Control tyres and cutting

[Daniel]

Was it Argentina where Loeb said that cutting should be allowed on safety ground and that the control tyres were not good for varying conditions? People said he was being soft and that in the old days drivers would have just driven and not complained about things. Then the same thing here in Japan, Loeb says it's unsafe and the old stuff is good brigade call him soft again :rolleyes: When will people realise that the drivers enjoy a challenge but that at the end of the day it's the competitors who are risking their lives driving on unsuitable tyres in difficult conditions and not the armchair fans.

The FIA or World Rally Commision need to stop being a bunch of retards who are concerned with how much stubble Loeb has and bring back Michelin or whatever they want to be called and allow Pirelli and them to bring whatever tyres they want to rallies. If Pirelli want to bring big chunky treaded tractor tyres to a rally then good for Pirelli if they want to endure the costs and good for the drivers if the tyres actually suit the conditions. This way we'll see excellent results like Petter's 2 wins in Australia and Corsica due to good tyre choice which were thoroughly deserved and as an added bonus drivers will be able to put suitable tyres on their cars for the conditions. Imagine that? Suitable tyres on a car doing silly speeds through a forest? :rolleyes:

I hope Citroen and Loeb clinch their titles this weekend and boycott Rally GB to prove a point to the incompetent fools who seem to have taken a once healthy series (remember 2002 and 2003?) and played with it and dumbed it down the the point where it's nowhere near as interesting as it used to be and it's also not as safe as it should/could be. When there is unexpected snow on a gravel rally we should see interesting results due to drivers making brave tyre choices rather than seeing accidents because the drivers are driving on unsafe rubber.

I can not stress just how much this is not about Loeb not wanting to drive because it's too snowy but how much this is about improving the sport with proper tyre regs and most importantly safety! Motorsport is dangerous but no one wants to see events where we have strange weather and see incidents like this which may have never happened had there been proper tyre regulations.

Last of all I hope Pivato is OK and make a full recovery :up:

[grugsticles]

I agree simply for the point of safety.

The FIA/WRC cant really be serious letting the drivers drive at the speeds they do on sub standard equiptment.
Disallowing tyre cutting is nothing but ignorance of peoples personal safety, not just the driver/co-driver but the spectators and stage officials. I recon there could also be grounds for a murder charge through negligance if a spectator were to die from an accident, but Im no legal expert.

The average speed of a car through a stage is about 120Km/h. Driving an ordinary road car with bald tyres at that sort of speed while in the wet is tretcherous at best. Pushing the limits in a rally car on tyres that may as wll be bald when comparing road grip levels is just down right stupid IMO.

Drivers are used to pushing to the maximum. Reducing tyre grip levels simply is not going to get them to drive slower. Its simply against a drivers basic instints.

[Ghostwalker]

I think FIA? decided about the new tyre rules because every driver should have the same tyres and that it would mean lesser time differences since it would reduce the advantage for some of the drivers who seems to be very good at choosing the correct tires.

[MJW]

I thought Pirelli could cut tyres but only to agreed patterns and everyone got the same cut, IF Pirelli decided they needed cuts.

[AndyRAC]

Control tyres are wrong in the Premier series of a given Motorsport - F1, MotoGP, WRC all have them, and they're wrong. It's against competition, and does nothing to development.
The F1A had a problem with Michelin after Indy 2005, and have taken action against them.
To ban cutting just makes no sense, and the tyre rules are just nonsense. What was the problem with teams having an advantage on certain rubber? That's life.

[Ghostwalker]

honestly i dont understand why drivers arent allowed to decide that thmeselves

[Daniel]

I thought Pirelli could cut tyres but only to agreed patterns and everyone got the same cut, IF Pirelli decided they needed cuts.

I may be wrong but I think the teams have to all agree and Ford didn't agree back in Argentina because Malcolm somehow thought it would be an advantage for them over Citroen which it wasn't......

[Brother John]

When will people realise that the drivers enjoy a challenge but that at the end of the day it's the competitors who are risking their lives driving on unsuitable tyres in difficult conditions and not the armchair fans.

Not only unsuitable tyres? How about Not suitable cars for rally?

When there is unexpected snow on a gravel rally we should see interesting results due to drivers making brave tyre choices rather than seeing accidents because the drivers are driving on unsafe rubber.

To fast high tech cars! Don´t compare rally with F1.

