The Subaru team’s latest recruit, 23-year-old Mikko Hirvonen, got
behind the wheel of an Impreza WRC2003 for the first time on Friday
(19th) and quickly showed the sort of intuitive talent that has
earned him a place in the team for 2004.

After driving more than 300kms up and down a 3.5km tarmac road near
the French Alpine town of Gap, Mikko and the team’s Principal
Engineer, Pierre Genon were both pleasantly surprised at how
quickly he’d adapted to the new car. By the end of the day Hirvonen
was setting times not far behind those of his teammate and current
World Champion Petter Solberg. “It was a quite a surprise,” said
Mikko. “I thought it would be much more difficult to get used to,
but it seems the car is easy to drive, very stable and much
smoother through the corners than I was expecting. I didn’t expect
to develop this good feeling quite so soon, so I’m very
happy.”

As most of his WRC experience has been gained driving a Ford Focus,
Mikko and the rest of the team were anxious to see how he’d get on
in the same version of the Impreza he’ll be starting next year’s
Monte Carlo and Sweden rallies with.

The day before taking the wheel himself, Mikko had benefited from a
few hints and tips on driving the car from Petter. With Hirvonen
strapped into the co-drivers seat, Petter turned tutor for a dozen
passes through the test road, sharing suggestions on how to get the
best from the car along the way via the helmet intercom. “That was
very useful, said Mikko. “He talked about the tyres and driving
style, how he brakes, uses the diffs, that sort of thing. When we
got to the end of the stage and had turned the car around we had a
quick discussion about the trip, and away we went again. The main
thing that I knew I’d need to adapt was my braking style on
approaching corners. I’m used to braking very late and very hard,
but the Impreza performs better with a more progressive and smooth
approach to the corners. It was a very good experience, but I
wouldn’t say I enjoyed it too much – no matter who’s driving, I
still find sitting in the co-drivers seat pretty
scary.”

Early onFriday morning Mikko and co-driver Jarmo
Lehtinen set off on their first few solo runs. Pierre Genon said:
“The day was mainly about familiarisation. We left the car with
exactly the same set-up as Petter had used the day before and Mikko
got in and did 100kms just to get a feel for it. The conditions on
the road were quite muddy and slippery but he got to a good pace
very quickly. In the afternoon we experimented with some very small
set-up changes but concentrated mainly on evaluating some of the
Pirelli tyres we’ll be using in Monte Carlo. All in all it was a
very good day.”

Mikko tested again on Saturday, when he concentrated on trying the
various Pirelli tyre options available for Monte Carlo. “We were
driving a tarmac stage on studded snow tyres,” said Mikko. “It’s a
position you can often find yourself in on the Monte Carlo rally,
so it’s a good idea to see just what’s possible in those
conditions.”

More information and downloadable images can be found at www.swrt.com

Diablo: that’s the name of Pirelli’s brand new tyre, which is presented for the first time at the Intermot 2002 in Munich.
Diablo is a new generation of tyre, developed for powerful supersport motorcycles, which proceeds the decade long success story of the legendary Pirelli Dragon.
Safety in wet conditions, sporty handling on dry asphalt as well as high mileage are the outstanding features of the Pirelli Diablo presented today to the motorcycle industry:
A tyre with a hell of a grip even under the worst conditions like rain or low temperatures, precise and fast on track for a sporty riding style and even wear for maximum performance during every phase of the tyre’s life.
Absolutely innovative technological achievements ? derived from the successful Pirelli Dragon ? have brought this new Pirelli supersport generation to life.
The computer designed tread pattern along with the exclusive Silica-Silan-based compound ensure incredible wet grip and minimum aquaplaning.
The Quadroplex-Technology has been chosen to build the rear tyre. This technology allows, trough a better compound mixing process, the realisation of an extrusion incorporating “mini-sides” with optimised stiffness providing even wear also under tough riding use.
The structure of the Pirelli Diablo utilises the innovative, light and resistant para-aramidic fibre Pentec – a guarantee for consistent performance and increased tyre life.
The optimised stiffness carcass ensure a uniform contact area at every lean angle in view also of the multiple curvature of the tyre contour.
The Pirelli Diablo is offered to the market in sizes 16 and 17 inch, sections 70 to 50, in order to meet the needs of most Japanese and European supersport motorcycles on the market.

