Pirelli Out of WRC; Way Seems Clear for Michelin
Swiftly following the last-minute bid by Michelin to become a tyre supplier in the 2011 World Rally Championship, the current provider Pirelli has officially ruled itself out of the series next year. Paul Hembury, Pirelli’s motorsport director, told Autosport magazine that the sports’ lack of rule stability was a factor, citing “three significant rule changes in the last nine months”, as was the FIA’s rejection of Pirelli’s three-year tender offer in December 2009.
“Overall it just feels that we were not wanted in the sport,” continued Hembury in the Autosport report, “despite delivering run-flat technology, a Tarmac-specification tyre [which is] fully EEC road homologated, an offer to bring self-sealing, puncture-resistance to the sport, aromatic oil-free tyres and, of course, a level puncture resistance that was unheard of before 2008. We leave the sport with our head held high, having supported the series through some of the most difficult economic conditions ever experienced.”
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