What a fantastic start to the season! Tommi Makinen
(Subaru-Pirelli) secured Pirelli’s 122nd WRC victory, became the
first driver ever to win four successive Monte Carlo rallies and at
the same time became the first driver to win 24 WRC events. Cars
using Pirelli PZero tyres took four of the top six places (pending
any action by the FIA over Citroen’s appeal) and won 8 of the 14
Stages. The action now moves to Sweden (February 1-3) for a true
specialist rally thanks to the challenge of rallying on snow. In
recent years, however, the lack of thick snow has provided an extra
challenge and made this a very technical event from a tyre point of
view. Teams must be prepared for conditions varying from thick,
fresh snow to hard frozen gravel and this requires maximum
attention to tyre construction, choice and studding.

Pirelli rally manager Fiore Brivio explains: ‘If the event was
simply full snow then it would be quite easy because there would be
just one tyre choice to make. However, now we are usually having to
find the right tyre and stud combination and that means we have 5-6
tyre combinations. If you have full and fresh snow then you can
have the studs at their maximum protrusion for maximum grip.
However, if there is a lot of ice and gravel then this will simply
break the studs or pull them out of the tyres and of course then
you lose the performance. In those conditions we must use tyres
with studs that are not protruding so much and where there is more
stud held inside the tyre so that it doesn’t come out. People talk
about long and short studs but this is wrong. The length is always
the same – it’s the protrusion that changes with more or less stud
inside the tyre as a result.

After a major technical breakthrough in 2001, this year the
PZero tyre range for Ford, Subaru and the various Group N teams
will utilise the Pirelli studding technique that ensured maximum
retention of the studs and maximum stability of the tyres that led
to Pirelli winning most of the Stages on last year’s rally.

THE STUD RULES

Pirelli will take to Sweden around 2000 tyres, all equipped with
the EMI anti-deflation system.
In Sweden the choice of studs is free but the characteristics are
fixed by the following regulations:
Maximum length 20mm
Maximum diameter 9mm (at the base); 6.8mm (of
the cone at the point where it emerges from the tyre); 2.5mm
at the tip
Maximum weight 4 grammes
Maximum density 12 studs for every 10cm of the
tyre’s circumference (maximum 400 studs per tyre)
The central band of the tyre (47mm width), unlike in
Montecarlo, can be studded

FOR HARD SURFACES
J (Size 145/85-16)
Type Base tyre for ice and frozen gravel
Compound options 2: Base and evolution
Description An asymmetric design for use on frozen gravel or ice
(Pirelli was the first introduce this design, in 1997, the year of
success for the Subaru-Pirelli of Eriksson-Parmander).
2 types of stud protrusion: maximum for thick snow or warm
temperatures; minimum for hard frozen surfaces or freezing
temperatures.
The tyre can also be hand cut for further evolution in soft
snow.

FOR SOFT SURFACES OR SNOW
W (Size 145/85-16)
Type Tyre for snow and for soft ice
Compound options 2: a mixture of compounds and constructions to
deal with different surface temperatures
Description This ‘directional’ tyre is designed to cut deep into
the surface to obtain maximum grip and directional stability. It
has a symmetrical tread pattern and will be used with just one stud
option.

THE PIRELLI TEAM FOR SWEDEN

2 Subaru Impreza WRC: Makinen-Lindstrom,
Solberg-Mills
4 Ford Focus RS: McRae-Grist, Sainz-Moya, Martin-Park &
Duval-Fortin
5 Mitsubishi Lancer Group N: Fiorio, Trelles, Valousek, Iliev,
Rowe
1 Subaru Impreza Group N: Arai
…plus other teams not regularly contesting the World Rally
Championship.

PIRELLI’S SWEDISH HISTORY

The 2001 Swedish Rally will be well remembered by Pirelli.
Between them Richard Burns and Colin McRae won all but 4 of the 17
Stages. Unfortunately an error by both drivers on one of the
opening Stages cost them significant time and denied Pirelli a near
certain 1-2 result. It underlined Pirelli’s frustrations at this
event but was a clear indication of how the performance of
Pirelli’s studded tyres has improved dramatically with the use of
new state of the art technology.
Successes in the past have included Bjorn Waldegard’s 1975 win in a
Lancia Stratos and Kenneth Eriksson’s for Subaru at the start of
the 1997 season when Pirelli won the first three events virtually
unchallenged.

RECENT WINNERS
1990 Rally cancelled because of too mild weather
1991 Kenneth Eriksson/Staffan Parmander (Mitsubishi Galant
VR-4)
1992 Mats Jonsson/Lars Backmann (Toyota Celica GT-Four)
1993 Mats Jonsson/Lars Backmann (Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD)
1994* Thomas Radstrom/Lars Backmann (Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD)
1995 Kenneth Eriksson/Staffan Parmander (Mitsubishi Lancer
Evo)
1996 Tommi Makinen/Seppo Harjanne (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo)
1997 Kenneth Eriksson/Staffan Parmander (Subaru Impreza
WRC97)
1998 Tommi Makinen/Risto Mannisenmaki (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo)
1999 Tommi Makinen/Risto Mannisenmaki (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo)
2000 Marcus Gronholm/Timo Rautiainen (Peugeot 206WRC)
2001 Harri Rovanpera/Risto Pietilainen (Peugeot 206WRC)
*W2L event only

Contact website: www.swerally.se

AROUND THE WORLD IN 14 EVENTS

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

Sweden* 1-3 February Snow/ice/gravel

Corsica* 8-10 March Asphalt

Catalunya 22-24 March Asphalt

Cyprus* 19-21 April Gravel

Argentina* 17-19 May Gravel

Acropolis 14-16 June Gravel

Safari * 11-14 July Gravel

Finland* 8-11 August Gravel

Germany 22-25 August Asphalt

San Remo 20-22 September Asphalt

New Zealand* 3-6 October Gravel

Australia* 1-3 November Gravel

Great Britain 17-19 November Gravel

* WRC Production Car World Championship (Group N)
events