M-SPORT CALLS FOR STRONGER WRC WET TYRE AFTER PUNCTURES
Tyre issues were a hot topic in Croatia, resulting in M-sport calling for Pirelli to improve its wet-compound tyre following a spate of failures. Five of the 11 cars in the Rally1 field suffered punctures on the wet compound across the event, including rally winner Kalle Rovanpera.
Pirelli’s full wets have been rarely used in the championship, with many of the teams and drivers lacking experience on the rubber. A combination of that and tricky wet conditions, and Croatia’s unique asphalt featuring numerous cuts, created a perfect storm.
M-sport was the worst-affected team. It suffered seven failures, leading team principal Richard Millener (below) to call for tougher wet tyres: “I want a stronger tyre. We rarely use the wet tyre and before this rally we knew it was going to be wet and we were looking back to find out where we could get some relevant data, but I don’t think we have used the tyre for a good few years. We should sit down and give our feedback and see what we can do, it’s not a hit at Pirelli at all. The last thing they want is this but we do need to sort that out.”
But Pirelli rally activity manager Terenzio Testoni said there was no reason for a “big panic” and that the number of punctures was not unusual. “In total, in Rally1 we had eight damaged tyres, which with three the wheel rim was broken completely, so for me really we had five punctures,” he said. “Five punctures in one day, I cannot say it is a big panic.
“This is also the first time the teams are running on full-wet specification, the first time in two years. The teams need to get some experience [on the tyre]. In the [pre-event] test
[with Hyundai] everything was fine [with the tyres].
“For sure we will meet with all the teams to see what they think. I would panic if we had like 20 punctures.”