MICHELIN Rally TYRES

WRC Rallye Monte-Carlo: Live positions, videos, information and photos. The best of the Rallye Monte-Carlo from the stages

Source: en.best-of-rallylive.com

Good article showing the new extensive range of Rally tyres

All this talk about rally tyres has renewed my interest and passion about the whole tyre scene. It takes me back to my early twenties, when I used to attend some of the British rallies, such as the Mintex rally here in the UK. It was one of my favourites because it took place in my beautiful county of Yorkshire and included great stages such as Dolby forest and the Yorkshire dales.
My first sight of a rally car flying through the air was with Goodyear tyres. The company that I was manager of. In those days, Goodyear tyres Equity no longer exists and is now called TyreServices GB Ltd.

Tyreservices introduced me to the rally scene by allowing me to sell Goodyear rally tyres to my local rally enthusiasts, the ground-level guys who took part in the local rally scene, mainly in their Mini’s and Ford Escorts.

MICHELIN Rally TYRES

Goodyear and Michelin rally tyres would attend the large rally’s. Consequently, much as they do today. With their big trucks that were equipped with tyre fitting machines . Complete with a huge stock of replacement tyres. I would go along to the rest and overnight area. Of course, during the rally and change the tyres to new ones when required. Although I am far away from an expert on rally tyres.

I have so called got a second wind of enthusiasm. Hence, this time I am the lucky owner of my very own tyre business. Here in Halifax, Yorkshire UK.
I am lucky . Because I do not have to follow any brand of tyres. So have become a keen follower of Michelin. Including, their involvement in the motorsport field.

Also, I  am a fan of Yokohama tyres .

Furthermore, there are also great sponsors in the world of motorsport. But, compared to Michelin, there are relative new boys on the block. I am also a keen watcher of the motors TV channel. Which keeps us all up to speed with most motoring events . Also the tyre company activity, of course.

Michelin rally tyres revive 70 and 80’ rally stars

The 1970’s and 1980s were very exciting times, with all sorts of car manufacturers bringing out rally versions of their new models. The attraction was, I think, the fact that the larger rallies were now shown on national TV. I will never forget when I first saw the Monte-Carlo rally with our great British Mini Copper’s doing so well. The French tyre company was also doing very well, and one of the star tyres was the TB15 tyre.

Michelin rally tyres were becoming the ones to use and became very popular on cars like the Sunbeam Tigers, MGB’s, Daimlers, and Lancia Fulvia. Not forgetting the Porsche 911’s, Michelin rally tyres also supported the Alpine Renault Works team with tyres.
The TB15 was originally built with different compounds, which were typed on the sidewalls in French. Just out of interest, these letters were. S-Sec French for dry and were slick tyres; T-Tous, which were an all-weather tyre; intermediate compound tyre; and finally P-Pluie, which means rain in French, which was a wet weather tyre.

Michelin have now revived the TB15 and have made it road legal. The tyres are E-marked with tread wear indicators and come with load and speed ratings.
The new tyres will be used as wet racing tyres in the vintage rally car events, as they always proved very popular the first time around.
Coming back to the modern rally era, there is no doubt that the new TB15 will be very popular on the Rallye Monte-Carlo Historique, which has attracted over 300 entrants for rally cars that took part in actual events between 1955 and 1980.

MICHELIN Rally TYRES

We responded to the request by many drivers who wished to rekindle the “rally stars” of the 1970s and 1980s by reviving the TB 15 tyres, as they were the most versatile rally car tyres.
These excellent mixed tyres provide the best performance on wet roads during vintage racing car rallies. I will be looking forward to watching the highlights on TV.
Also, as we all know, Michelin rally tyres will be heavily featured in the 2015 WRC rally events. Including an entry this year from Hyundai. which Hyundai motorsport mechanics and engineers will use on the new i20, and they will undoubtedly be using Michelin rally tyres.

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