Portugal : BFGoodrich - SummaryBFGoodrich provide a summary of Rally Portugal in terms of tyre choice and quotes from the key players.
BP-Ford WRT – A poor tyre choice for Grönholm on Saturday morning (medium compound tyres for the wet conditions) and again on Saturday
afternoon (medium compound tyres for dry conditions). Mikko Hirvonen chose a medium-soft compound on Saturday morning but suffered from wheel spin after opting for hard rubber on Friday morning.
Citroen-Total WRT – Citroën Sport made some excellent tyre choices, although Dani Sordo thinks a hard compound (instead of medium) would have been the better option for Saturday afternoon's stage.
Subaru WRT – A poor tyre choice on Saturday morning (medium compound) for Solberg and Atkinson who feared excessive tyre wear over the 76km loop.
Stobart M-Sport Ford WRT – Latvala chose hard tyres for Friday morning and again on Friday afternoon when he set some top times. A poor tyre choice on Saturday morning (medium).
OMV Kronos Citroën WRT – A poor tyre choice for Stohl (medium compound) for Saturday morning's loop, while Carlsson – like Loeb – opted for the soft compound and posted some good times in this loop.
Sebastien Loeb (Citroën/BFGoodrich)
"The Citroën team and BFGoodrich's staff gave us good information which enabled us to anticipate the weather changes and choose the ideal tyres for both of Saturday's loops."
Matthieu Bonardel, BFGoodrich Rallies Programme Manager
"This newcomer to the WRC calendar turned out to be very hard-wearing on the tyres. There were also numerous punctures (cuts in the sidewalls) but the mousse run-flat system performed perfectly. The changing weather conditions saw our driver-partners use the full range of tyres available to them this weekend, from the soft to the hard compounds. Sébastien made some bold tyre choices which, unlike in Sweden, paid off for him."
Source BFGoodrich
