Subaru odd one out in tyre gamble
11 Mar, 15:17
Unknown territory combined with new tyre restrictions have put the top drivers in a quandary for the Corona Rally Mexico and some already fear that they don’t have the right tyres for the conditions.
New regulations not only limit crews to 60 tyres each, but obliged them to choose all 60 four weeks ago, as this is a non-European event. This has entailed educated guesswork on the weather and conditions in many cases and there are signs that the rally may be a good deal hotter and more abrasive than expected. Most of the stages are long - at least 25 kilometres - and have long, tyre-chewing corners.
Ford driver Markko Martin expressed concern that he hasn’t picked the very hardest Michelins. He is pinning his hopes on temperatures dropping to six-seven degrees Celsius first thing in the morning and that the altitude will sap power. The estimate is that stages climbing to 2,700 metres will cost as much as 50 bhp.
In contrast, Citroen is reckoned to have put last year’s exploratory visit to good use and chosen some of the hardest, Acropolis-type Michelins, although team personnel have been keeping their cards close to their chests.
But Subaru has generated the most surprise. While the Michelin teams have all nominated their closed-pattern, Acropolis-type GW tyre, Subaru hasn’t selected either the Pirelli equivalent, the XR, nor even the KC, the version of the K with the biggest blocks. One rival team manager said that he was “astounded”.
Petter Solberg maintains that he does have the right rubber, a point that team director David Lapworth reinforced.
“There’s quite a lot of loose, but it’s a real mix of surfaces. There’s quite a lot like Fafe [in Portugal], that sort of sandy surface you don’t wear down - and you’ve got the altitude,” Lapworth said.