Rally Chile, The Soft Scorpion Confirmed As The Prime Choice

Milan, 23 September 2024 | 16:22 Europe/Amsterdam RALLY CHILE, THE SOFT SCORPION CONFIRMED AS THE PRIME CHOICE A slightly different route to last year, with the longest leg on SaturdayThe twisty, fast and often slippery roads require careful tyre managementPirelli’s Terenzio Testoni: “I expect a closely contested rally, with both types of tyre coming into play” PreviewChile1 PreviewChile2 PreviewChile3 Everything is still up for grabs in the World Rally Championship and now it’s time for the last gravel event, the seventh in a row on the calendar, run along the cold coastline of the South Pacific in the Chilean region of Bio Bio. As was the case last year, when teams at first rather underestimated its pitfalls, it won’t be a walk in the park, while there are also some new stages not seen in 2023. However, the format, somewhat put aside in recent rounds of the WRC, with the morning’s special stages repeated in the afternoons, has been reinstated.THE CHALLENGEThe fast and technical gravel tracks in the forests and along the coast are usually slippery and cambered, with different characteristics from one stage to the next, thus requiring great care when it comes to the choice and management of the tyres. Particular attention must be paid to Saturday, the longest day of the whole weekend, featuring 139.20 timed kilometres out of the rally’s total of 306.76. The only special stage carried over from last year is the longest of the whole event, the Maria Las Cruces (SS9-12), at 28.31 kilometres which provided a stern test for the tyres in 2023, preceded by the 25.64 kilometres of the Lota section (SS8-11).Another hazard not to be underestimated is the constant threat of rain and the generally low temperatures in the morning, along with the humidity.PIRELLI QUOTETerenzio Testoni, Pirelli Rally activity manager: “I expect a great and closely contested rally, especially considering the situation in the drivers’ and constructors’ standings, which is still quite open with three rallies remaining. Good tyre management will be essential and I expect both the hard and soft tyres to come into play to tackle the various scenarios this rally presents. For example, with low temperatures in the morning, the softs will definitely be favoured, even in dry conditions, while I expect the hard tyres to be used in some of the second runs in the afternoons, when temperatures are higher, in order to reduce wear which, as we saw last year, is quite high.”THE PIRELLI TYRES IN CHILEThe tyres available for the various categories in this rally are as follows:Scorpion KX WRC, Pirelli’s gravel tyres developed for the top category Rally1 cars is available in two compounds, both in their 2024 evolution, which features reinforced construction and an optimised design. The prime is the soft compound Scorpion SB, designed to offer optimal grip even on low-grip surfaces. The option, the hard compound HB, provides greater resistance on more abrasive surfaces, as well as greater durability.As per the regulations, the allocation for the prime is 28 tyres and 8 for the option. Crews can choose to increase the latter to 12, with a reduction of 4 of the prime. Rally2 cars have the K6B (soft) and the new K4C (hard) versions of the Scorpion K, while Rally3 have available the K6A (soft) and K4A (hard). For these two categories the allocation is for 26 and 8 tyres for the prime and option respectively, the crews being able to go up to 12 of the latter, while reducing the number of prime by 4.