Pirelli test driver Andreucci aiming for another road rally victory
Andreucci, a five-time Italian champion, will once again compete in his Peugeot Italia 207 S2000, with which he won the series last year on Pirelli tires. Co-driven as always by Anna Andreussi, the 46-year-old Italian has triumphed on the Targa Florio five times – three of them with Pirelli – and he is confident that he can do it once again this weekend.
The legendary Rally Targa Florio on the Italian island of Sicily is one of the oldest motorsports events in the world, celebrating its 95th running this year. The world famous rally, which has lent its name to many road cars such as the iconic Porsche 911 Targa, is characterized by its mountainous asphalt roads that will challenge the tires to the very limit.
Andreucci, who developed Pirelli’s tires for the World Rally Championship from 2008 to2010, is confident that the P Zero asphalt rubber will give him both the performance and durability required to challenge for victory once more on the 255-kilometer event.“I love the Targa Florio, but it is a very intense sprint with lots of short stages, where there are some very strong local specialists,” Andreucci says. “Grip is really important here as the surfaces are incredibly slippery and the speeds quite high; on the rare occasions that it rains, the roads become almost impossible,” he explains.
“We’ll be using the P Zero RX7 tires and maybe the harder RX5 for dry asphalt, depending on the conditions and temperatures,” Andreucci reports. “These are tires that have given us a lot of grip in the past, helping us to make the difference and extend our winning record in Sicily. We’re going to test this week before the rally gets underway and hopefully we will have a few evolutions to try out as well.”
Other top drivers competing with Pirelli on the Targa Florio include Alessandro Perico in a similar Peugeot 207 S2000, as well as last year’s Targa Florio winner, Toto Riolo. In the two-wheel drive class, the leading Pirelli competitors are Citroen Italia DS3 R3T drivers Simone Campedelli and Andrea Crugnola. The rally also counts towards the Italian Renault Clio Trophy and the Mitsubishi Evolution Cup.
For more information, visit www.us.pirelli.com.