Quote Originally Posted by Lundefaret View Post
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.
I`ve been to countless tire test and I see no reason that the 0,5s/k can`t be true, the more interesting question is for how long a distance it`s faster before it starts to loose time, and how rapidly it looses time. As we saw in Sardinia Tänak lost alot when he lost the thread completely so even though it was faster in the end he lost alot of time. As Dmack even openly admits they have made the tire basically for 3 events Poland, Finland and GB. This has to be considered a smart move since they gain alot of media time when Tänak is in the top even parts of the rallies.. Michelin have made their tyre to cover a complete season and they are stronger still over a year. But it`s great to see Dmack has lifted the level alot and it must force Michelin to make more development in the performance area for next season