New WRC gravel tyre heralds ‘new era’ for Dmack

Dmack has unveiled its first new gravel tread pattern for WRC cars in the FIA World Rally Championship in five years. The DMG+2 has been used since 2012, helping it into the lead in five WRC events and to win 47 gravel stages. It makes way for the new DMG+22 at Rally RACC – Rally de España, where Dmack tyres won their first WRC stage in 2012. The new DMG+22 tyre features the same tread pattern which has been used successfully in WRC 2 and WRC 3 this season. Dmack states the tyre should be more suited to the final three events remaining this year.

The pattern is more open than its predecessor, providing enhanced performance in wet, muddy and loose conditions, and features a revised run-flat construction. Both permitted compounds, the soft GS84 and hard GH34, are softer than the original compounds used earlier in the season.

Dmack’s WRC stars Elfyn Evans and Dan Barritt will use the new gravel tyres for Friday’s opening day – they have a total of 16 tyres at their disposal. Then their Ford Fiesta WRC will get changed to Tarmac specification by the expert M-Sport World Rally Team technicians during a specially-extended service on Friday evening. They swap to DMT-RC22 asphalt tyres and have S6+ soft and H6+BB hard options for two days of racing on Spain’s smooth, flowing Tarmac roads.

After a strong display on their WRC 2 debut in Germany, Drive DMACK Fiesta Trophy prize-winners Jon Armstrong and Noel O’Sullivan have their second event in an M-Sport Fiesta R5 in Spain.

It is also the final round of the Dmack-backed FIA Junior WRC with local-stars Nil Solans and Miki Ibanez aiming to shine on their home rally to lift the coveted title.

Rally de España starts from Salou on Thursday evening with six gravel tests on Friday in the hills to the west of the town. Then it’s two full days on Tarmac to the north of Salou before the final podium on Sunday afternoon.

Dick Cormack, Dmack managing director, said: “We’ve been working hard on development this season and the new WRC gravel tyres are the result of ongoing assessment and evaluation during events this year. We are confident that they will be more suited to the conditions on the final three rallies.”

Elfyn Evans, Dmack WRC driver, said: “We’re looking forward to trying the new specification gravel tyre in competition for the first time and it will be interesting to see how it performs in the range of conditions over the last three events. We’re pushing again for another strong drive in Spain and especially to help our M-Sport team in the manufacturer championship battle.”