Drive DMACK expecting challenge on Rallye Deutschland asphalt

Drive DMACK World Rally Team’s Ott Tänak and Raigo Molder will lead the tyre brand’s team’s FIA World Rally Championship challenge on asphalt with round nine at Rallye Deutschland. As the first full asphalt event of the season, the German round of the world series attracts fans from across Europe while its demanding special stages are set to lay down another tough challenge for Dmack.

Dick Cormack, DMACK motorsport director, said: “With the mixed weather and range of different, technical surfaces, Rallye Deutschland is always a tough rally for crews. We’ve got two tyre compounds here to cope with the conditions but the demanding stages mean anything can happen. Our asphalt tyres have a tread pattern specifically designed to offer performance across mixed surfaces and we’re confident in their ability to cope in Germany.”

Ott Tänak said: “I like Tarmac and also the stages in Germany. We’d had some good times here before but the roads are very difficult. You can have different weather on every stage in a loop so it’s always a compromise and the cuts can make things tricky for the second pass. I’m looking forward to the event though – I’m up for the challenge.”

Dmack says the “asphalt rallying rulebook is thrown out the window for Rallye Deutschland. Its unique challenge comes from three different types of special stages with three different road surfaces to test Dmack’s DMT-RC asphalt tyre to the limit.”

Many of the German stages run through the technical vineyards high in the hills overlooking the Mosel river. Their narrow, cambered roads are lined with walls and vines, demanding precision and instant turn-in from tyres. The surfaces can become slippery with dirt, soil and mud dragged out as drivers cut corners to find the quickest line.

However the toughest conditions will be faced on the broken asphalt roads on the Panzerplatte stage, which runs twice on Saturday through the infamous Baumholder tank training ground. Grip is compromised as the slippery surface pushes tyres to the limit while the abrasive, broken concrete really tests durability. If that wasn’t enough, huge stones, called hinkelsteins, line the route so there will be no room for mistakes when Tänak powers his Autotek-run Ford Fiesta R5 through the test.

The third surface is experienced on the more traditional public roads through the Saarland countryside but these smooth stages become treacherously slippery when wet.

To cope with such a wide mix of conditions across one event, the DMT-RC will be available to crews in hard H3 and soft S3 compounds. The tread pattern has grooves on the inside to maximise grip and traction while the outside of the tyre delivers the performance aspect allowing drivers to push and lean on the tyre.

Rallye Deutschland is again based in Trier close to the Luxembourg border. Friday’s action runs across the vineyards in the Mosel region with a three-stage loop repeated after service in Trier. Saturday’s four-stage loop is dominated by two passes over the daunting 42.51km Panzerplatte stage where crews get the opportunity to fit new tyres before the start.

Sunday sees two vineyard tests tackled twice before the 18-stage, 326km event finishes at the Porta Nigra UNESCO world heritage site in the centre of Trier. The event is also round four of the Drive DMACK Fiesta Trophy where 17 crews in Ford Fiesta R2 cars line-up in both the main series and the Shoot-Out for private teams.