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Pirelli Continues Rally Sponsorship

Pirelli will continue its UK and Ireland rally involvement, the company announced at January’s Autosport/Aftermarket Show. The manufacturer will sponsor the Kwik-fit Pirelli British Rally Championship and the Pirelli Irish Tarmac Championship, the latter for the second consecutive year. More than 3000 people visited the Pirelli stand during the course of the show. The company has since describe its participation as “a great success,” adding that its Ford Focus WRC simulator was one of the main attractions.

28th January 2005/by Tyrepress Editors

Loeb Wins Monte Carlo Rally

Sébastien Loeb has won his third Monte Carlo Rally. The French driver’s success brings Michelin’s total to 20 wins in the principality since the creation of the World Rally Championship in 1973. In a repeat of last year’s Monte Carlo classification, Citroën and Ford secured first and second places. Sébastien Loeb and the Michelin-shod Citroën Xsara WRC dominated the season’s opening round from start to finish and Michelin’s tyres were competitive from the very first group of stages, which saw Loeb pull out a significant early lead.

This year’s Monte Carlo Rally also marked the introduction a new tyre regulation which, for this event, allowed drivers to use a maximum of 55 tyres from their allocated quota of 80 asphalt tyres and 50 snow tyres (although the latter weren’t actually fitted given the conditions). After consultation with their engineers and Michelin technicians, the drivers had to finalise their choice on the Monday before the event. The 80 asphalt tyres included the three or four compounds they believed would be competitive but the difficulty was determining the ideal quantity of each option for the three-day event. According to Michelin, its one-two finish in Monaco shows that the work put in by its technicians and partner teams and drivers in pre-event testing paid dividends.

24th January 2005/by Tyrepress Editors

Peterhansel Retains Dakar Title

Mitsubishi driver, Stephane Peterhansel, has won the Dakar rally for the second consecutive year. The Frenchman finished in an overall time of 52 hours, 31 minutes and 39 seconds – 27 minutes and 14 seconds ahead of compatriot Luc Alphand. Third place was taken by Vokswagen’s Jutta Kleinschmidt, with Giniel de Villiers of Nissan and Volkwagen’s Bruno Saby taking fourth and fifth places.

At the finish, Stephane Peterhansel told BBC news it was a huge relief just to have finally finished. “We were very stressed this morning and everything went well so it’s really a big, big relief,” he said.

This year BF Goodrich supplied all of the main manufacturers’ and some private teams. The teams tackled the notoriously difficult desert terrain with the company’s Baja T/A Rock tyres in 235/85 R16.

17th January 2005/by Tyrepress Editors

Europe’s Evanescent Motorsport Culture

Pierre Dupasquier Looks Forward to New Formula 1 Season

Motorsport isn’t just about speedy overtaking manoeuvres and exciting finishes. Instead a major part of its attraction is owed to the people that live for motorsports and who – if missing – would make the event that bit less interesting. Without doubt one of these people is Pierre Dupasquier. For 30 years the Michelin motorsport director has been generally regarded as the driving force behind the French tyre manufacturer’s involvement. In addition, he is one of the few who, although not a driver himself, is allowed to comment on races on TV. Tyres & Accessories had the opportunity to meet the passionate 67 year old Frenchman and talk about the coming season.

For a long time Pierre Dupasquier has been part of the Formula 1 circus, having worked for his employer Michelin in a number different fields. Be it Formula 1, the World Rally Championship (WRC) or MotoGP, he lives for everything that’s fast and runs on two or more wheels. Although interested in and involved in all sorts of motorsports, Mr Dupasquier’s committed to the premier league of motorsports, namely Formula 1. This season wasn’t as glorious as it might have been for Michelin. Out of the 18 races Bridgestone, its only competitor in the Formula 1, won 15. Michelin’s problem? The domination of Michael Schumacher and his Ferrari with its Bridgestone tyres.

5th January 2005/by Tyrepress Editors

Michelin Names Future Director of Motorsport

Following the news that Pierre Dupasquier will retire in 2006, Michelin has announced that Frédéric Henry-Biabaud, the current deputy director, will replace Mr Dupasquier at the end of the 2005 season. At the same time the tyre manufacturer gave further details of personnel changes within its motorsport group.

The motorsport group is made up of five departments. The leadership of the group’s rallying, motorcycling, endurance racing and rally raids divisions will remain the same. Michelin’s Formula 1 division, however, will have a new head. Following the departure of Pascal Vasselon, bound for a new position in America, Nick Shorrock will take over responsibility from January 2005. Patrick Cohen will assist him as a technical manager.

Commenting on the recent decisions, Motorsport Director Pierre Dupasquier said: “I am very happy to see that we are putting teams into place early enough to whom I can pass the torch, therefore guaranteeing the quality of service that we owe all our partners and the continuity of Michelin in racing.”

10th December 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

Autosport Backs MIA Awards

The Motorsport Industry Association has confirmed that its annual Industry Awards dinner will be held at Autosport International in January next year. The show and its organisers will also sponsor the Export Achievement Award.

The dinner will be held in the grounds of the NEC on the first evening of the show, Thursday 13th January 2005. Awards will be presented across seven categories; business of the year, teamwork, small business of the year, export achievement, rally business of the year, technology and innovation, and service to the industry.

