Pirelli's 150th Win in the FIA World Rally Championship in Loeb & Elena's Citroen

The final day of the Rallye Deutschland was characterised by a last-minute charge from Duval-Pivato (Ford Focus WRC-Pirelli), who defended their third place well from Mikko Hirvonen, driving another Ford. Loeb controlled the rally from start to finish, claiming his seventh consecutive win in Germany and giving Pirelli its 150th victory in the FIA World Rally Championship. Dani Sordo took an excellent second place, also driving a Citroen C4 WRC running on PZero tyres.

Trier, 17 August 2008 - Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena have won the Rallye Deutschland, round 10 of the FIA World Rally Championship, for the seventh time in seven years.

On the final day of the event, the number one Citroen crew - using Pirelli PZero tyres - was simply able to control the advantage gained over the previous two days, backed up by their team mates, Sordo-Marti. The stages that were run today saw Francois Duval (Ford Focus WRC-Pirelli) make his mark on the rally. The Belgian set a string of quick times to guarantee himself a third place finish, despite the charge from the factory Ford Focus WRC of Hirvonen-Lehtinen.

Loeb commented: "The PZero tyres performed very well: particularly the soft compound covers, which stood up to temperatures that were often warmer than those predicted. On the dry, I can conclude that both the compounds supplied by Pirelli worked extremely effectively. Now I am curious to see how these tyres will react to wet asphalt. Unlike most occasions in the past, we didn't see any rain at all on the Rallye Deutschland this year."

The seventh win of the year for the factory Citroen C4 WRC crew of Loeb and Elena is also the 150th win for Pirelli in the FIA World Rally Championship. The first win for the Italian firm was on the Rally Poland back in 1973, thanks to the Fiat Abarth 124 Spider of Achim Warmbold and Jean Todt.

Mario Isola, Pirelli's Rally Manager, commented: "This 150th World Rally Championship victory obtained here in Germany is a magnificent tribute to Pirelli's enduring involvement in road racing, which has spanned several decades. Since 1973 we have been supplying tyres and winning rallies all over the world, with a huge variety of different cars and conditions. These wins have come both thanks to great champions and also lesser-known drivers, but it is a real pleasure to see this landmark victory taken by Loeb, who is obviously already one of the greatest rally drivers of all time.

On the purely technical side, I'm pleased to see that we've maintained (and sometimes surpassed) the pace of previous rallies held here in Germany. Back then we were constantly developing the tyres and using anti-deflation mousse - a situation that is very different to the one we have now under the new control tyre rules."

