Cross Country Race – Proven Scorpion Rally tyres ready to race

Pirelli has been approved as a tyre supplier to the Donaldson South African Cross Country Racing series following an extraordinarily successful race test last year and the local distributor Stradale Motorsport is ready to supply any competitors and teams competing in the series.

“Pirelli is most excited to enter the world of Donaldson Cross Country Racing,” Pirelli South Africa motorsport manager Mark Eatwell confirmed. “Our new Pirelli Scorpion Rally off-road tyres not only offer brilliant performance, but they are also more than just price competitive, while Pirelli will also offer a full fitment and support service at all the Donaldson races through 2017.”

“Pirelli Tyre SA South Africa is ready and waiting to service any Donaldson Cross Country teams interested in our product through Stradale Motorsport,” Pirelli SA race tyre distributor Charl Aranges added. “Our Pirelli Scorpion Rally Cross Country tyre not only rivals competitor production tyres in price, but they also offer levels of performance to beat even the best competition tyres out there. “The proof of the pudding is in the eating as we so well proved at the Sun City 400 last year.”

At that race, regular Production class racer Gary Berthold was allowed dispensation to run Pirelli Scorpion Rally tyres as a once off test on his Volkswagen Amarok, even though he would not score points. The upshot was incredible as out of the blue, Berthold led a race for the first time in the Amarok, ahead of even the mighty Dakar Toyotas on their race rubber.

“The Pirelli Scorpion Rally tyres are fantastic!” Bertholdt confirmed. “They are as good as any of the competition tyres we have ever raced on – they transformed our car completely at the Sun City race and we were able to get the very best out of the Amarok for the first time. “We came from behind – from 16th place at the start and we were even leading the FIA cars – and the only difference was the Pirellis!”

“We found the grip of the Pirellis to be brilliant – I’d actually say they are exceptional under braking too, but most importantly, the Pirellis are so much more robust than what we are used to and that allowed us to exploit the best from the car. “Also, most of our rivals punctured tyres but, we did not have any flats even though we had a few big bangs  – it would be safe to say that they could even be puncture proof. “We were flying – it was unbelievable!”

The Amarok was ultimately slowed by a technical problem and retired, but the Pirelli Scorpion Rally tyre has left an indelible mark on Donaldson SA Cross Country Racing. Now the Pirelli Scorpion Rally has been written into the rules and meets all cost and technical parameters too.

“We are ready to supply any SA national or regional Cross Country race team,” Charl Aranges concluded. “We not only offer a winning tyre at competitive prices, but we have ample stock ready to race, while Pirelli Tyre SA SA will also back all competitors up with trackside service.

“Teams and drivers can feel free to contact me anytime to discuss pricing and delivery on any race tyres.” Charl can be reached at 083 449 0162 or charl@vaalfluid.co.za.

Pirelli Tyre SA SA also offers a broad variety of track, rally and off-road race tyres to suit all needs, from single-seaters, GT3 and sports racing tyre, through saloon and production race rubber to rally and cross country tyres.