Over 600 executives from the motorsport and high performance engineering sector are expected to attend the event, which will also include an address from speaker Stuart Turner.

23rd November 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

Citroën and Loeb Achieve Aussie Gold

Citroën’s 2004 World Rally Championship winner, Sébastien Loeb achieved a record equalling 6th rally victory, in Australia this weekend, in what was the year’s final event.

The original record, which was established by Loeb’s fellow Frenchman, Didier Auriol, has stood for 10 years. Sébastien took control of the Telstra Rally Australia, on day two of the three day event. With a total of 13 stage wins, more than double any other competitor, Sébastien Loeb and the Citroën team showed their determination to finish the season as they had started – at the top of the podium.

15th November 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

Musical Chairs in WRC

French car giant PSA has announced that Peugeot and Citroën will leave the World Rally Championship (WRC) after the 2005 series. So far both brands have used Michelin tyres.

Citroën has been the most successful of the two teams this season and not only won the construction title, but also the drivers championship with Sébastien Loeb.

Next season the series, which had been dominated by Michelin tyres will see an increase in the number of teams using Pirelli as a supplier, but for how long? PSA’s announcement comes with the ink still wet on a contract between Peugeot and Pirelli. The Italian tyre manufacturer announced at the beginning of August that it would begin a new partnership with the Peugeot Team. Therefore, the problems caused by PSA’s departure will not only be felt by Michelin, but also Pirelli. Peugeot’s newly signed contract with Pirelli was originally due to last for the next three years, beginning in the 2005 season.

5th November 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

MSA British Rallycross Championship

The final round of the MSA British Rallycross Championship to be held at Brands Hatch, 31 October, will see Dermot Carnegie squaring up to the largest Supercar entry of the year. Ireland’s former rally champion Andrew Nesbitt will make his first appearance in the sport and the Ford RS200 Group B car will say farewell to the event.

Dermot Carnegie commented: “I can go to the final round and be free to race without thinking that a finish in the points is better than winning, that will be fun. And I want to have a go with Andrew Nesbitt,” he said.

Steve Mundy, Andy Grant and Kevin McCann are eager to end the year on a high, as is Will Gollop who won the first round of the championship but who has been out of action for much of the year after suffering an engine failure in his Ford Focus.

20th October 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

Citroën and Loeb Win World Rally Championship

Sebastién Loeb has become the World Rally Champion following his second place classification in this weekend’s Tour de Course, the French Rally. The win makes him the 10th driver in the sport’s history to take the title on Michelin tyres. The result was also good news for Citroën, which runs Xsara WRC cars for both Loeb and team mate Carlos Sainz, has retained its title as world manufacturer champions.

18th October 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

Tyre Choice Crucial For Subaru

After winning the last the last three rounds of the 2004 FIA World Rally Championship, the Subaru World Rally Team will travel to Corsica this week looking for their fourth consecutive win. Subaru team boss, David Lapworth, told the Global Motorsports website that tyre choice will have an enormous impact on the race’s outcome.

“At this time of year, weather is likely to play a large factor,” he said. “You can win or lose the event on tyre choice, and I think what won the rally for us last year was reading the weather conditions right and getting the tyres choices right, those things could well be factors again this year.

“The weather is often unpredictable, but even in the dry it’s a tricky rally as the roads are abrasive and rough. The drivers get the stiffest necks because it’s so twisty and bumpy, while the roads generate the highest tyre wear, the highest grip level and the highest temperatures so you have to look after the tyres – being fast over 50km is very different to being fast over the first 5km. If you’re a little bit too hard, it feels like you’re going faster, but actually the tyres are going off and you’re losing speed so it’s important to find the perfect balance between aggression, commitment and technique. Pirelli have also been working hard on the tyres and have made some good progress. However, we won’t really know where we are until we see the times from the first stage in Corsica. The benchmark is moving forward all the time and we don’t know what Michelin and the other teams have been doing.”

13th October 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

Petter Solberg’s Rough Road Ahead

Subaru team driver Petter Solberg, has won the Rally of Italy keeping alive his hopes of defending the world rally championship title.

4th October 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

Dramatic Climax to Wales Rally GB

Petter Solberg has won the Wales Rally GB, claiming his third successive victory in what commentators described as a thrilling final day.

21st September 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

Tyre Choice to be Key to GB Rally

World Rally Championship leader Sebastien Loeb has told journalists that he is expecting an eventful Welsh Rally GB this weekend. Although the race, which traditionally runs in November, is likely to be drier, there is still a good chance of rain.

Citreon driver Loeb sees the changeable conditions as a challenge for those making the tyre choice decisions. “Following the date switch, this event is likely to be the most complicated gravel rally of the calendar on the tyre front. Part of the rally will be played out on Monday when we nominate our tyre choices. The conditions stand to vary from dry and hard to cold, damp, muddy or even pouring rain. To be sure of having the ideal tyre for each situation, we could nominate a bit of everything, from ultra-soft rubber to hard compounds. But, in that case, we will only have a limited quantity of each, and we will end up running short if the conditions are consistent. The alternative, riskier solution will be to go without certain products.”

14th September 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

Cooper Avon Unveil ‘The Next Big Thing’

Cooper Avon Tyres Ltd has confirmed that it has developed a 330/30R17 motorcycle tyre. The new product will be available for sale in early 2005.

8th September 2004/by Tyrepress Editors