150 wins for Pirelli in the FIA World Rally Championship

Win - Year - Event - Vehicle - Driver & Codriver

1 - 1973 - Poland - Fiat Abarth 124 - Warmbold-Todt

2 - 1973 - Austria - Bmw 2002 Tii - Warmbold-Todt

3 - 1974 - Portugal - Fiat Abarth 124 - Pinto-Bernacchini

4 - 1974 - Italy - Lancia Stratos HF - Munari-Mannucci

5 - 1974 - Canada - Lancia Stratos HF - Munari-Mannucci

6 - 1974 - France - Lancia Stratos HF - Andruet-Biche

7 - 1975 - Monte Carlo - Lancia Stratos HF - Munari-Mannucci

8 - 1975 - Sweden - Lancia Stratos HF - Waldegaard-Thorszelius

9 - 1975 - Greece - Opel Ascona - Roehrl-Berger

10 - 1975 - Portugal - Fiat Abarth 124 - Alen-Kivimaki

11 - 1975 - Finland - Toyota Corolla GT - Mikkola-Aho

12 - 1975 - Italy - Lancia Stratos HF - Waldegaard-Thorszelius

13 - 1976 - Monte Carlo - Lancia Stratos HF - Munari-Maiga

14 - 1976 - Portugal - Lancia Stratos HF - Munari-Maiga

15 - 1976 - Finland - Fiat Abarth 131 - Alen-Kivimaki

16 - 1976 - Italy - Lancia Stratos HF - Waldegaard-Thorszelius

17 - 1976 - France - Lancia Stratos HF - Munari-Maiga

18 - 1977 - Monte Carlo - Lancia Stratos HF - Munari-Maiga

19 - 1977 - Portugal - Fiat Abarth 131 - Alen-Kivimaki

20 - 1977 - New Zealand - Fiat Abarth 131 - Bacchelli-Rossetti

21 - 1977 - Canada - Fiat Abarth 131 - Salonen-Harjanne

22 - 1977 - Italy - Fiat Abarth 131 - Andruet-Delferrier

23 - 1977 - France - Fiat Abarth 131 - Darniche-Mahé

24 - 1978 - Portugal - Fiat Abarth 131 - Alen-Kivimaki

25 - 1978 - Greece - Fiat Abarth 131 - Roehrl-Geistdoerfer

26 - 1978 - Finland - Fiat Abarth 131 - Alen-Kivimaki

27 - 1978 - Canada - Fiat Abarth 131 - Roehrl-Geistdoerfer

28 - 1978 - Italy - Lancia Stratos HF - Alen-Kivimaki

29 - 1978 - France - Fiat Abarth 131 - Darniche-Mahé

30 - 1979 - Finland - Fiat Abarth 131 - Alen-Kivimaki

31 - 1980 - Monte Carlo - Fiat Abarth 131 - Roehrl-Geistdoerfer

32 - 1980 - Portugal - Fiat Abarth 131 - Roehrl-Geistdoerfer

33 - 1980 - Argentina - Fiat Abarth 131 - Roehrl-Geistdoerfer

34 - 1980 - Finland - Fiat Abarth 131 - Alen-Kivimaki

35 - 1980 - Italy - Fiat Abarth 131 - Roehrl-Geistdoerfer

36 - 1981 - Portugal - Fiat Abarth 131 - Alen-Kivimaki

37 - 1981 - France - Lancia Stratos HF - Darniche-Mahé

38 - 1981 - Greece - Ford Escort RS - Vatanen-Richards

39 - 1981 - Brazil - Ford Escort RS - Vatanen-Richards

40 - 1981 - Finland - Ford Escort RS - Vatanen-Richards

41 - 1982 - New Zealand - Toyota Celica TCT - Waldegaard-Thorszelius

42 - 1982 - Finland - Audi Quattro - Mikkola-Hertz

43 - 1982 - Italy - Audi Quattro - Blomqvist-Cederberg

44 - 1983 - Monte Carlo - Lancia Rally - Roehrl-Geistdoerfer

45 - 1983 - France - Lancia Rally - Alen-Kivimaki

46 - 1983 - Greece - Lancia Rally - Roehrl-Geistdoerfer

47 - 1983 - New Zealand - Lancia Rally - Roehrl-Geistdoerfer

48 - 1983 - Italy - Lancia Rally - Alen-Kivimaki

49 - 1983 - Ivory Coast - Toyota Celica TCT - Waldegaard-Thorszelius

