Dmack ends best WRC season yet on a high

This year has been the most successful FIA World Rally Champion season so far for Dmack, and it has rounded off 2017 with a best-ever performance on the final round at Kennards Hire Rally Australia – topping the timesheets on the eighth event this season. Elfyn Evans and Dan Barritt powered their M-Sport World Rally Team Ford Fiesta WRC to a stage victory on the final day, securing their highest championship finish of fifth and becoming the third highest scorers of stage wins this season.

In September, DMACK introduced softer compounds of the new DMG+22 gravel tyre to deliver enhanced performance towards the end of the season. That plan worked when it took a sensational home victory on the cold and damp stages at Wales Rally GB three weeks ago.

However, as anticipated, the compounds weren’t suited to the warm, dry conditions on the Coffs Harbour-based event over the weekend. Evans was further disadvantaged with his road position on Saturday, forced to clear the road of slippery, loose gravel using the hard compound GH34 tyre. But heavy rain yesterday morning allowed his soft compound GS84 tyres to excel and he jumped to the top of the time-sheets on the 9.9kilometre Pilbara Reverse test. Playing a clever game while other driver succumbed to the tough conditions, Evans had another mistake-free event to take fifth – his and Dmack’s best result down-under.

That was enough to seal fifth in the championship, with all three M-Sport World Rally Team drivers in the top-five. For the second season in a row, a Dmack driver has claimed the third highest number of stage wins. Dmack comments that this achievement “rounds off a super season where the company achieved all its targets.”

Rally Australia featured a diverse range of challenges. Friday saw drivers battle on hard-packed clay roads through the rainforest before the action moved south off Coffs Harbour to fast, flowing roads covered with loose gravel. Sunday’s stages were hit by heavy rain, covering the roads in a layer of sticky mud. DMACK comments that its gravel tyre “took every condition in its stride on the last event for the small British company’s WRC-car programme.”

As reported last week, from 2018 the focus will switch to technical development, range expansion and building upon Dmack’s core customer base in WRC, ERC and regional championships across the world.

“The result in Australia was more than we hoped for and was a great way to round off the perfect season in WRC,” commented Dick Cormack, managing director of Dmack. “Elfyn and Dan have delivered some inspiring performances this year and helped us achieve everything we’d aimed for – especially that elusive maiden victory. I’d like to personally thank Malcolm Wilson and everyone at M-Sport for the professional and unwavering support all season, it’s been a privilege to have played a small part in their success.”

Elfyn Evans, Dmack WRC driver, added: “We knew the rally would be tough but we stuck to the plan and came away with a strong fifth overall in both the event and the championship. It rounds off an incredible season for us, M-Sport and Dmack and I like to thank them both for the efforts and support this year.”