This weekend it’s Italy’s turn. The Rally Italia Sardegna, the sixth event of the season, marks the halfway point of the 2024 WRC and does so with a special weekend.
Special not only because it will be held at our home, but also because it will mark the debut of a new weekend format, much more compact than the traditional one, which will see the race start and end in two days.
The first special test, in fact, will be held on Friday afternoon, while the last at midday on Sunday, for a total of 16 special tests overall and the Shakedown set for Friday morning at 8:00.
Saturday will make everything more spectacular. 8 special tests (4 repeated) spaced only by the Tire Fitting Zone. The drivers, therefore, will have the opportunity to change tires for the afternoon lap, but will not have the mechanics available to fix the cars in case of damage. This is why they will have to be very careful, although the special sardines are – as well as beautiful – very insidious.
The distance, then, has always been one of the most difficult in the entire world championship. The tests in the north of the island present rocks and bumps, which put the tires to the test both in the first and, above all, in the second passage on them. To make the race even more complex, the Sardinian temperatures, which have always been quite high if supported by a clear sky and a bright sun.
Rally Italia Sardinia 2024: the new Scorpions are the protagonists
At the Rally of Portugal Pirelli debuted the new Scorpion, the evolution of its dirt road tires which will also have a very important role in Sardinia.
The new construction was designed to guarantee greater durability and resistance than the previous generation of Scorpion, while leaving its performance characteristics unchanged.
In Sardinia Pirelli brings the Scorpion in two different compounds:
- Scorpion KX WRC HB (Hard): in Alghero these will be considered the Firsts due to the rough surface that the drivers will have to face from the first test.
- Scorpion KX SB (Soft): these will be the Options, so the riders will have a smaller number of these compounds available due to the nature of the surface. They could find use in the first stages of the special stages and we could see them chosen above all by Thierry Neuville on Friday, called to open all the day’s tests as he is the leader of the World Championship. Furthermore, these could be widely used in case of rain.
Rally Italia Sardinia, the comment by Terenzio Testoni
Terenzio Testoni, Pirelli rally activity manager, commented on the weekend that awaits us: “This year’s innovations that the Sardinia Rally presents are notable and very interesting and place the Organizers at the forefront in experimenting with a new format of race created by the Promoter and the FIA, probably destined to become the standard in the future”.
“The resulting Rally for this edition of Sardinia will presumably be even more challenging than usual and will require even more attention from the drivers, especially in tire management. The repetitions of the tests, which we know are always the most insidious, races without gear tires make the wise use of tires fundamental.”
Rally Italia Sardinia: tire allocation
Here is how many and which tires the crews behind the wheel of a Rally1 car will have available during the race weekend at the Rally Italia Sardegna 2024.
- Scorpion KX WRC HB Hard (Prime): 28 tyres
- Scorpion KX WRC SB Soft (Option): 8 tyres
We remind you that each crew can increase the number of Option tires to 12 (4 more), but reducing the number of Prime tires by 4 units (24 tires).
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