MEDIA INFORMATION

2016 FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) Rally Italia Sardegna

Michelin tyres ready for a show of strength in northern

Round 6 of the 2016 FIA World Rally Championship takes teams to , northwest Sardinia, , on June 9-12. This year’s Rally Italia Sardegna features 19 stages (compared with 23 in 2015) for a total competitive distance of 324.60km (394.63km in 2015) and a total route length of 1,290.55km (1,553.11km in 2015). Although the total competitive distance is shorter, the 2016 event features four new stages, namely Tula, , Tergu- and - Argentiera (run twice on Sunday).

The main features of the 2016 Rally Italia Sardegna are:

 73.82km of new tracks (covered twice),  18.92km run in the opposite direction (covered twice),  74.25km carried over from 2015 (covered twice).

Action begins on Thursday evening with a two-kilometre super-special before competitors head for the island’s Logudoro and Anglona regions for two attempts at a loop of four stages on Friday. Saturday promises to be the toughest day with a menu of 177.70 competitive kilometres, including two visits to the spectacular Monte Lerno test (44km). Sunday’s action will head north of Alghero for two runs at the same two stages for a total competitive distance of 42.04km.

The 2016 Rally Italia Sardegna in brief:

 Hard-packed gravel with some extremely rough portions.  The likelihood of very hot weather.  Unless there is poor weather, crews will mostly use the hard-compound H4 version of MICHELIN LTX Force H4, notably for their first attempts at the stages. That said, the competitive loops are shorter than in 2015, which might lead to the fitment of a combination of hard and soft tyres for each day’s opening loop.  The tyres’ casings face significant punishment from start to finish. As with the cars, the accent in Sardinia is more on robustness than outright performance. The stages also tend to be littered with loose stones, while hard-to-spot half-buried rocks are another big challenge.  Grip isn’t always optimal near because of a sandy top-coating which can make the conditions extremely slippery.

Jacques Morelli, manager of Michelin’s FIA WRC programme: “This year’s Rally Italia Sardegna is likely to be one of the hardest rounds of the season and tyre strength promises to be a big parameter. For that reason, we have provided our WRC2 partners with asymmetric MICHELIN LATITUDE Cross tyres. Their ability to soak up knocks will be necessary because the WRC2 crews tackle the stages after the WRC cars have been through.”

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

For the 2016 Rally Italia Sardegna, the WRC drivers will be able to use up to 32 tyres from a total individual package that features: - 32 MICHELIN LTX Force H4s (hard compound) - and 16 MICHELIN LTX Force S4s (soft). Total number of tyres available: 670

The maximum number for the WRC2 runners is 30 tyres to be chosen from the following allocation: - 30 MICHELIN LATITUDE Cross H90s (hard compound) -and 16 MICHELIN LATITUDE Cross S80s (soft) Total number of tyres available: 540

The MICHELIN LTX Force H4 and MICHELIN LTX Force S4 Size: 205/65R15 (17/65-15) Width: 205 mm Sidewall height: 133 mm Interior diameter: 15 inches Tread pattern: asymmetric and directional (i.e. a left-hand side and a right-hand side tyre) Surface: non-sealed surfaces

Use of the H4: aggressive, hard-wearing surfaces – dry ground – temperature: >15°C Use of the S4: wet or damp dirt – temperature: <15°C Rallies where the H4 is the nominated tyre: Mexico, Italy, Australia, Spain Rallies where the S4 is the nominated tyre: Argentina, Portugal, Poland, Finland, Wales

Michelin’s staff for the Rally Italia Sardegna Michelin will have a total staff of 17 in Sardinia: - 1 manager - 1 press officer - 1 development engineer - 4 technical team advisors - 2 coordinators - 8 fitters

The following Michelin vehicles will be in Portugal: - 2 truck workshops - 3 tyre-carrying trucks - 1 mobile office

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