Tyres
are a key factor in Corsica
The
continuous corners of the Corsican stages require a very precise
driving style together with maximum grip from the tyres, additionally
the compounds have to resist the abrasive French tarmac. In
order to cope with all that the RACC-Repsol-Mitsubishi team
and Michelin have come up with a series of new tyres for this
the sixth event of the PWRC.
Michelin
will provide Xevi Pons, winner in Germany, with a complete stock
of "reactive tyres" (internally named “confidential”)
adapted to group N measurements. Bearing in mind the special
characteristics of the Corsican tarmac, the Mitsubishi Evo VIII
of Pons and Fombona will use tyres with a lower profile than
usual (from the usual 65 mm they are reduced to 63 mm), and
they are mounted on 17" wheels. The tyres will be the well
known N01 (soft) and N21 (hard), with T04 for wet conditions.
In general, the change to a lower profile, with a more developed
structure, will give shorter gear ratios, less roll and, the
most important thing, less wear.
Josep
Calm, chairman of Calm Competición, praises these changes:
“Corsica is a rally where tyres are fundamental and our
improvement will be important. For us it is a step forward and
the main gain is for the team, as having a direct link with
Michelin France is an advantage. The tyre choice will be very
important but not as much as in Germany. Historically, at Corsica,
the winner has been decided by the quality of the tyres but
rallying here in October minimises that factor. I think that
a good tyre for this rally gives us a number of improvements,
especially on performance together with less tyre degradation”.
Tests at Girona
Before
flying to Corsica, Calm Competición and its drivers had
a test day at the Cladells' stage near Girona. The test was
basically aimed at finding a setup for the French Rally, especially
the suspension settings. Xevi Pons and Sergio López-Fombona
have right now a lot of choice on suspension settings, together
with the springs and the dampers, for their Mitsubishi Lancer
Evo VIII, and this will give the car a harder set-up which requires
a different setting for the differential. Additionally Pons'
Lancer will have a new safety fuel tank from Ralliart Germany,
placed in its original position in the boot, where to date the
special safety tank has been installed, this will dramatically
improve the car's centre-of-gravity. Both drivers will use the
same cars they drove in Germany.