I can not stress just how much this is not about Loeb not wanting to drive because it's too snowy but how much this is about improving the sport with proper tyre regs and most importantly safety! Motorsport is dangerous but no one wants to see events where we have strange weather and see incidents like this which may have never happened had there been proper tyre regulations.

you stag-obtained and starts always the same here always concerning Loeb. He is your number one, and some have another opinion about him.

Last of all I hope Pivato is OK and make a full recovery :up:
I entirely agree whit this.


WRC is dead, do we have to say still more?

[jparker]

Was it Argentina where Loeb said that cutting should be allowed on safety ground and that the control tyres were not good for varying conditions? People said he was being soft and that in the old days drivers would have just driven and not complained about things. Then the same thing here in Japan, Loeb says it's unsafe and the old stuff is good brigade call him soft again :rolleyes: When will people realise that the drivers enjoy a challenge but that at the end of the day it's the competitors who are risking their lives driving on unsuitable tyres in difficult conditions and not the armchair fans.

The FIA or World Rally Commision need to stop being a bunch of retards who are concerned with how much stubble Loeb has and bring back Michelin or whatever they want to be called and allow Pirelli and them to bring whatever tyres they want to rallies. If Pirelli want to bring big chunky treaded tractor tyres to a rally then good for Pirelli if they want to endure the costs and good for the drivers if the tyres actually suit the conditions. This way we'll see excellent results like Petter's 2 wins in Australia and Corsica due to good tyre choice which were thoroughly deserved and as an added bonus drivers will be able to put suitable tyres on their cars for the conditions. Imagine that? Suitable tyres on a car doing silly speeds through a forest? :rolleyes:

I hope Citroen and Loeb clinch their titles this weekend and boycott Rally GB to prove a point to the incompetent fools who seem to have taken a once healthy series (remember 2002 and 2003?) and played with it and dumbed it down the the point where it's nowhere near as interesting as it used to be and it's also not as safe as it should/could be. When there is unexpected snow on a gravel rally we should see interesting results due to drivers making brave tyre choices rather than seeing accidents because the drivers are driving on unsafe rubber.

I can not stress just how much this is not about Loeb not wanting to drive because it's too snowy but how much this is about improving the sport with proper tyre regs and most importantly safety! Motorsport is dangerous but no one wants to see events where we have strange weather and see incidents like this which may have never happened had there been proper tyre regulations.

Last of all I hope Pivato is OK and make a full recovery :up:

Well, once I have to agree with you and I hope you remember that I started criticizing the new tyre rules since the beginning. Control tyre don't save money, well they do, but the loss of valuable points for some teams looks pretty expensive now.

[Daniel]

Well, once I have to agree with you and I hope you remember that I started criticizing the new tyre rules since the beginning. Control tyre don't save money, well they do, but the loss of valuable points for some teams looks pretty expensive now.

Yep. These rules weren't very well thought out were they? :mark:

[cosmicpanda]

I wonder how much the control tyre has to do with the accidents in Germany and in Japan? I don't recall similar accidents happening in previous years.

Could be any number of different things, of course...

[cosmicpanda]

stupid of me, I've just remembered Michael Park.

But two similar accidents in one year?

[DonJippo]

I wonder how much the control tyre has to do with the accidents in Germany and in Japan?

Galli hit a stone inside of a corner which caused the off, Duval's off was on tarmac section of the otherwise gravel stage, don't think tires or lack of cutting can really be blamed in either case.

[Daniel]

Not only unsuitable tyres? How about Not suitable cars for rally?

To fast high tech cars! Don´t compare rally with F1.

you stag-obtained and starts always the same here always concerning Loeb. He is your number one, and some have another opinion about him.

I agree that the cars should be different. But that's no excuse for bad tyre regs. At the start of this year the FIA knew there would be WRCars in their present spec and chose to send them out on control tyres which they wouldn't allow to be cut when there was a good chance there would be times when the tyres weren't particularly safe to drive on.

I agree the cars are too high tech but that's what we have now and that's what the regulations should consider. If in the future there are cars which are perhaps less sensitive to different tyres then by all means go back to this situation but we need to have regulations for what we have right now.

I'm a fan of Loeb.... so?

[Comal]

My thought has always been it's part of being a good driver - to select the correct tyre/cut for the conditions.
I can't see them ever allowing the cutting of the control tyres, because as I understand this if it were to happen Pirelli have to do the cutting and I cannot see them having enough staff at an event to cut tyres for everyone!

[turves]

Part of the fun on the TV highlights used to be seeing Luis Moya running backwards and forwards on the phone trying to see what tyres other drivers had chosen...