DMACK World Rally Team

[Mirek]

The only issue with Ostberg is that he is solid No.2 driver who by some accident ended in No.1 seat. That's all.

If You ask me than I would put Tänak as No.1 with Ostberg as No.2 any day. But of course it's not easy to be No.1 driver with Camilli as No.2...

[EstWRC]

So what ? Ostberg leads in the WDC - that's what matters, not one rally.

And I didnt say Ostberg wasnt slow, just that Tanak's speed was largely meaningless. Tanak goes fast and then either crashes or breaks his car.
Ostberg is smart and drives for points when he cant compete for podiums.

I like Tanak and support him as a Ford driver and hope he comes back to M-Sport as he is better than Camilli on the evidence. But I dont think he will be a better bet than Ostberg for the team for scoring points.

hopeless.

how can you compare them in championship standings if they are on different tyres? If they would be both on Michelin's then i would agree with you. i would like to see how far Ostberg would get with Dmack tyres. i seriously doubt he would show these kind of results what Tänak is showing and for sure he wouldnt be so far ahead in the standings.

[AL14]

I thought I would never have said this but after so much talking about Ostberg I start to miss the discussions about Kubica.

Apologies for the OT.

[Carbon]

There is no doubt that Ott is alot faster driven than Østberg. Even Malcolm knows and accept that. It's last year with Ford anyway for Mads. Ott is now grown-up WRC driver. Second season on the row with WRC, what about Østberg? Østberg is no 2. Driver, Tänak have truly fast raw speed in every situation if needed and have material of world champion. So you will eat your lips for sure next year if he is with proper tyres and car. Thanks for your attention.

[nafpaktos]

No he has no speed in every situation.Also this year he has no pressure cause he is not <factory>driver like last year.About the material you say to be a world champion i don't know.This was obvious to drivers like makinen,loeb,ogier and maybe to paddon.Personally i like Ott cause he is fast and he does not love speaking a lot,he loves just to drive.

[Fast Eddie WRC]

I thought I would never have said this but after so much talking about Ostberg I start to miss the discussions about Kubica.

Apologies for the OT.

He's this years whipping boy for many.
Facing the 6 factory drivers with superior teams and cars I dont know what they expect...

Even getting points to be standing 3rd.. he's still slaughtered.

And of course the Tanak fan here cant accept that he took his MSport place... or was it Camilli... ?

Tanak didnt do enough with the chance he had (like Evans) so cant complain. He' s lucky he still has a WRC car not dropped to an R5.. And he has no big team expectation and a ready-made excuse of his tyres..

Tanak cant lose.

Ostberg cant win.

[dimviii]

He's this years whipping boy for many.
Facing the 6 factory drivers with superior teams and cars I dont know what they expect...

he was factory driver at citroen

[EstWRC]

Team press release

DMACK Introduces Upgraded Gravel Tyres For Portugal

FIA World Rally Championship tyre supplier DMACK will bring a new range of UK-made gravel tyres to next week’s Vodafone Rally de Portugal, round five of the world series. And, for the first time, the British firm has developed products specifically for both world rally cars and R5 specification machines.
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.

The DMACK World Rally Team crew of Ott Tänak and co-driver Raigo Mõlder ensured the old tyre went out on a high after setting fastest time through the iconic El Condor stage on the final day of Rally Argentina last month. And they will be aiming for a repeat performance in Portugal – on stages they like and remember well from last season.

For WRC cars like Tänak’s Ford Fiesta RS WRC, DMACK has introduced two new compounds, the GS61 soft and the GH21 hard – with the hard being nominated as the primary choice next week. WRC drivers are permitted a maximum of 24 pieces over the weekend.
In WRC 2, the Drive DMACK Trophy Team is fielding two M-Sport-run Ford Fiesta R5 cars. Last year’s Drive DMACK Fiesta Trophy winners Marius Aasen and Veronica Engan from Norway will be joined by Estonians Sander Pärn and new co-driver Martin Järveoja for round two of their campaign.
Both crews haven’t competed since Rally Sweden in February but will be looking to use their experience of this event in 2015 to score a solid finish in WRC 2. They will test on Monday to finalise preparation ahead of the event.

WRC 2 competitors will also use the GS61 soft compound gravel tyre alongside the all-new GH42 hard option – developed specifically for R5 cars. They have a maximum of 22 tyres to use during the event. The DMG+2 tyre has traditionally been a top performer on soft surfaces but it’s also been designed to offer durability on the abrasive roads in northern Portugal.

The roads around the Porto and Fafe regions will see competitors tackle a mix of fast, sandy tracks alongside some technical roads over a mountain area. The region has a crazy base of motorsport fans and organisers are expecting the stages to be swamped with spectators eager to catch the action.
After a start in Guimares on Thursday night and a 3.36km super-special stage at Lousada, the rally moves north for a three-stage loop near the Spanish border on Friday. Saturday includes two passes over the 37.67km Amarante test to the east before Sunday sees the return of the iconic Fafe stage, which is steeped in WRC history.

Dick Cormack, DMACK managing director, said: “We’ve had a number of strong events so far this year but Portugal marks the start of the traditional European summer rounds. After a series of tests earlier this year, we’ve decided upon new specifications for our gravel tyres and, importantly, developed products specific to WRC 2 cars. We’re looking forward to debuting our new products next week on some tough and technical stages.”

Ott Tänak said: “Rally Portugal is one of my favourite events of the season and I’ve done the rally quite a few times now. Since moving north it’s still a relatively new event but the stages are identical to last year so that’s a benefit. I’m looking forward to see how the new tyres perform but we’ve still got a bit to learn and the pace this year in WRC is pretty fast – but once again we will be driving as hard as we can.”

Marius Aasen said: “I’m really looking forward to the rally, my first gravel event in the Fiesta R5 this year. I remember how rough the roads were last year and we had to be very careful in the R2 car, so this will be a much different experience. We’re testing on Monday so that will be very important to get back up to speed again as we haven’t been competing since Sweden in Febraury. It’s also the first time we are using pacenotes from last year so it will be good to have two proper recce runs.”

Sander Pärn said: “It’s my second season with the R5 car and we’re aiming to improve on the pace from last year. I’ve got a new co-driver for this season and our aim is to really give this our best shot right from the start – so it’s a benefit that the stages are the same as last year. We haven’t done much since Sweden but I will be doing driving in Estonia today and then we have a test in Portugal on Monday.”

[EstWRC]

There have been some interviews with Tänak from different estonian newspapers in a month or so.

Some things about the tyres: His roll is to give exact feedback how the tyre works and what has to be changed. The focus is the main package, that the tyre would be better as a whole package.

He says too fast tyre wear has never been the problem for the Dmack. The problem is opposite, the tyre doesnt wear quick enough and doesnt have a good grip on hard surface (i guess some kind of right layer has to come out?) .

On soft surface the tyre works better because there is a bigger role in the tyre pattern which bites into soft surface better.

After the last test he says that the grip is much better but rallies are different and he doesnt know how universal their tyres are. The biggest job was to find a compromise between grip and stability. They have been testing all types of tyres in the last 3-4 months, gravel, winter tyre and tarmac tyre and have been making progress with all of them.

[EstWRC]

Amazing job by the team developing the tyre. It seems it is quite good now but still a way to go because on the longer stage it overheated and it seems that Tänak still has to push very hard to keep up with the boys.

Very Very happy about the progress but so angry that this mess on stage 5 caused the retirement and they could test the tyre only for four stages. Also a good result wasted. Top 4 for sure I think .