Are we sure "the Michelin" for a privateer is the same Michelin as a works team gets? We can even wonder if the Michelins VW gets are the same as M-Sport or Hyundai for example. On paper all tyres should be same, but it seems like the tyres are held apart already before arrival on a wrc event, and we've see plenty of michelin trucks/people on footage of WRC tests... Michelin has it's own development project with a lot of testing on every surface. It would be strange to see Michelin attend so many tests of different WRC teams when all have to use the same tyre and nothing can be modified after manufacturing (even cutting isn't allowed), but maybe I'm missing something...