WRC
The World Rally Champion may return to a control tyre, but this won’t occur next year. According to autosport.com, FIA rally director Jarmo Mahonen says a single tyre competition is not on the cards for 2017. “It’s the normal business of the promoter to investigate these things,” he shared. “But it can’t happen next year.” The publication adds that Mahonen hasn’t ruled out a control tyre for future seasons.
For the last five years competitors in the World Rally Championship have been free to compete on any brand of tyre registered with the FIA, and newcomer Dmack has shown itself to be a worthy competitor to factory team supplier Michelin – at the start of this month, the brand secured its best ever WRC result and first podium finish. The days of open tyre competition may be numbered, however. Autosport.com writes that the WRC may return to a control tyre for next year’s season.
World Rally Championship tyre supplier Dmack secured its best ever FIA World Rally Championship result and first podium at Rally Poland. The Carlisle based brand’s Drive Dmack team lead for the majority of its 70th WRC event; Estonian driver Ott Tänak and co-driver Raigo Mõlder finished second after a dramatic final day. Dick Cormack, Dmack managing director, said: “It’s certainly been a weekend to remember for everyone at DMACK. We’ve been striving to compete at this level and this event marks a real turning point for us. Ott and Raigo have stunned everyone this weekend with their pace and the result has driven our enthusiasm to reach the top.”
Dmack new range of UK-made gravel tyres will be available at next week’s Vodafone Rally de Portugal, round five of the World Rally Championship. The British firm has developed products specifically for both world rally cars and R5 specification machines for the first time. The FIA regulations allow tyre manufacturers to change the specification of homologated tyres once during the season. Dmack has taken the opportunity to introduce new soft and hard options of its DMG+2 tyre for both WRC and WRC 2 competitors.
After what it says was an intensive development programme, FIA World Rally Championship tyre supplier Dmack has launched a new range of gravel tyres. These tyres have been designed and produced in the UK and developed specifically for competitors in WRC 2 and those driving R5 class cars.
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.
With a variety of rallying conditions traversed at Rallye Monte Carlo, the opening round of the 2016 World Rally Championship required competitors to be acutely aware of their tyres, supplier Michelin states. At 1,474.34km, including 16 stages totalling almost 375km, the winter rally is one of the season’s longest, and Michelin’s provision of competitive tyres and a technical support service was vital in order for crews to compete. The tyre manufacturer said the versatility of this year’s tyre selection – two basic types, each available in two variants – allowed the crews to take full advantage of their allocations for the week. The event was the first competitive outing for the super-soft SS5 version of the Michelin Pilot Sport, which features the same construction as the soft Pilot Sport (S5), and was described as the predominant choice for Rallye Monte Carlo.
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.
UK high-specification brakes and clutch manufacturer Alcon has experienced a successful 2015 motorsport season to go alongside its significant supply deals with Peugeot and Supacat among others. In late November, Kyle Busch claiming victory in the Nascar Sprint Cup race at the Homestead-Miami Speedway, and with it becoming the 2015 champion. Busch brought his Alcon-equipped, Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) Toyota home 1.5 seconds ahead of his nearest rival, to crown yet another successful year for the Tamworth-based manufacturer.
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.
Wales Rally GB completes WRC season The 2015 Wales Rally GB concluded the 13-round FIA World Rally Championship, with Sébastien Ogier and co-driver Julien Ingrassia claiming the final victory to go alongside the already claimed Drivers’ Championship in the Volkswagen Polo R WRC. Their tyre supplier, Michelin has introduced two major new tyres at the […]
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.
For the first time, an Italian Rally Championship round will take place in the heart of the country’s capital city, and Pirelli describes its participation in the Rally Roma Capitale as a “big step into the unknown.” But although rallying in Rome is uncharted territory for the tyre maker, Pirelli appears to be on top of the matter.
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.
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