Pirelli unveils new tire range for the World Rally Championship

On Thursday 8 October, Pirelli unveiled its new range of tires for the World Rally Championship (WRC), where the Italian manufacturer will return as the sole tire supplier next year.

The company, which signed a three-year agreement, introduced the new tires at the Rally Italia Sardegna; The presentation was attended by Andreas Mikkelsen in a Citroën C3 World Rally Car. The Norwegian driver helped Pirelli create tire kits for gravel, asphalt, snow and ice, with a focus on durability, performance and adaptability.

“The next time you will see our tires will be at the Monte Carlo Rally next year, when we begin our activities as the sole supplier of tires for the championship,” said Pirelli's head of rally racing Terenzio Testoni. “We used the lessons learned from Formula 1 to create these tires, as well as all of our previous experience in rallying and developing premium tires.”

Various Pirelli tires will be available to WRC competitors. For winter trails, they can choose between studded and non-studded Sottozero Snow tires, as well as regular asphalt tires. For the more extreme conditions encountered on Nordic winter trails, Pirelli has developed the Sottozero Ice tires. Each tire has 384 studs that provide incredible traction. For the remainder of the season, Pirelli will provide Scorpion gravel tires, available in both hard and soft formulations, to withstand extreme heat and rocky terrain, and maintain performance on wet and muddy surfaces. For asphalt, P Zero tires will be available with a hard and soft compound, and for extreme conditions, Cinturato rain tires will be available, which retain grip in deep standing water.