Congratulations to our partners Citroën, who with Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena have won the 2011 FIA World Rally Championship.

This year saw Michelin make a welcome return to the world class rallying after five years away from the sport. It turned out to be an emphatic return, securing both the FIA World Rally Championship and Intercontinental Rally Challenge titles with its partners.

In off road rallying, driving conditions can suddenly change at any stage of the race, so Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena both had to have confidence in their tyres’ ability to adapt. Michelin tyres, with their excellent grip, gave them that confidence, whatever the weather or terrain.

The World Rally Championship visited Coffs Harbour in September and the teams experienced the extremes of Australian weather.

After kicking off in heavy rain which made the stages particularly slippery and challenging, the remainder of the Rally Australia took place in fine, sunny conditions and on roads which were perfectly suited to the hardcompound MICHELIN LATITUDE Cross H1.

The win ended up going to FORD, with Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen steering the N°3 factory FIESTA RS WRC to a victory which promises an exciting finale to this year’s World Rally Championship. Indeed, the result takes the Finns to second place in the provisional standings, just 15 points behind the leader Sébastien Loeb. Mikko and Jarmo were joined on the podium by team-mates Jari-Matti Latvala/Mikka Anttila who finished 14.7 seconds adrift after losing the lead on SS25. Co-driven by Chris Patterson, Norway’s Petter Solberg profited from his experience of slippery conditions to finish third in his privately-entered DS3 WRC, 44.8s behind Hirvonen.

The Power Stage was won by seven-time world champion Sébastien Loeb (CITROEN DS3 WRC) who stays at the top of the provisional Drivers’ standings, despite a crash on the morning of Day 1 (Friday, September 9) that could have seen him lose his advantage in this year’s title chase. Fortunately for him, his team-mate Sébastien Ogier, who could have profited from the chance to ease into the championship lead, went on to clout a tree with his DS3 WRC later that day. After several hours work on their cars by the CITROEN team’s mechanics, the two Frenchmen were able to rejoin the rally on the Saturday morning.

Jacques Morelli, the manager of MICHELIN’s rally programmes, was pleased with the performance of the hard-compound MICHELIN LATITUDE Cross H1 which was the only tyre authorised for the Australian round of the 2011 WRC: “Friday’s rain made the stages extremely slippery. The treads of the LATITUDE CROSS tyres became filled with compact mud and were unable to demonstrate their full potential with regard to grip. Even so, the event was able to continue, despite the fact rallies organised near Coffs Harbour are apparently frequently cancelled in wet weather because of the region’s clay-based tracks. The sun shone from Saturday onwards, though, and our tyres were able to deliver their usual performance.”

“After analysing the tyres which came off the cars and listening to the drivers, it transpires that the hardcompound H1 option was the correct choice, except for Friday’s rain. We received positive feedback from the drivers, especially concerning the LATITUDE CROSS’s consistency. Wear rates where very low from start to finish and no problems were reported.”

The final round of the Championship was held in November and despite an accident on the public road between stages that ended his weekend early, Sébastian Loeb and Daniel Elena were crowned 2011 WRC Champion.

The Power Stage was won by seven-time world champion Sébastien Loeb (CITROEN DS3 WRC) who stays at the top of the provisional Drivers’ standings, despite a crash on the morning of Day 1 (Friday, September 9) that could have seen him lose his advantage in this year’s title chase. Fortunately for him, his team-mate Sébastien Ogier, who could have profited from the chance to ease into the championship lead, went on to clout a tree with his DS3 WRC later that day. After several hours work on their cars by the CITROEN team’s mechanics, the two Frenchmen were able to re-join the rally on the Saturday morning.

New Zealanders Hayden Paddon/John Kennard succeeded in wrapping up the 2011 PWRC crown in their MICHELIN-equipped Subaru Impreza. Hayden Paddon is the first driver from Oceania to win one of the World Rally Championship titles.

