Sardinia: BFGoodrich - PreviewDespite the fact that BFGoodrich will have no rivals in Sardinia since all the WRC cars entered for the season's seventh round will be running on its tyres, the development and technical staff of the 2006 championship-winning brand have no
intention of resting on their laurels and have come out with a new evolution of the g-Force Gravel for the Italian event's hard-wearing stages.
Canadian research reveals that Sardinia has a particularly high population of over-110-year-old men. The jury is still out, however, about whether this is due to genetic factors, diet or healthy mountain air.
In contrast to the propensity of the Mediterranean island's males to age in peace, rally tyres tend to have an ephemeral existence there. Indeed, field studies carried out in the north-east corner of Sardinia over the past three years show that the life expectancy of even the most resilient rally tyres barely exceeds 80km of stages. BFGoodrich's researchers, however, may now well have come up with the answer…
Sardinia features a wide range of surface types, a particularity that has led teams to choose the island for much of their pre-event testing for overseas rallies.
The tracks found in the Costa Smeralda region – home of Rally d'Italia-Sardegna – are largely covered in a deep, sandy top-coating, yet the rocks that form the their foundation (and which, like the islanders, are amongst the oldest in Europe!) are extremely hard and abrasive.
Tyre specialists have consequently turned their attention during the past three years to solving a key equation with two unknowns: how to cut through the soft top-surface for enhanced grip and precision without detracting from durability?
BFGoodrich tyres have already shown their potential on this event by monopolising the podium in 2006. Even so, in their quest for perfection, the firm's developers have ceaselessly sought to improve their products and, to this end, worked over the winter on an 'evolution' of the '9+' g-Force Gravel featuring a new extra-hard compound.
Following testing with the factory teams, this tyre is believed to be 20% stronger for the same level of performance.
"Despite the fact that we are in a position where we are supplying all the top teams this year, there is no question of us scaling down our efforts to improve the BFGoodrich range," stresses BFGoodrich's Rally programme Manager Matthieu Bonardel.
"Our partners would not understand such a laid-back approach from us. Whatever the level, and whatever the discipline in which it competes – from rallying and rally-raids to endurance and MotoGP – it is not the Group's style to rest on its laurels,” Bonardel explained.
"A new gravel construction made its debut recently in Mexico, and this weekend sees the introduction of a new, 'extra-hard' compound for the g-Force Gravel. Just one tread pattern is authorised for this hard-wearing rally, so we had to stick to the size and pattern of the conventional g-Force Gravel. We consequently focused our efforts on enhancing the durability of its compound durability without detracting from its performance. The drivers seemed to like the new g-Force Gravel 10 in testing and we hope their first impressions will be backed up during the rally," concluded Bonardel.
BFGoodrich and Rally d'Italia Sardegna
Tyre: g-Force Gravel
g-Force Gravel '9': Medium compound (for temperatures between 15 and 25°C, used for first runs)
g-Force Gravel '9+': Hard compound (hard-wearing ground and/or high temperatures).
New g-Force Gravel '10': Extra-hard compound (very hard-wearing ground and/or high temperatures)
Features: a relatively compact pattern to favour contact between the tread blocks and the ground for optimal grip and traction. A mousse insert allows drivers to continue without stopping if they pick up a puncture.
Source BFGoodrich
