3 March 1997: The Long P’s First 100 Rally Victories
It all started in 1973. That was the year of the first World Rally Championship, when Pirelli rode to victory and took the title on a Fiat 124 Abarth driven by the German Achim Warmbold. This was the first in a whole string of successes, with the hundredth celebrated on 3 March 1997. Before the official championship was launched, rallying had been going for several years, with Pirelli starring in some memorable feats, such as the victory of Sandro Munari and Mario Mannucci‘s Lancia Fulvia HF 1600 in the 41st Monte Carlo Rally on 28 January 1972. Starting in 1973, the first 14 seasons of the World Championship saw an official partnership with the Fiat group: five world titles with cars manufactured by the Turin-based brand between 1974 and 1978 and then with Lancia in 1983 and 1987, coming out on top in Canada, Sweden, Greece, New Zealand, and Argentina, on all types of terrain. Then came the partnership with Toyota, and the first triumphs in Africa in 1984 – with the debut of the future champion Juha Kankkunen – and then the victories of the Spaniard Carlos Sainz who won two titles, in 1990 and 1992. Another era in which Pirelli featured large in the World Rally Championship began in 1994, when the Long P fitted the Subaru Impreza Gr.A of the 555 World Rally Team, driven by Sainz and Colin McRae. Victory no. 100 came in 1997, again with the 555 World Rally Team.
A series of successes that is far from over and that continues to this day, with Pirelli as the exclusive tyre supplier to the World Rally Championship.
It all started in 1973. That was the year of the first World Rally Championship, when Pirelli rode to victory and took the title on a Fiat 124 Abarth driven by the German Achim Warmbold. This was the first in a whole string of successes, with the hundredth celebrated on 3 March 1997. Before the official championship was launched, rallying had been going for several years, with Pirelli starring in some memorable feats, such as the victory of Sandro Munari and Mario Mannucci‘s Lancia Fulvia HF 1600 in the 41st Monte Carlo Rally on 28 January 1972. Starting in 1973, the first 14 seasons of the World Championship saw an official partnership with the Fiat group: five world titles with cars manufactured by the Turin-based brand between 1974 and 1978 and then with Lancia in 1983 and 1987, coming out on top in Canada, Sweden, Greece, New Zealand, and Argentina, on all types of terrain. Then came the partnership with Toyota, and the first triumphs in Africa in 1984 – with the debut of the future champion Juha Kankkunen – and then the victories of the Spaniard Carlos Sainz who won two titles, in 1990 and 1992. Another era in which Pirelli featured large in the World Rally Championship began in 1994, when the Long P fitted the Subaru Impreza Gr.A of the 555 World Rally Team, driven by Sainz and Colin McRae. Victory no. 100 came in 1997, again with the 555 World Rally Team.
A series of successes that is far from over and that continues to this day, with Pirelli as the exclusive tyre supplier to the World Rally Championship.
