4-time world champion Juha Kankkunen says he can’t bear in mind a day as eventful as a sequence of tyre points and crashes headlined Friday’s motion at Rally Paraguay
WRC crews had predicted that Paraguay can be a rally of survival, and could possibly be as excessive as Safari Rally Kenya with heavy rain set to reach on Saturday and Sunday, rendering the clay/gravel phases extremely slippery. Friday had been labelled as the best of the times given the dry circumstances however drivers had described the phases as a lottery for punctures. Even extremely skilled members of the rally service park have been hard-pressed to recollect one other day prefer it.
“Not fairly like this. There have been so many punctures and so many vehicles off, and each stage there was one thing occurring principally,” mentioned Toyota deputy staff principal Juha Kankkunen when requested if he might recall a day as eventful.
“Africa is often like this. So I am a bit shocked how difficult a day it has been at the moment,” mentioned Oliver Solberg.
Whereas Kankkunen was shocked by the extent of drama that unfolded, a number of WRC drivers weren’t shocked by the quantity of tyre failures.
“Sadly not,” championship chief Elfyn Evans mentioned when requested whether or not he was shocked by the variety of tyre failures. “I do not assume it has been this unhealthy.”
Evans suffered two delaminations throughout the day with the second that struck his right-rear tyre in stage seven costing the Toyota driver the rally lead. The Welshman opted to not cease and alter the wheel, which finally proved to be the proper resolution.
“It was a troublesome name. Clearly, there was lots of dialogue backwards and forwards. [Co-driver] Scott [Martin] was for carrying on, I used to be for stopping.
“And I assumed we made the improper name quite a few occasions throughout that 20km. However he is optimistic, and it was the proper name truly in the long run. So I’ve to apologise for doubting him.
‘Like taking part in on line casino’ with tyres
Adrien Fourmaux, Alexandre Coria, Hyundai World Rally Crew Hyundai i20 N Rally1
Picture by: Hyundai Motorsport
Hyundai’s Adrien Fourmaux, who suffered three tyre failures together with a double rear puncture in stage seven, added: “I am very proud of my driving and the tempo I had within the phases. It is actually a disgrace now we have weak tyres and three delaminations. It is a disgrace while you puncture after hitting a rock, or if in case you have an excessive amount of put on, you puncture. That is smart. However when the tyres are model new, it is a very massive subject. It is like taking part in on line casino.”
M-Sport-Ford boss Richard Millener believes numerous elements are behind the rise in tyre failures.
“It has been extra motion than possibly we anticipated. I feel lots of it is right down to the punctures and delamination which have precipitated all of the drama. It is preserving everybody on their toes, and the itinerary is relentless. It is stage after stage. So it’s kind of totally different to what we used to on lots of rallies, however that’s good,” Millener instructed Autosport/Motorsport.com.
“We’d have hoped that this delamination downside would have gone away. Clearly, the onerous bit is you may’t check in all these totally different areas for precise circumstances, and it is highly regarded and humid right here this yr, and now we have very lengthy stage kilometres. It’s irritating however at this level you must keep calm and do a correct debrief.”
Hankook explains Paraguay tyre failures
Elfyn Evans, Scott Martin, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
Picture by: Toyota Racing
Hankook launched an upgraded hard-compound gravel tyre for the Acropolis Rally earlier this yr in an effort to scale back delaminations on tough gravel. At that rally, drivers agreed that there had been some enchancment. The gentle tyre in use this weekend made its debut at Safari Rally Kenya earlier this yr.
When requested to elucidate the tyre failures Hankook’s Steven Cho mentioned: “What we noticed within the morning was way more put on than we anticipated, way more than final yr. Once you see plenty of put on, it implies that it is very abrasive and really tough.
“As we speak’s loops have been actually lengthy. So with the temperature being hotter than it was final yr, the best way that the phases appeared with the actually compacted clay and the bedrock coming by means of. It was very onerous for the tyre. Ourselves and the drivers and groups discovered the aggressiveness of the roads to be greater than I feel anyone anticipated.
“We’ll have to have a look at that collectively tonight. Tomorrow must be somewhat bit simpler, however nonetheless it is fairly troublesome. We all know that Paraguay is troublesome, and I feel we’re additionally studying Paraguay as properly. Final yr, in fact, we have been right here, however the circumstances have been a lot totally different than final yr and what everybody was anticipating.
“The gentle tyres we noticed within the morning, I am not shocked as a result of they have been all pushed by put on. You possibly can see that the rubber was all worn down and there wasn’t something left, after which from there, naturally, delamination comes. We’ll need to take a more in-depth have a look at what the onerous tyres seem like from this afternoon. I have never truly heard but. But when we see excessive put on charges, which I imagine we’ll. I feel the delamination will likely be from being worn down.
“My feeling is that the enhancements we made have improved the onerous tyre. The foremost subject right here is absolutely excessive tyre put on.”
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