BF Goodrich: Cyprus 'hell' for tyres.

BF Goodrich rallies programme manager, Aime Chatard has said that the priority for them this weekend in Cyprus, is to ensure they 'combat wear and optimise traction'.

Speaking prior to the twelfth round in the 2006 FIA World Rally Championship, Chatard added that the Mediterranean event is a very tough one for tyres, even if it is one of the slowest. Furthermore while they will supply similar tyres to their teams as those used on the Acropolis back in June, in a bid to maintain their winning run, they have been 'tweaked' since that event in Greece.

"Compared with the average speeds of 120kph we saw in Finland, the average speed of the Cypriot stages is about 60kph! But that doesn't mean Cyprus is twice as easy. On the contrary, it is hell for tyres," he confirmed.

"The drivers spend most of the time using their car's torque to the full in first, second and third gears. That produces wheelspin which in turn leads to wear. So our priority in Cyprus is to combat wear and optimise traction.

"This year, the drivers are able to choose two types of tread pattern for hard-wearing rallies like Cyprus, but just one type will be authorised from 2007. For this year's event, BFGoodrich's driver partners have essentially chosen '9' (medium) and '9+' (hard) compound g-Force Gravels, plus either the g-Force Gravel H2 or the g-Force Gravel H1 for the second passes. The H2 is a new tyre which was used for the first time on the Acropolis Rally. It has since evolved, while the H1 gave good results in Greece in the hands of [Daniel] Sordo."

Pirelli rally manager, Mario Isola meanwhile agreed that Cyprus is a difficult challenge: "Cyprus is the slowest and most exhausting rally of the season for the drivers, cars and tyres. The risk of hitting stones and rocks that demolish car bodywork and tyres is constantly there over the entire route, and it is for this reason - as in Greece and Turkey - that it is possible to use two different tread patterns," he added.

"Pirelli will provide its cars with variants of its P Zeros with both the KP and XR tread designs, the latter especially developed for this kind of rally and able to return notable performance on the repeated special stages: this tyre is also best able to stand up to intense heat and the extremely hard loose surfaces such as those in Cyprus."