Snow will not stop play on this week’s Rally Monza after additional tires were included in the selection for this week’s World Rally Championship finale.
The teams and competitors involved in the northern Italian event have been instructed they will be permitted to use an allocation of snow tires provided by both Michelin and Pirelli.
Each driver will be allowed eight non-studded snow tires (six for the Junior WRC crews), according to an official bulletin from the organizers. The tires can be used on any stage on any of the four days of competition.
The snow tire has been included alongside two dry weather compounds and a single compound wet-weather option. Michelin is offering Rally1 crews selection from a package including 24 Pilot H5 (hard compound), 18 Pilot Sport S6 (soft compound) and 12 Pilot Sport FW3s (wets) as well as the eight Pilot Alpin A4s.
Welcome to Monza! 🌨🌨🌨#Toyota #ToyotaGAZOORacing #WRC #AciRallyMonza pic.twitter.com/kLbkTREEnZ
— TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRT (@TGR_WRC) December 2, 2020
Michelin’s rally manager Arnaud Remy told DirtFish of his intentions to bring tires usually saved for the season-opener in Monte Carlo to Italy in a decision he described as a “no brainer.”
The rally organizers and the FIA agreed, especially as conditions on the higher sections of Saturday’s stages worsened and snow continued to fall on the Monza circuit and service park itself.
Toyota Gazoo Racing technical director Tom Fowler told DirtFish: “This is a good idea, it would be a shame to come all this way and not have the right tires to compete with.”
This week’s Rally Monza will be Michelin’s last event supplying the factory teams with Pirelli taking over a single-supply contract next season.
