The WRC comes to the gravel roads of Finland for the most northerly Rally.

Pirelli will partner the drivers and teams with the soft version of their Scorpion tyres, developed to guarantee performance and safety on treacherous terrain.

Pirelli Scorpion Soft will make its presence felt in the World Rally Championship’s next race in Finland, that takes place in the striking setting of the Lake Region. The Neste Oil Rally Finland WRC, one of the season’s most popular rallies, begins on 31 July and ends on 2 August and presents many interesting aspects for the drivers and the enthusiastic public. The dynamic course and treacherous road surface mean high speeds and big jumps. For the occasion, Pirelli’s technicians will be bringing the soft version of the Scorpion, the tyre specifically developed by the Italian company to guarantee the highest performance and safety on smooth terrain and mud.

The Pirelli Star Drivers will be taking part in the Rally Finland and it will also be recognised as a qualifying rally for the 2010 Pirelli Star Driver competition: 5 young drivers will be selected from 8 North European countries to enter the programme’s European shootout, to take place in Freistadt, Austria in mid-September. Similar to the European selection process, the young contenders will be judged not only on their technical capacity and speed, but also on their ability to present themselves and relate to the media, proving themselves, in short, well-rounded drivers.

The materials used to create the Scorpion intended for the World Rally Championship represent the latest innovation in terms of resistance. The Scorpion has been designed with “run flat” technology solutions which, as well as reducing the risk of a puncture to a minimum, let the driver finish the race without losing excessive time and without damaging the car’s mechanics or bodywork.
The Scorpion Soft was also chosen for the recent Rally Poland, one of the season’s most exciting races.

After a six-week pause, the FIA World Rally Championship resumes with one of its classic events: Rally Finland. The rapid gravel stages around Jyvaskyla will mark the debut of the new soft-compound Pirelli Scorpion tyres, which will also be used in Japan and Great Britain.

Milan, 25 July 2008- More than one month after the Rally of Turkey, the FIA World Rally Championship gets back into gear with Rally Finland, the ninth round of the season.
Formerly called the ‘1000 Lakes’, Rally Finland is one of the classic events of the series, and it will also provide the backdrop to the debut of the new soft-compound Pirelli Scorpion tyres. These tyres will be used in Finland and also in Japan and Wales: the scene of the final rally of the 2008 season in December.

Rally Finland is characterized by a compact gravel surface, which allows the competitors to attain high average speeds throughout the event.
Another feature of this rally are the famous rollercoaster crests, which launch the cars into the air.
The high speeds and the heavy impacts with the ground on landing after each crest constitute the biggest difficulties that the new soft-compound Scorpions will have to face.
By way of compensation, tyre wear is less of an issue and there is only a small risk of punctures caused by hitting rocks or holes in the road.

Mario Isola, Pirelli’s Rally Manager, points out: “The soft-compound Scorpion tyres have been tested at length on quite a wide variety of surfaces, both by ourselves at Pirelli and by the teams individually. On every occasion, they have demonstrated some useful versatility and plenty of performance. Compared to the rallies we have had in Sardinia, Greece and Turkey, the technical challenge facing the construction of the Scorpion tyres will be to withstand the considerable forces imposed by the high average speeds and the impacts with the ground after every crest. By the same token – given the results of our test and development programme, as well as the comparatively gentle nature of the Finnish road surfaces – we should not have the same problems with wear and punctures that we experienced in Greece and Turkey.”

Pirelli starts the Dutch Road Racing Championship litterally dominating the scene.

In the SBK class Pirelli is the race winner with Bob Withag (Yamaha) preceding on the podium Arie Vos (Ducati) and Ron van Ginhoven. Pirelli riders took not only the whole podium, but all the first ten places scoring a definitely amazing result which proves the outstanding performance offered by Pirelli DIABLO tyres.

In the SSP class race winner is Sven Ahnendorp on Yamaha and Pirelli celebrates the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th position.
A real domination, a great way to start the 2008 season.