When it comes to performance and crew safety, tyres play a crucial role. This is something the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile is very aware of, and explains why tyres have such a prominent place in the regulations. Indeed, those for the 2012 World Rally Championship are the fruit of work carried out by the FIA during the 2011 season.

Three of the modifications to the championship’s sporting regulations that were approved by the World Motor Sport Council have an impact on tyres, namely a reduction in the number of tyres that may be used in the course of each round, the possibility for crews to use two different types of tyre on gravel events and the banning of mixed gravel/asphalt stages. Thanks to these three changes, the FIA has made the World Rally Championship both safer and more respectful of the environment.

The lessons of 2011 enabled the FIA to identify two ways to improve crew safety: the possibility to use two different types of tyre (a soft and a hard compound) on gravel rounds – an option which only existed for asphalt rounds in 2011 – plus the banning of mixed asphalt/ gravel stages. The latter measure ensures that the tyre regulations, which call for specific products for each type of surface, are in tune with the characteristics of the different events. The need for these changes became clear to the FIA following fruitful dialogue with the teams, the crews and the championship’s tyre suppliers.

In keeping with the commitment made by the FIA in the middle of 2010, when the new WRC tyre regulations were first presented, the number of tyres that may be used during rounds of the 2012 World Rally Championship has been reduced by almost 20 percent compared to last season. Indeed, Priority 1 and 2 drivers may now only use five tyres per tyre-change opportunity, instead of six last year, plus another five for the shakedown. This ruling, which led the championship’s tyre suppliers to carry out development work to extend the working life of their products, has produced a doubly positive result, since it reduces the championship’s environmental footprint and brings down costs for competitors.

The measures introduced for 2012 to improve crew safety and enhance respect for the environment illustrate not only the sense of responsibility which drives the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile in its role as world motorpsort’s governing body, but also the contribution that the sport can make to everyday mobility.

During that time Pirelli has won 40 events using its PZero, Scorpion and Sottozero tyres, celebrated three drivers’ and manufacturers’ champions, covered approximately 14,000 kilometres of special stages and supplied 26,960 tyres.

Under the terms of its agreement with the FIA, Pirelli was challenged to focus on durability rather than performance when developing its WRC tyre range, albeit without using run-flat mousse technology. It is therefore great testament to the advance design and meticulous production processes employed by Pirelli that of those 26960 tyres supplied, only 42 have suffered failures on the punishing terrain encountered on world championship rallies.

“Overall, the number of genuine punctures has been very small without compromising performance,” said Pirelli’s senior WRC tyre engineer Matteo Braga. “Together with the high level of customer service and equality we have strived to achieve, that has probably been our biggest achievement, and it’s one that everyone has recognised.”

Pirelli will continue its commitment to rallying in 2011 by supporting the new WRC Academy, which replaces the Junior World Rally Championship as the first port of call for drivers aspiring to one day become world champion. Pirelli will also provide the opportunity for six young drivers, Fredrik Ahlin (Sweden), Craig Breen (Ireland), Jan Cerny (Czech Republic), Andrea Crugnola (Italy), Brendan Reeves (Australia) and Molly Taylor (Australia), to contest the series as part of the Pirelli Star Driver programme, which enters its third season in 2011 and reinforces Pirelli’s long-standing aim to unearth rallying’s future talents.

The current intake of Star Drivers will be in action in Wales led by New Zealander Hayden Paddon and Estonian Ott Tanak who have impressed throughout the season. Paddon will be gunning for second place in the Production Car World Rally Championship standings, while Tanak will be bidding for his second PWRC victory of the year. Fellow Pirelli Star Drivers Nick Georgiou, Peter Horsey and Alex Raschi will continue to build their experience of competing at world level.

As well as a counting for overall WRC points, the gravel-based Rally GB is the last scoring opportunity of the season for competitors in the Production Car World Rally Championship, for two-litre turbocharged Group N cars, and the inaugural Super 2000 World Rally Championship for normally aspirated two-litre cars. Pirelli will supply its soft compound Scorpion tyres to both support championships, thereby underlining the performance and efficiency of the Italian rubber on a wide range of machinery.

Rally GB typically throws up wintry weather with rain, mud and even ice set to add to the challenge facing the crews. Pirelli will provide the soft compound version of its Scorpion gravel tyre to competitors in four-wheel drive machinery, which is designed to offer enhanced grip and stability in wet and cold conditions.

“We have to be prepared for all kinds of weather on this event, especially as it is quite late in the year, so it is classic territory for our soft compound Scorpion tyres,” said Matteo Braga, Pirelli’s senior WRC tyre engineer. “Rally GB is always a very tricky event, as the grip is inconsistent due to a number of different surface changes and the weather. If it is muddy, it will be extremely slippery and it’s possible that we’re even going to see some ice on the stages, as was the case a couple of years ago.”

Rally GB, which is based in the Welsh capital Cardiff, gets underway with an all-asphalt stage in Cardiff Bay on the evening of Thursday November 11 with the first car due to cross the finishing ramp in Cardiff at 15:25hrs on Sunday November 14 following a total of 20 stages over a competitive distance of 359.44 kilometres.

Despite having very little information about the eighth round of the World Rally Championship, which was run on gravel stages close to the holiday resort of Mikolajki, there were no problems with punctures or tyre wear for any of the leading competitors throughout the three-day event.

Conditions were cooler than expected at this time of year in Poland, with occasional rain. Nonetheless, despite the humidity, the stages remained in good condition even when they were used for a second time. Along with the traction and grip provided by the Pirelli Scorpion rubber, this allowed drivers to reach average speeds of close to 130 kph on some of the stages. Ford’s excellent result with its Pirelli tyres has set up a thrilling championship duel with just four rounds of the World Rally Championship left to run.

The new World Rally Championship leader and Rally Poland winner Mikko Hirvonen commented: “Actually, I was surprised by just how much traction and grip there was on the stages. I was definitely expecting worse. Even when I was running first on the road, it wasn’t really a problem for us. We had quite a wide variety of conditions here, but the car and the tyres coped very well with all of them. I’ve really enjoyed this rally, and of course it makes the championship quite interesting now…”
Poland was also the sixth round of the Junior World Rally Championship. A thrilling battle meant that the two candidates for victory – in an R3 car and a Super 1600 car – started the final day separated by less than a second. In the end, it was Kevin Abbring who triumphed at the wheel of a  Pirelli-equipped Renault Clio R3.

Pirelli’s rally manager Mario Isola concluded: “From our point of view it was a perfect rally. All we had to do was supply the teams with the tyres, and there were no other problems for us to deal with. The wear rate has been excellent, while providing everyone with plenty of grip, and there have been no punctures despite some tricky conditions. Our soft compound gravel tyre – which will be used again in Finland and Britain – is seeing much more use compared to last year, but it has shown itself capable of adapting to a very wide range of different conditions. There was a particularly good fight in the Junior World Rally Championship as well. Unlike the main series, competitors are allowed to cut their tyres in the Junior Championship – adding an extra tactical element.”

The next round the World Rally Championship, the legendary Rally Finland, takes place from July 31 to August 2 on fast gravel stages close to Jyvaskyla.