MEDIA INFORMATION

2018 FIA Round 9: ADAC Rallye Deutschland

The MICHELIN Pilot Sport H5 and MICHELIN Pilot Sport S6 shine on German asphalt The judicious tyre strategies necessitated by the fickle local weather at this time of year, Rallye Deutschland is considered to be one of the FIA World Rally Championship’s toughest asphalt rounds. This season’s event was no exception and the pace of the weekend’s 18 stages (three fewer than 2017) provided the spectators who turned out in even bigger numbers with a spectacular, exciting show, as the thermometer soared to as high as 30°C, with even hotter ground temperatures.

The total length of this year’s event was 1,221.89 kilometres, including 325.76km competitive kilometres, which was up from 1,165.25km and 309.17km respectively for the same figures in 2017.

After Thursday evening’s ceremonial start in the Saarland region’s Sankt Wendel, Friday’s menu saw crews visit the steep, narrow vineyard lanes that crisscross the nearby Mosel Valley vineyards where the event’s notoriously unpredictable conditions effectively threatened. Aided by Michelin’s technical advisors, the response of the teams’ weather and tyre strategy experts to the threat of heat-induced storms and localised showers was a variety of compound options to allow competitors to optimise their performance.

The WRC crews essentially counted on the soft-compound MICHELIN Pilot Sport S6 which is designed for cold, damp conditions. And they had good reason to praise the work of the French firm’s engineers when rain effectively added to the challenge on Day 1.

The other two legs took place in bright sunshine which prompted the WRC runners to favour the harder-compound MICHELIN Pilot Sport H5 which was developed for hot, abrasive conditions.

“The ability of our tyres to deliver lasting, competitive performance was clear in Germany,” reports Arnaud Rémy, the manager of Michelin’s rally programmes. “On ‘Panzerplatte’, which exceeds 38 kilometres in length, crews were able to push from start to finish without having to worry about wear, despite this classic stage’s infamous cocktail of concrete portions, aggressive surface, kerbs and other hazards. On top of that, the crews faced particularly high temperatures throughout Saturday’s long leg which presented us with an added challenge but also a chance to confirm the value of our development work.”

The last day’s programme featured two visits to Grafschaft (29.07km) before tackling the 14.04km which provided a final opportunity to demonstrate that high speeds and durability are not incompatible as Michelin’s WRC partners battled for position all the way to the finish.

The 2018 Rallye Deutschland was won by Ott Tänak/Martin JärveoJa (Toyota Yaris WRC), ahead of / (2nd, Hyundai i20 WRC) and /Janne Ferm (Toyota Yaris WRC) who made it an all-Michelin top three.

Didier Laurent – [email protected] – Phone: +33.6.75.60.50.62 Alessandro Barlozzi – [email protected] – Phone: +33.6.42.23.55.93

The WRC2 class, which features fierce competition between tyre manufacturers, the Czech Republic’s Kopecky/Dresler beat Finns Rovanperä/Haltunnen to secure a one- two finish for the Skoda Fabia R5 and Michelin.

The next round of the 2018 FIA World Rally Championship will take crews to Marmaris, Turkey, on September 13-16.

Didier Laurent – [email protected] – Phone: +33.6.75.60.50.62 Alessandro Barlozzi – [email protected] – Phone: +33.6.42.23.55.93