Chinese-made Dmack Tyres to Join Michelin in WRC

Shandong Yongtai Chemical Group Co., Ltd, part of the Yongtai Chemical Group, has become the first Chinese tyre manufacturer to supply a top flight motorsport series after being named as the WRC’s second supplier after tyre giant Michelin was confirmed yesterday. The tyres will be branded Dmack and are aimed at privateer racing crews. The products themselves are being manufactured at Yongtai’s factory in Dongying, China. The plant reportedly produces 22,000 tyres a day for global distribution.

FIA regulations for 2011 encourage new tyre manufacturers to enter the WRC and Dmack Tyres appear to have taken full advantage of this. The technical rule changes apparently make it more achievable for a new tyre manufacturer to reach the required standards and enter the world rally championship market. Work on Dmack’s gravel tyres is already well underway and these products will be available for teams to test from the end of October.

Dick Cormack, Dmack’s motorsport director, commented: “This is a golden opportunity for Dmack Tyres to enter the FIA World Rally Championship market and the supreme competitive challenges and excellent brand exposure it has to offer. We studied the FIA’s new tyre regulations for 2011 and decided to make a proposal.

Dmack Grippa tyres in action earlier this year.

“Technically the new regulations are very achievable for a new manufacturer and we based our proposal on bringing a very strong and durable product to the championship – we also wanted to help encourage more entries into the events by offering a two-tier pricing structure. Ongoing testing of the WRC tyres is taking place at our research facility in China and at the hands of our test driver Mark Higgins. As the first Chinese tyre manufacturer to enter the WRC, we see the opportunity to take the Dmack and Yongtai brands to a whole new level.”

Technical data on the range of Dmack WRC tyres will be available on the official website at www.dmacktyres.com by 1 October 2010.

Yongtai also produce Durun branded tyres, which are distributed in the UK by Treadsetters.

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