In the Junior World Rally Championship classification, Czech driver Martin Prokop (Citroen C2 S1600) triumphed from the Pirelli-equipped Renault Clio R3 of an inspired Alessandro Bettega.

“Everything went smoothly from start to finish, our C4 WRC was superlative, and the PZero tyres did their job while Daniel and myself did ours. The end result is an excellent boost to our chances in the drivers’ and constructors’ standings.” Sebastien Loeb summed up the Catalunya Rally in his usual pragmatic and rational way, but he is already thinking of the Rally de France-Tour de Corse that gets underway in a few days’ time. There, he once again will start as favourite on his home event.

The final classification saw the factory Ford Focus WRCs of Hirvonen and Duval finish behind the two Citroens, but it was also an excellent result in terms of pure performance from the Pirelli PZero tyres used in Spain. On the three special stages that were identical to those run in 2007 (and therefore an appropriate benchmark in terms of length, surface and climate) this year’s PZero control tyre – which is also homologated for road use – often set quicker stage times than the mousse-filled development tyres used up until the end of last season (see attached document).

As previously mentioned, the Junior World Rally Championship category was won by the Citroen C2 S1600 of Martin Prokop, in front of Alessandro Bettega’s Renault Clio R3. Today’s win was a huge source of satisfaction for Prokop, who also won the Production Car World Championship category (which is exclusively supplied by Pirelli as well) in New Zealand at the wheel of a Group N Mitsubishi Lancer.