantastic and I am the first to admit that I’m surprised. Pirelli’s Scorpion has exceeded my expectations – if you could see what we have driven these things over, it’s incredible.”
The Acropolis Rally of Greece was also a round of the Production Car World Rally Championship, also supplied by Pirelli. After another titanic battle for Group N honors, local driver Lambros Athanassoulas arrived back in Loutraki to spray the champagne and collect the biggest prize of his rallying career to date.
Pirelli’s rally manager Mario Isola said: “There’s no doubt that this has been a massive challenge for all involved. The Acropolis is always hard, but with temperatures being so high and the roads being so hard, this has been a particularly hard event. I’m very pleased to say that of the 1,000-plus Scorpion tires we have supplied on this event, we have had less than 10 punctures. That’s an incredible testament to the work Pirelli has done on producing the most durable high performance rally tires to work in the most extreme of conditions.”
Buenos Aires (Argentina) and Milan (Italy) 17 January, 2009 Pirelli’s debut in the Dakar as a supplier to the official KTM factory teams was nothing short of dominating, with the new SCORPION RALLY tire capturing the 1st and 2nd positions on the podium with riders Marc Coma and Cyril Despres. This off-road rally tire was developed together with KTM in preparation for this year’s Dakar. Out of a field of 235 riders, seven riders chose to have support from Pirelli and out of these seven, three riders finished in the top 7 positions overall. KTM Repsol rider Marc Coma (SPA) and Red Bull KTM rider Cyril Despres (FRA) were fiercely competitive in this 31st edition of the Dakar, considered to be the most difficult rally race in the world, which this year moved 10,000 km away to South America.
Two years of development on the new SCORPION RALLY tire, made specifically for rally application and born from the winning heritage of the Scorpion product family, has resulted in a product worthy of such a challenging race. This new tire underwent testing and collaboration with the best rally riders and racing teams, and Dakar 2009 was chosen for its launch due to the event’s popular following and demanding terrain. The innovative and complementary structure helped guarantee outstanding performance and high resistance to fatigue and puncture. Furthermore, the compound and knobs layout is designed to provide great traction and grip for the difficult terrains that are encountered in even most demanding rallies such as Dakar.
Pirelli Tire would like to thank Marc Coma, Cyril Despres the entire KTM team and its riders for managing the uncertainty of change, their excellent preparations prior to the race, and for believing that Pirelli could produce a winning rally tire. From the positive feedback received during the testing sessions, to the open communication throughout the Dakar, it was clear that KTM and Pirelli were a committed team. Pirelli and KTM look forward to all the excellent racing results the partnership will bring as well as the strong and positive benefits which two sport-focused companies will inevitably find.
Overall in the Dakar, Pirelli riders and the new SCORPION RALLY won 7 of 14 stages, and gained a total of 1:52 hrs over the competition. These riders tackled 5,652 km of specials from Buenos Aires to ValparaĂso and back again, during which they encountered a race environment unique to this new location, with notable places like Terra Del Fuego, the Andes Mountains and the Atacama Desert, said to be the world’s driest desert. Dakar 2009’s extreme diversity and newly charted territory was especially challenging for the teams, the riders and technicians to make the ideal setup (regarding tyres, compounds, mousse, tubes, etc.,) as the environment was completely foreign from previous African Dakar races.