Dmack anticipates WRC ‘longest day’ in Sardinia
Dmack has spoken of the challenge it will face as a tyre supplier in Sardinia, which contains a mix of abrasive and soft surfaces
Dmack has identified next week’s Rally Italia Sardegna, round six of the FIA World Rally Championship, as a demanding test. The tyre brand says challenging road conditions and high temperatures promise to punish both tyres and cars, with the biggest challenge on Saturday: competitors will tackle over 200km of stages, the longest day in WRC since 2012.
While the event boasts a number of significant changes this year, the sun-drenched gravel roads across the Mediterranean island of Sardinia remain and, together with long stage distances, will provide a stern test of Dmack’s durability.
Known for its harsh surfaces, boasting some of the championship’s most abrasive roads, the rally is both fast and furious. The stages are traditionally narrow and lined with bushes, trees and rocks – but also pretty high speed. In addition to precise handling, Dmack says its DMG+2 gravel tyre must also provide excellent durability and puncture resistance to cope with the rough second pass during the hot Sardinian summer. The manufacturer has nominated its hard compound S3 tyre, which it says handled the situation well last year, for the task – drivers have a maximum allocation of 30 tyres across the four-day, 24-stage event.
(l-r) Ari Vatanen and Dick Cormack
At the end of May Dmack announced that former world rally champion Ari Vatanen was to become its first brand ambassador. Finnish rally hero Vatanen won the FIA World Rally Championship drivers’ title in 1981 and is a four-time Paris Dakar Rally winner. Having driven for a raft of manufacturers during the heyday of Group B rallying, the Vatanen name is synonymous with exhilarating motorsport action.
Vatanen was a member of the European Parliament for 10 years and is currently president of the Estonian Aurosport Union. However, the family name lives on in motorsport with his 24-year-old son Max currently competing in the Drive DMACK Fiesta Trophy.
It was at the launch of the new 2015 season of the one-make series for young rally talent, at Rally de Portugal today, where Vatanen’s role with Dmack was announced. Dmack has a short but proud motorsport heritage and recently entered the consumer market with an exciting range of performance road tyres.
Dick Cormack, Dmack managing director, said: “I’m both proud and excited to welcome a true motorsport icon to the Dmack family. Our brand has grown enormously over the last few years and this is a significant step to consolidate our presence even further with the support and knowledge that Ari can provide.”
Ari Vatanen, former world rally champion and Dmack brand ambassador, said: “I truly am excited to be working with Dmack. I’ve followed the company’s progress very carefully and am impressed with the strategy and future plans. There is a genuine enthusiasm across the business and the Drive DMACK Fiesta Trophy, which my son Max is benefitting from, is a real boost to aspiring rally stars.”
Based in the resort of Alghero on the north-west coast, competitors will head to Cagliari on the southern coast for Thursday night’s ceremonial start and the popular opening street stage through the town. Friday takes in nine stages on the way north to Alghero, but Saturday is likely to be the toughest day, requiring a degree of clever tyre management.
Drivers will tackle two identical loops to the east of Alghero, each with four demanding speed tests totalling 101km. Two of those tests are 37.5km long and include the Monte Lerno stage, famous for Mickey’s Jump which launches cars high into the air. Saturday also includes two remote tyre fitting zones where Dmack will transport tyres for crews to choose and fit themselves in a controlled zone. Sunday finishes with four stages north of Alghero. Overall there are 24 timed sections covering 400 competitive kilometres – with less than a third carried over from 2014.
Dick Cormack, Dmack motorsport director, said: “Sardinia offers a really unique mix of abrasive roads and soft stages – both creating different challenges for our tyres. Some of the distances, especially on Saturday, will force drivers to think about how they manage their tyre allocation. It’s a difficult rally and I believe and even greater challenge this year.”
Comments