50 - 1983 - GB - Audi Quattro - Blomqvist-Cederberg

51 - 1984 - Kenya - Toyota Celica TCT - Waldegaard-Thorszelius

52 - 1984 - France - Lancia Rally - Alen-Kivimaki

53 - 1985 - Kenya - Toyota Celica TCT - Kankkunen-Gallagher

54 - 1985 - Ivory Coast - Toyota Celica TCT - Kankkunen-Gallagher

55 - 1985 - GB - Lancia Delta S4 - Toivonen-Wilson

56 - 1986 - Monte Carlo - Lancia Delta S4 - Toivonen-Cresto

57 - 1986 - Kenya - Toyota Celica TCT - Waldegaard-Gallagher

58 - 1986 - Argentina - Lancia Delta S4 - Biasion-Siviero

59 - 1986 - Ivory Coast - Toyota Celica TCT - Waldegaard-Gallagher

60 - 1986 - USA - Lancia Delta S4 - Alen-Kivimaki

61 - 1987 - Monte Carlo - Lancia Delta 4WD - Biasion-Siviero

62 - 1987 - Portugal - Lancia Delta 4WD - Alen-Kivimaki

63 - 1987 - Greece - Lancia Delta 4WD - Alen-Kivimaki

64 - 1987 - USA - Lancia Delta 4WD - Kankkunen-Piironen

65 - 1987 - Argentina - Lancia Delta 4WD - Biasion-Siviero

66 - 1987 - Finland - Lancia Delta 4WD - Alen-Kivimaki

67 - 1987 - Ivory Coast - Volkswagen Golf GTI - Eriksson-Diekmann

68 - 1987 - Italy - Lancia Delta 4WD - Biasion-Siviero

69 - 1987 - GB - Lancia Delta 4WD - Kankkunen-Piironen

70 - 1989 - Australia - Toyota Celica GTFour - Kankkunen-Piironen

71 - 1990 - Kenya - Toyota Celica GTFour - Waldegaard-Gallagher

72 - 1990 - Greece - Toyota Celica GTFour - Sainz-Moya

73 - 1990 - New Zealand - Toyota Celica GTFour - Sainz-Moya

74 - 1990 - Finland - Toyota Celica GTFour - Sainz-Moya

75 - 1990 - GB - Toyota Celica GTFour - Sainz-Moya

76 - 1991 - Monte Carlo - Toyota Celica GTFour - Sainz-Moya

77 - 1991 - Portugal - Toyota Celica GTFour - Sainz-Moya

78 - 1991 - France - Toyota Celica GTFour - Sainz-Moya

79 - 1991 - New Zealand - Toyota Celica GTFour - Sainz-Moya

80 - 1991 - Argentina - Toyota Celica GTFour - Sainz-Moya

81 - 1991 - Spain - Toyota Celica GTFour - Schwarz-Hertz

82 - 1992 - New Zealand - Toyota Celica GT 4WD - Sainz-Moya

83 - 1992 - Kenya - Toyota Celica GT 4WD - Sainz-Moya

84 - 1992 - Spain - Toyota Celica GT 4WD - Sainz-Moya

85 - 1992 - GB - Toyota Celica GT 4WD - Sainz-Moya

86 - 1993 - Italy - Ford Escort Cosworth - Cunico-Evangelisti

87 - 1994 - Greece - Subaru Impreza 555 - Sainz-Moya

88 - 1994 - New Zealand - Subaru Impreza 555 - McRae-Ringer

89 - 1994 - GB - Subaru Impreza 555 - McRae-Ringer

90 - 1995 - Monte Carlo - Subaru Impreza 555 - Sainz-Moya

91 - 1995 - Portugal - Subaru Impreza 555 - Sainz-Moya

92 - 1995 - New Zealand - Subaru Impreza 555 - McRae-Ringer

93 - 1995 - Spain - Subaru Impreza 555 - Sainz-Moya

94 - 1995 - GB - Subaru Impreza 555 - McRae-Ringer

95 - 1996 - Greece - Subaru Impreza 555 - McRae-Ringer

96 - 1996 - Italy - Subaru Impreza 555 - McRae-Ringer

97 - 1996 - Spain - Subaru Impreza 555 - McRae-Ringer

98 - 1997 - Monte Carlo - Subaru Impreza WRC - Liatti-Pons

99 - 1997 - Sweden - Subaru Impreza WRC - Eriksson-Parmander

