Monte Carlo :SS2: Tyre choices: as crucial as ever!

this morning’s conditions made tyre choices relatively straightforward for the Rallye Monte-Carlo’s first group of stages. Even so, it was important for the drivers to look after their rubber and studs over the ‘clear’ portions of SS1 (‘Le Moulinon’, 37.1km) before tackling the snowy SS2 (Burzet-St Martial, 30.6km).

Exceptionally, the crews have a range of four types of tyre at their disposal for the first round of the 2013 WRC. They have the usual choice of two compounds for their Michelin Pilot Sport asphalt tyres (soft and, for the only time this year, ‘extra-soft’, an option developed for cold and/or damp stages). For more wintry conditions, the French firm’s partners can choose between studded and non-studded versions of the Pilot Alpin 4.

Often, however, the challenge on this rally involves finding the ideal comprise for each group of stages, then taking care to look after the tyres when they are not perfectly suited to certain sections of road… The drivers must also manage their respective ‘stocks’, since they have a limited quota of each tyre (soft Pilot Sport: 30 / extra-soft Pilot Sport: 20 / non-studded Pilot Alpin 4s: 10 / studded Pilot Alpin 4s: 20). Initially, the organisers decided to ban the fitment of different tyre types at any one time, but this restriction was officially lifted on Tuesday morning. Meanwhile, drivers may use a maximum of 40 tyres for the entire event, including shakedown.

After watching the start of SS1, we retired to a WiFi-equipped café in a nearby village to work. There, we ran into Lasse Lampi and Sebastian Lindholm, who are doing the ‘ice notes’ for Ford’s Hanninen and Skoda youngster Lappi. They confirmed that there were 13km of snow and ice on ‘Le Moulinon’, but that ‘Le Burzet’ was almost entirely covered in snow. Unsurprisingly, the majority of the WRC drivers put four studded tyres on the car, plus two more in the boot. However, Ford’s Neuville and Novikov preferred a combination of studded and non-studded rubber for SS1, before switching to studs on all four corners for the next test.

The experienced Lampi stressed the necessity of looking after the studs on SS1’s clear sections of asphalt (approximately 23km) to make sure they could still do their job on SS2. This is an exercise in which Sébastien Loeb traditionally excels and the multiple world champion effectively emerged from the ‘Le Burzet’ in the lead, with a 6.7-second advantage over fellow Frenchman Sébastien Ogier (Volkswagen Polo WRC). “My studded tyres didn’t really survive SS1,” reported Loeb after SS2, however, “so we only had two fresh studded tyres for SS2. For sure, we lost a little traction and braking performance.”

His comments were echoed by most of the top drivers, but the situation could be entirely different when they visit the same competitive loop this afternoon. There will undoubtedly be more head-scratching at the lunchtime service break as they select their tyres for SS3 and SS4!

from best-of-rallylive.com