Pirelli’s New Scorpion at Tyres Debut With Heikkilä’s Victory at the Rally Scandinavia

He had been tipped among the favourites before the start and did not disappoint, winning by more than 23 seconds after a rally in which he was among the leading contenders from the opening special stages. It was the weekend of Finland’s Mikko Heikkilä, who claimed a commanding victory in his Pirelli-equipped Škoda Fabia at Rally Scandinavia, which concluded yesterday in Karlstad as the second round of the FIA European Rally Championship.

The Scorpion AT tyres, making their debut on the Swedish event, proved decisive in the victory. On Saturday, when light rain affected part of the day, Heikkilä was able to rely on the consistency and performance levels of both the soft AT6 and supersoft AT8 compounds. On Sunday’s dry gravel stages, the soft-compound AT6 was the dominant choice.

In the opening part of the rally, another Pirelli-equipped driver took centre stage: young Estonian talent Jaspar Vaher, of Toyota Gazoo Racing, before a small mistake dropped him down the order. A similar fate befell Teemu Suninen, who, in his Pirelli-equipped Škoda Fabia, had taken the lead on the second leg until special stage 14.

“It was an exciting rally and an important test bench for our tyres, with a more than positive outcome,” commented Terenzio Testoni, Pirelli Rally Activity Manager. “Victory at Rally Scandinavia already consolidates our leadership in the dedicated tyre manufacturers’ standings after just the second round. In just over a month’s time, at the beginning of July, Rally di Roma will provide another opportunity to test our technological solutions and our ambitions on asphalt.”

The M-Sport Fiesta Rally3 Trophy, supplied exclusively by Pirelli, was dominated by Ville Vatanen.