100 - 1997 - Kenya - Subaru Impreza WRC - McRae-Grist

101 - 1997 - France - Subaru Impreza WRC - McRae-Grist

102 - 1997 - New Zealand - Subaru Impreza WRC - Eriksson-Parmander

103 - 1997 - Italy - Subaru Impreza WRC - McRae-Grist

104 - 1997 - Australia - Subaru Impreza WRC - McRae-Grist

105 - 1997 - GB - Subaru Impreza WRC - McRae-Grist

106 - 1998 - Portugal - Subaru Impreza WRC - McRae-Grist

107 - 1998 - France - Subaru Impreza WRC - McRae-Grist

108 - 1998 - Greece - Subaru Impreza WRC - McRae-Grist

109 - 1999 - Argentina - Subaru Impreza WRC - Kankkunen-Repo

110 - 1999 - Greece - Subaru Impreza WRC - Burns-Reid

111 - 1999 - Finland - Subaru Impreza WRC - Kankkunen-Repo

112 - 1999 - Australia - Subaru Impreza WRC - Burns-Reid

113 - 1999 - GB - Subaru Impreza WRC - Burns-Reid

114 - 2000 - Kenya - Subaru Impreza WRC - Burns-Reid

115 - 2000 - Portugal - Subaru Impreza WRC - Burns-Reid

116 - 2000 - Argentina - Subaru Impreza WRC - Burns-Reid

117 - 2000 - GB - Subaru Impreza WRC - Burns-Reid

118 - 2001 - Argentina - Ford Focus WRC - McRae-Grist

119 - 2001 - Cyprus - Ford Focus WRC - McRae-Grist

120 - 2001 - Greece - Ford Focus WRC - McRae-Grist

121 - 2001 - New Zealand - Subaru Impreza WRC - Burns-Reid

122 - 2002 - Monte Carlo - Subaru Impreza WRC - Makinen-Lindstrom

123 - 2002 - Argentina - Ford Focus WRC - Sainz-Moya

124 - 2002 - Greece - Ford Focus WRC - McRae-Grist

125 - 2002 - Kenya - Ford Focus WRC - McRae-Grist

126 - 2002 - GB - Subaru Impreza WRC - Solberg-Mills

127 - 2003 - Cyprus - Subaru Impreza WRC - Solberg-Mills

128 - 2003 - Australia - Subaru Impreza WRC - Solberg-Mills

129 - 2003 - France - Subaru Impreza WRC - Solberg-Mills

130 - 2003 - GB - Subaru Impreza WRC - Solberg-Mills

131 - 2004 - New Zealand - Subaru Impreza WRC - Solberg-Mills

132 - 2004 - Greece - Subaru Impreza WRC - Solberg-Mills

133 - 2004 - Japan - Subaru Impreza WRC - Solberg-Mills

134 - 2004 - GB - Subaru Impreza WRC - Solberg-Mills

135 - 2004 - Italy - Subaru Impreza WRC - Solberg-Mills

136 - 2005 - Sweden - Subaru Impreza WRC - Solberg-Mills

137 - 2005 - Mexico - Subaru Impreza WRC - Solberg-Mills

138 - 2005 - GB - Subaru Impreza WRC - Solberg-Mills

139 - 2005 - Finland - Peugeot 307 WRC - Gronholm-Rautiainen

140 - 2005 - Japan - Peugeot 307 WRC - Gronholm-Rautiainen

141 - 2008 - Monte Carlo - Citroën C4 WRC - Loeb-Elena

142 - 2008 - Sweden - Ford Focus WRC - Latvala-Anttila

143 - 2008 - Mexico - Citroën C4 WRC - Loeb-Elena

144 - 2008 - Argentina - Citroën C4 WRC - Loeb-Elena

145 - 2008 - Jordan - Ford Focus WRC - Hirvonen-Lehtinen

146 - 2008 - Italia-Sardegna - Citroën C4 WRC - Loeb-Elena

147 - 2008 - Greece - Citroën C4 WRC - Loeb-Elena

148 - 2008 - Turkey - Ford Focus WRC - Hirvonen-Lehtinen

149 - 2008 - Finland - Citroën C4 WRC - Loeb-Elena

150 - 2008 - Germany - Citroën C4 WRC - Loeb-Elena

August 2008