Michelin to Give Away 100 Racing Tyres to Monte Carlo Rally Amateurs
To mark the occasion of the Monte Carlo Rally’s centenary, French tyre giant Michelin has announced that it will reward the efforts of the top 25-placed amateur competitors with a free set of its racing tyres. The 79th Monte Carlo Rally is the first event of the 2011 Intercontinental Rally Challenge and is scheduled to take place between 18 and 22 January 2011. The rally will begin in Valence, France.
Michelin has been involved in motorsports since 1895, when the car it had specially built for the Paris-Bordeaux-Paris race, the Eclair, proved to the public that pneumatic tyres could be used on automobiles. This led Edouard Michelin, co-founder of the Group, to confidently proclaim after the race, “In ten years, all cars will be equipped with tyres.”
Since the pioneering days of racing, Michelin has been constantly involved in road and race track events. The Group says it continues to use motorsport as a “real-life laboratory for validating its cutting-edge technological innovations in the most extreme conditions” before transferring them to street tyres. Michelin believes racing helps improve the performance balance of its products and reduce their environmental impact. Motorsport continues to be a powerful stimulus for Michelin in meeting the challenges of the 21st century.
In the coming season, Michelin will take its products to the FIA’s World Rally Championship, returning to the premier rallying series after a six year absence. Michelin’s decision to rejoin WRC was partially informed by the opening of series to competing brands, a decision that has led to the Chinese-manufactured Dmack brand’s entrance, creating a two-tier pricing structure for competitors.
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