DMACK World Rally Team

[tommeke_B]

A tyre doesn't puncture itself...

[Mariusz]

A tyre doesn't puncture itself...

Some tires can handle more, some less. Don't always blame the driver.

[tommeke_B]

Some tires can handle more, some less. Don't always blame the driver.

True, but I've seen Tänak plenty of times let's say 2x as sideways as many other drivers, exposing the side-walls of the tyres much more than any other driver. Seen this not only in Finland, but also in Poland, Sardinia etc... Let's agree he's the one who always has "bad luck", a bit like Petter Solberg had 10x more bad luck than Loeb (who was driving the same tyres).

[Mariusz]

I can even agree that Ott often drives very aggressive, sometimes pushing the car, the tires and even himself over the limit His times were great on the last 2 events though and I'm assuming that he made a lot of people happy.

[Lundefaret]

True, but I've seen Tänak plenty of times let's say 2x as sideways as many other drivers, exposing the side-walls of the tyres much more than any other driver. Seen this not only in Finland, but also in Poland, Sardinia etc... Let's agree he's the one who always has "bad luck", a bit like Petter Solberg had 10x more bad luck than Loeb (who was driving the same tyres).

When the Petter/Loeb-duel was going on at its most fierce (03, 04) Petter was on Pirellis and Loeb on Michelins.
Michelin came out with their "super tire" in 2004.
Big difference between then and now is that they where running with mouse, so a puncture wasnt that crucial (Petters Ouninpohja record was set with a punctured front, something not possible today.

Michelin went with a softer tire and softer core structure than Pirelli. The same is happening now with Dmack vs Michelin. In some back to back tests rumour has it that the Dmacks have been up to 0,5 sec pr km faster than the Michelin (Rumour), but they are off course stretching the envelope when it comes to withstanding punctures and also in regards to wear.
Dmacks hard is softer and wear rate is higher than Michelins hard, same with soft.

[EstWRC]

Of course it all is Tänak's fault....weird that he didn't have any punctures last season when he was driving with michelins...

[tommeke_B]

About Petter I'm mostly referring to his last seasons (especially the last with Ford), but you are right. It would be very interesting if the DMack tyre is so much faster.. Next year will be a completely new story with the more powerful cars anyway. I'm wondering what will happen to regulations, if they'll stick to only one hard and soft for all types of 4WD cars together, or if they'll allow different tyres for R5. The commitment from DMack is extreme, and great for our sport, I hope they'll succeed in whatever they try to accomplish with rallying.

[Mariusz]

Of course it all is Tänak's fault....weird that he didn't have any punctures last season when he was driving with michelins...

Some people were blaming Kubica all the time last year when his tires were going off the rims. So take it easy, everybody who wants to know will figure out that Michelin and DMack are not the same tires and they give advantages in certain circumstances, but are also weaker in other things.

[Lundefaret]

About Petter I'm mostly referring to his last seasons (especially the last with Ford), but you are right. It would be very interesting if the DMack tyre is so much faster.. Next year will be a completely new story with the more powerful cars anyway. I'm wondering what will happen to regulations, if they'll stick to only one hard and soft for all types of 4WD cars together, or if they'll allow different tyres for R5. The commitment from DMack is extreme, and great for our sport, I hope they'll succeed in whatever they try to accomplish with rallying.

I have to stress that the speed advantage of te Dmacks is a rumour, and I dont want to imply taking something away from Tänak. He is improving a lot, and its great to see.
But starting order and tires has a lot to say, and when Ogier on an absolute max attack can't even get a single Power Stage Point, that says a lot.
But rallying after 2004 have in my opinion never been more exiting than it is now. On the contrary to former "paying drivers times" we have now drivers that ca take advantage of that starting position and even win from it. This has been a long time coming, and is great for the sport.
With new regulations - for better or for worse they are definitely getting to be the tak of the town - WRC is having a resurgence, so this is great

[Lundefaret]

Of course it all is Tänak's fault....weird that he didn't have any punctures last season when he was driving with michelins...

When a driver has a puncture its 99 times out of a 100 the drivers fault. The drivers needs to know the limits of not only the tires, but the suspension, gearbox, engine, etc etc.
Its like if you are running, and you see a short cut going over a km of broken glass, you know that your soles won't take it, so you won't take that short cut.
Tina is a great driver, but he is in deep need of being able to adjust speed and risk level. He is moving forward, so thats positive