Jacques Morelli, the manager of MICHELIN’s rally programmes, was globally pleased with the performance of the hard-compound MICHELIN LATITUDE Cross H1 which was the only tyre authorised for the Australian round of the 2011 WRC: “Friday’s rain made the stages extremely slippery. The treads of the LATITUDE CROSS tyres became filled with compact mud and were unable to demonstrate their full potential with regard to grip. Even so, the event was able to continue, despite the fact rallies organised near Coffs Harbour are apparently frequently cancelled in wet weather because of the region’s clay-based tracks. The sun shone from Saturday onwards, though, and our tyres were able to deliver their usual performance.

“After analysing the tyres which came off the cars and listening to the drivers, it transpires that the hard-compound H1 option was the correct choice, except for Friday’s rain. We received positive
feedback from the drivers, especially concerning the LATITUDE CROSS’s consistency. Wear rates where very low from start to finish and no problems were reported.”

The next round of the WRC brings crews back to Europe for the asphalt Rallye de France Alsace (September 30-October 2) where MICHELIN’s partners will be able to choose between the H
(hard) and S (soft) versions of the PILOT Sport, depending on the prevailing conditions.

Milan, September 7 2009 – With a surprising finish decided by the race judges Rally Australia ended with Hirvonen extending his lead over Loeb who in the field had obtained his fifth victory in the World Rally Championship 2009. The non-conformity of the anti-roll bar fitted on the Citroens of Loeb, Sordo and Ogier decided the final results of the difficult Australian round which was a tough challenge for the teams supported by the Pirelli technicians. Pirelli, the sole tyre supplier of the WRC, for the occasion supplied Scorpion tyres, the most suitable for gravel tracks.

The Citroen drivers were penalized by a minute, overturning the finishing order: Hirvonen (Ford) went from second to first and Latvala (Ford) from 5th to 4th. Now, with only two rallies left, Hirvonen has a 5-point lead over Loeb, while Citroen is still leading the manufacturers’ table with a 13-point lead over Ford.   A nasty surprise for Loeb who hadn’t won since Argentina and who had driven an exemplary race in Australia.

Absent from the World Rally Championship calendar since 2006, Rally Australia moved to New South Wales for the first time this year, more than 3500 kilometres away from its former home in Perth. Consequently the gravel stages were a complete step into the unknown for both the competitors and Pirelli, which has an exclusive three-year deal to supply the World Rally Championship with tyres up to the end of the 2010 season.

Although the Italian tyre firm started the event with very little information about the conditions, Pirelli’s hard compound Scorpion rubber – which was being used for the last time this season – stood up to the task admirably. Among the many challenges faced by the crews were a wide range of weather conditions that varied from heavy rain to bright sunshine, sharp rocks, and changing grip levels. Despite these varying parameters, the competition was so close that the top three runners were covered by just a tenth of a second heading into the final day: a record for the World Rally Championship.

As well as counting for a round of the Production Car World Rally Championship, which is also supplied by Pirelli, Rally Australia was the venue for the Asia-Pacific selection in next year’s Pirelli Star Driver scheme. This programme aims to give five drivers from FIA regional championships the chance to contest six rounds of the World Rally Championship in identical Group N cars. New Zealander Hayden Paddon, aged 22, was chosen to represent the Asia-Pacific region on the scheme next year thanks to a strong performance that eventually won him the Group N category in Australia. Newly-crowned Junior World Rally Champion Martin Prokop from the Czech Republic won the Production Car World Championship class.

In a region that is well-known for its outstanding natural beauty, environmental concerns are high on the agenda. All Pirelli Scorpion tyres use oil-free compounds, which already conform to future legislation due to come into force next year.

Pirelli’s Rally Manager Mario Isola concluded: “I don’t remember ever seeing a rally that has been this closely contested between title rivals, underlining the durability and equality of our tyres. The Pirelli Scorpion gravel tyres also worked well on the all-asphalt Tweed superspecial stage, which was used no fewer than six times and formed a notable proportion of the competitive action. Despite some sections that were as rough as the classic Mediterranean gravel rallies, we encountered no major problems with punctures – which has set up a thrilling finale to the season.”