Kumho has been appointed a key partner and official tyre supplier to Britain’s premier rallying series, the MSA British Rally Championship (BRC). Having developed new products for the 2016 season, Kumho joins rival tyre suppliers Michelin, Pirelli and Dmack in a four-way battle over seven gravel and tarmac rounds, encompassing the slippery asphalt of Ireland, the gravel of the Kielder forests and more surfaces.
At present, all Dmack tyres are manufactured in China. However if news published today by the News&Star is correct, Dmack production may begin in the UK within the next two years. The publication writes that “plans have been unveiled for a £200 million factory in Carlisle.” Tyrepress.com has reached out to Dmack for further details about this project and will publish them when they become available.
Dmack has partnered with rally preparation experts M-Sport and publication Motorsport News to launch a Young Driver Award. The judging process will aim to find the next rising star to join the Dmack British Rally Team. The Dmack M-Sport Motorsport News Rally Driver Award is the second initiative introduced by Dmack to support career progression among competitors in the new-look 2016 MSA British Rally Championship (BRC).
Dmack scored its best-ever finish on the season-opening Rallye Monte Carlo, as the Dmack World Rally Team’s Ott Tänak claimed seventh overall, helping his team to fifth in the Manufacturer Championship. The tyre supplier also brought its latest asphalt tyre – the DMT-RC2 – to the event.
Northern Irish driver Jon Armstrong beat off nine other finalists to win the Vatanen Touch award at the Drive Dmack Fiesta shoot-out today. The 21-year-old is rewarded with a funded prize drive in next year’s Drive Dmack Fiesta Trophy which takes place over five FIA World Rally Championship rallies. He will drive an M-Sport-prepared Ford Fiesta R2T.
Dmack has extended its support for British rallying with the creation of the Dmack Junior BRC category. The tyre brand will offer a subsidised prize drive in the 2017 Drive Dmack Fiesta Trophy, worth £60,000, to the winning driver. Dmack stated that the series creates a career ladder to help bring young drivers from club rallying level in the UK to the top of the FIA World Rally Championship. As part of the package, the Junior BRC category will be supplied by Dmack tyres throughout the 2016 season.
Tyre manufacturer Dmack has launched its first FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) team, with Estonian driver Ott Tänakat the helm. The Dmack World Rally Team will run a Ford Fiesta RS WRC in close partnership with M-Sport, with the 28-year-old Tänak competing on all 14 rounds of the series. It will be the first time Dmack will compete against the factory teams of Volkswagen and Hyundai in the FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers, and will allow its tyres the opportunity to rub shoulders with Michelin and Pirelli at the top level of the sport.
Twenty years after Colin McRae sealed the FIA World Rally Championship title, a Subaru Impreza emblazoned with the Scot’s iconic livery and equipped with Dmack tyres finished as the top production class car on Wales Rally GB. David Higgins and Craig Drew romped home on their home round of the WRC as part of the anniversary celebrating McRae’s achievement. Seven-time Rally America champion Higgins has won two titles on Dmack tyres with his Subaru USA team and topped the class using Dmack’s DMG+2 gravel tyre.
Dmack will aim to repeat its 2014 WRC2 victory when its drivers take on the tyre supplier’s home round of the 2015 FIA World Rally Championship at Wales Rally GB. The company said that winter weather and high-speed forest roads would result in a challenging end to the season.
The diverse gravel roads of Coates Hire Rally Australia, round 10 of the FIA World Rally Championship, provided a “tough test” for Dmack’s WRC tyres and teams, according to the motorsport tyre brand. Its DMG+2 gravel tyre was supplied to teams in nominated S3 and softer S6 compounds, and Dmack stated the tyre had “performed as expected” across the 311km of competitive action around Coffs Harbour on the News South Wales coast. The Drive Dmack team hoped to compete for top honours in WRC2 with the local knowledge of Australian pairing Scott Pedder and Dale Moscatt, but an off on the first day, and a technical problem on the last undermined a series of otherwise strong runs.
Dmack returns to the event on which it secured its first WRC2 championship in 2014 at Coates Hire Rally Australia. Its Drive Dmack team is targeting continued success this time around with the top local driver joining its ranks. Supplying its WRC tyres to the event, Dmack has shipped its bespoke fitting container, fitted with the machines and equipment needed to supply gravel tyres for competitors. The latest DMG+2 tyres have flown directly from the Yongtai factory.
British tyre brand and World Rally Championship authorised tyre supplier Dmack has recruited the Pirelli veteran, Fiorenzo Brivio, who has been appointed to the newly created position of motorsport technical director. The brand, manufactured by China’s Yongtai, hopes to benefit from the technical expertise of Brivio, who they call “one of the world’s leading motorsport tyre engineers.”
Dmack will introduce a new soft compound version of its DMG+2 rally tyre in Finland, while the tyre supplier will also enter last year’s Drive DMACK Fiesta Trophy winner as a new team – Drive Dmack 2. With the tyre brand’s lead driver, Jari Ketomaa, forced onto the sidelines for his home rally on medical advice, Dmack completes its changes with a new driver; Ketomaa’s fellow Finn, Jarkko Nikara steps in to take his place on the Neste Oil Rally Finland.
Competitors in the 2015 Drive DMACK Fiesta Trophy will aim to put on a real show for spectators from all over Europe when round two of the series takes the 11 crews to Poland next weekend. Max Vatanen won the competitive season-opener at the Vodafone Rally de Portugal in May after topping the field in half of the 12 tough gravel stages, though the lead had changed hands several times earlier in the weekend.
The Drive DMACK World Rally Team will return to Poland in the hope of a repeat of its first ever one-two victory. Jari Ketomaa and Ott Tänak romped home at the top of the WRC 2 class in 2014, and next week’s round seven of the FIA World Rally Championship, will see Ketomaa return alongside Sander Pärn at the wheel of the team’s two Ford Fiesta R5 rally cars. Topping the championship standings, the Drive DMACK team is on track to defend its WRC 2 Teams world title and both drivers will be hoping to capitalise on the ultra-fast, smooth gravel roads in Poland.
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