Have a look at the Fitment!

At the Bologna Motor Show, Pirelli P Zero Rosso for the Most
Beautiful Cars in the World the Lamborghini Gallardo and the
Maserati Quattroporte

And with the Volvo V50, a new homologation for the Pirelli P
7

Milan, 3 December, 2003 – The 2003 Bologna Motor Show
opening tomorrow establishes an important record for Pirelli
ultra-high performance tyres: equipping the two cars that won this
year’s prestigious ” Most Beautiful Car in the World” award.
The Pirelli P Zero Rosso is the tyre selected by Lamborghini
for its outstanding Gallardo, winner of the Supercar
category: a tradition that has seen the Pirelli brand dominate the
raging bulls of Modena for many years.

In the same way, Maserati could do little other than turn to the
ultra-low Italian tyres as original equipment for its magnificent
Quattroporte, declared the ” Most Beautiful Car in the
World” among the models of prestige. In Maserati’s case, too,
collaboration with Pirelli dates back many years, to the time of
Juan Manuel Fangio’s Formula One World Championships and beyond.

It is not by chance that the tyre chosen for the Gallardo and
Quattroporte is the Pirelli P Zero Rosso: the ultra-high
performance tyre, created from the Italian manufacturer’s
technology, has, for some time, been the point of reference for all
the world motor industry’s top-of-the-range cars. This is due to
the tyre’s ability to guarantee at one and the same time safety,
performance, comfort and, more than anything else, versatility of
use.

P Zero Rosso is also the best instrument available to designers
with which to personalise their new creations, syntheses – often
unique – of style and technology: a fact confirmed at the Bologna
Motor Show by the new Pirelli tyres on which Italdesign unveils its
Corvette Moray. The car is fitted with P Zero Rosso in sizes
255/35 ZR 20 front and 345/25 ZR 20 rear.

While the P Zero Rosso is the original equipment tyre, P Zero
Nero was originally intended to be the ultra-low destined for
the replacement and tuner markets. But the tyre has shown such
outstanding qualities that it, too, has been homologated as OE by a
number of car makers: Jaguar has opted for the P Zero Nero for its
long-awaited X-Type Wagon. And P Zero Nero is the tyre that
will be fitted as standard – and has been, right from the prototype
stage – to the Lancia Fulvia Coup, continuing a
tradition that has always seen Pirelli tyres fitted as OE on
Lancias, first to the original Fulvia HF, then the Stratos and
later the Delta.

After making its debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show, the Alfa
Romeo 8C has come back to Italy and Bologna: from the earliest
stages of the development of the model’s Quadrifoglio concept car,
Pirelli P Zero Corsa tyres have been designed into this top
performance Alfa. Tyres that are the extreme option of the P Zero
family, for drivers who want to extract the maximum from their
supercars, including on the race track.

And then there is the Pirelli P Zero here at Bologna that has
good reason to take the top spot over all the others, having just
become the 2003 World Rally Champion. It can be found on the
Subaru stand, fitted to the blue and yellow Impreza WRC,
which accompanied Norwegian driver Petter Solberg to his
world triumph a month ago on the special stages of Wales, to give
Pirelli its 19th world rally title and its sixth with the talented
car manufacturer.

There is also a Pirelli for the 2004 Car of the Year: it is the
Winter Snowsport, which equips the SUV version of the new
Fiat Panda, revolutionary and non-conformist off-roader
derived from the Simba concept car, which made its first public
appearance at the Motor Show last year.

The Volvo V50 is another car making its world debut at
the Motor Show and is the most recent testimonial in chronological
order of the fourth generation of the high performance Pirelli
P7 range. This latest version of the tyre is able to provide
luxury saloons and station wagons with a perfect blend of
performance and driving comfort.
Another car that has found its ideal tyre equipment in the Pirelli
range is the Mini, that in Bologna will present its ultra-sporting
form, the John Cooper Works model.
The two names – Mini and Pirelli – are today testimonials in a new
television advertisement in Italy, in which actress Alessia Merz
invites motorists to take greater care of their tyres: a call to
safety, which appears more than ever epitomised by the Mini/Pirelli
duo. Pirelli supplies the highly successful Mini with its
Eufori@ as original equipment: the tyre is a run
flat, with self-supporting sidewalls, and is able to cover more
than 150 kilometres at zero pressure.