DMACK Scores Top Finish On Tough Monte Carlo Opener
DMACK started its 2016 FIA World Rally Championship campaign in style this weekend when a solid debut for its new DMT-RC2 asphalt rally tyre saw the manufacturer score its best-ever finish on the season-opening Rallye Monte Carlo.
The new tyre helped take DMACK World Rally Team driver Ott Tänak to an excellent seventh overall finish and placed the team fifth in the race for the Manufacturer Championship, sealing the team’s top result on the magical Monte.
The controlled drive from Estonians Tänak and Raigo Mõlder saw them master the mixed conditions over the four-day event, which kicked off with a glitzy opening ceremony outside Monte Carlo Casino on Thursday evening.
It was a strong start to DMACK’s sixth season as an authorised tyre supplier to the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) as the iconic event lived up to its legendary reputation.
Tänak, once again piloting an M-Sport-run Ford Fiesta RS WRC, had to cope with a diverse range of road conditions – ranging from dry and damp asphalt to ice and snow-covered frozen asphalt roads. Choosing tyres over the weekend involved a mix of experience and skill with a degree of luck and compromise as weather conditions changed.
The tough Monte event saw Tänak use DMACK’s all-new range of asphalt tyres, developed specifically to compete at the top of the sport against tyre giants Michelin and Pirelli. The DMT-RC2 featured a completely new tread pattern and latest generation compounding, resulting in a significant step forward in performance.
Tänak used new extra soft and soft compounds alongside DMT-ICE winter tyres in studded form to extract traction and grip from the frozen surfaces.
Monte Carlo was a tough start to the season. One of the most famous and respected events, the timed special stages wind their way through the high-altitude mountain passes. Most of the competitive element was based in the town of Gap in the Hautes Alpes region of France.
After two night stages on Thursday, Friday’s action was played out north of Gap over a three-stage loop. Then competitors returned to Monaco on Saturday via the classic Sisteron test and the huge 51.55km runs through Lardier et Valença – Faye.
The rally came to an exciting finish today when action included the legendary Col de Turini where thousands of fans lined the iconic mountain pass. In total, 377.59km across 16 timed special stages were contested before finish podium celebrations back in the principality.
Dick Cormack, DMACK managing director, said: “We’ve made a big step forward with our new asphalt tyre and everyone is encouraged with such a strong result on its debut. With lots of performance data from this tough event, we’re well equipped to make even further improvements for the remainder of the season. Overall it’s been an extremely positive event and a strong start to the new season for the DMACK World Rally Team.”
Ott Tänak said: “We’ve had a challenging weekend but overall it’s a good start to the championship on one of the toughest events. DMACK has made good improvements and we’ve got some really useful and positive experience from this event. I’ve driven more or less a perfect rally and we pushed when we could when the conditions suited us more. Now we move to Sweden and I event I really enjoy.”
