MEDIA INFORMATION Alghero, June 14, 2015 2015 FIA World Rally Championship RALLY ITALIA SARDEGNA The MICHELIN LTX Force H4 and S4 tyres prove a match for Rally Italia Sardegna’s new stages Round six of the 2015 FIA World Rally Championship ended today in Alghero, northwest Sardinia, after almost 400 kilometres of competitive action and 1,100km of road sections. Saturday’s menu made it the longest single leg of the season with 212.3km stages and more than 15 hours of driving in the course of the day! The route was extensively modified compared with last year’s itinerary and the WRC runners faced a cocktail of narrow, tree-lined stages and a relatively hard-wearing surface including hard-to-spot half-buried rocks and sharp loose stones. This combination put the strength of the hard-compound (H4) and soft-compound (S4) version of MICHELIN LTX Force to a tough test over the event’s 23 timed tests. Additional challenges for the drivers, cars and tyres were the deep ruts that were carved out by the rain storms which swept over the Mediterranean island prior to the start, prompting the teams to adjust the ride-heights of the respective machines on occasions. Said Jacques MORELLI, manager of Michelin’s FIA World Rally Championship programme: “This year’s Rally Italia Sardegna was a tough event but our MICHELIN LTX Force H4 and S4 tyres provided further evidence of their strength and performance potential. The early part of the rally was marked by drizzle which formed a slippery top coating on the stages. That prompted the drivers to run a combination of hard- and soft-compound tyres in order to benefit from high cornering speeds and optimal grip. Michelin’s tyres helped all the competitors to reach the finish safely with the highest possible levels of grip given the circumstances.” Hayden Paddon and John Kennard made a big impact on the event in their Hyundai i20 WRC and led from SS2 to late Saturday afternoon’s SS17. They were ultimately overhauled by world champions Sébastien Ogier / Julien Ingrassia (Volkswagen Polo R WRC) on SS18 and a gearbox issue prevented them from attempting to recover top spot on SS19. The victory finally ended up in the hands of Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia who finished clear of Hyundai’s New Zealanders Paddon/Kennard and Belgians Thierry Neuville/Nicolas Gilsoul. The next round of the 2015 FIA World Rally Championship will take crews to Poland on July 2-5. The MICHELIN LTX Force (H4 and S4 versions) Size: 205/65R15 (equivalent to 17/65-15) Width: 205mm Sidewall height: 133mm Interior diameter: 15 inches Type of pattern: directional and asymmetric (a left-hand and a right-hand tyre) Weight: 16.4kg Surface types: dirt and non-sealed roads [email protected] MEDIA INFORMATION Alghero, June 14, 2015 ‘H4’ version (hard compound): aggressive, hard-wearing dirt / dry conditions/ temperature >15° C ‘S4’ version (soft compound): wet or damp dirt / temperature <15° C ‘H4’ events: Mexico, Portugal, Italy, Australia and Spain ‘S4’ events: Argentina, Poland, Finland and Wales GB The MICHELIN LTX Force H4 and S4 tyres for the Rally Italia Sardegna Total number of tyres available: 1200 units Number of tyres each World Rally Car driver can use: 32 Tyre quota per World Rally Car driver: - 32 x MICHELIN LTX Force H4s - 16 x MICHELIN LTX Force S4s Michelin’s staff in Italy Michelin’s partners will be able to count on a staff of 15 in Alghero: - 1 manager - 3 Michelin technical team advisors - 2 coordinators - 8 fitters - 1 PR officer [email protected] .