A week before the start of the WRC 2022, the teams are proceeding with the latest tests aimed at preparing for the first event of the new season, the Rallye Monte-Carlo, which will start on January 20 and end 3 days later, Sunday 23, outlining the first World Drivers and Constructors classification of the new era, the hybrid one.
For the teams, as has been known for months, the first outing will be a real challenge from the point of view of reliability, because the Rally1 cars are born from a completely new project and, in addition, they host propulsion for the first time in history. hybrid, i.e. a 380 horsepower 1.6 turbo heat engine and a 10 kW electric motor, about 134 horsepower, which is part of the package that also includes inverters and batteries.
Among the novelties of this season there are also those related to tires, because Pirelli Motorsport, the only tire supplier of the WRC, has prepared the new range specially designed for the new cars, the hybrid Rally1, which will have different characteristics from those of the WRC Plus. Heavier cars with less downforce. A different challenge for the Milanese manufacturer.
Speaking of challenges, the Rallye Monte-Carlo has always been the main appointment of the World Championship, at least as regards the complexity of the route due not only to the characteristics of the surface, but also due to the complicated weather conditions that have often made the rally exciting to say the least for those who watched it, but difficult for those behind the wheel of racing cars.
For this reason, before the start of the season, Motorsport.com contacted Terenzio Testoni, Pirelli’s rally activity manager, to find out more about the work done by Pirelli as regards the preparation of the Rallye Monte-Carlo 2022.
“Monte-Carlo is always a complex race, between wet, slippery asphalt, ice, verglas. But perhaps, compared to last year, it could be less difficult because the special stages north of Gap have been removed, therefore those with colder temperatures. This is no small factor. So I expect a tough race, it’s still Monte-Carlo, but less difficult than in the 2021 edition ”.
Testoni then went into the specifics of the tires, talking about those chosen for Monte-Carlo. Many different choices for the drivers because, among the alpine roads used for racing, you never know what conditions can be found. Better never be caught unprepared in a race like this.
“For Monte-Carlo we made dedicated choices, because, as mentioned, it is a rally in which the conditions are so variable and different that it is necessary to bring a certain type of compound to be able to guarantee the drivers to be able to face them in the best possible way. We will bring special tires with and without spikes, but also slick and SuperSoft. With these compounds, in fact, we have tried to overcome the problems that could arise in the special stages with wet asphalt or with a lot of mud. This condition should be found above all in the repetition of the special stages already done in the morning, in which the drivers made a lot of use of the cuts and brought mud to the asphalt ”.
Pirelli’s rally activity manager then talked about how the teams will arrive at Rallye Monte-Carlo: totally new cars, a new propulsion and a few weeks to really fine-tune the package. The fear of the teams – something they have never hidden in recent weeks – is arriving in the Principality to compete in a race in which reliability will be the most important element in being able to win or even aspire to a good position.
“All the teams started testing the new cars very late and everyone says they would like and would have liked to try more. The fact that they left so late is a factor they are paying for. When the Monte-Carlo course was presented, the Shakedown was not included, but this year it will be done only for the crews who will race on Rally1 precisely to allow them to have more chances to try the cars, which are totally new “, Testoni concluded.
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