Monza Presents a Tough Tyre Challenge for Yokohama’s Advan

As the FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) heads to Monza, Italy, for its last European rounds, official sole tyre supplier Yokohama is prepared for its Advan tyres to face a tough challenge due to the circuit’s long straights and slow corners. The Autodromo Nazionale di Monza’s design is such, says Yokohama, that both WTCC cars and single-seaters from the championship’s Formula Master partner series will rely heavily on their Advans for grip and traction.

“In order to be competitive on the long straights, single-seaters rely on a low downforce set-up,” explains Yokohama tyre engineer, Mr. S. Watanabe. “This means that in slow corners the tyres have to work harder than usual to generate grip as they are receiving less help from the car’s aerodynamics.

“Touring cars run a simpler aerodynamic package so their grip levels will not be affected as much, but the track’s slow corners mean that there is a high traction demand on the rear tyres regardless. In addition, the circuit’s surface is also challenging; the older areas of the track are quite rough whilst other parts have been resurfaced recently and are much smoother.”

Whilst the WTCC will be moving to Japan and Macau for the final races of the current season, Monza hosts the last two 2008 rounds for Formula Master, with the drivers’ title still to be decided. Contenders Chris van der Drift and Michael Ammermüller are the only two drivers left in the battle, with 13 points separating them.