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Maximum Ballast Doesn't Weigh Heavy On Yokohama ADVAN |
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Tuesday, 19 June 2007 |
Two FIA World Touring Car Championship drivers will be carrying maximum success ballast in the Czech Rebublic this weekend, but Yokohama says its ADVAN tyres are more than up to the challenge.
Reigning WTCC champion, Andy Priaulx, and his BMW team-mate, Augusto Farfus Jr., will both carry 60kg at Brno; the equivalent of an adult passenger.
Given that any weight over 40kg will affect the tyres’ performance, Yokohama had to develop an extremely resilient solution for WTCC and carried out extensive machine tests pre-season to determine how the different rubber compounds respond under pressure.
“Because of the loads involved you have to pick a type of rubber and
casing that is suitably durable so that it withstands the temperature
and lasts the distance,” said Yokohama Europe Marketing Manager
Kazuyoshi Sekiguchi.
“If the tyre is severely overloaded one of two things usually happens.
If the tread rubber is the wrong type it can potentially overheat,
which causes the rubber to degrade and become squirmy. The other source
of failure could be the casing and the nylon may actually fracture.
“The sort of loads that would cause that are far in excess of anything
a touring car would have to endure though and the design parameters of
the tyre will be well in excess of what they could ever meet.
“Our job is to make sure the tyre never fails.”
Reigning Champion Andy Priaulx
A touring car tyre already endures intense stress compared to other
racing formats, using relatively the smallest tyres despite being the
heaviest category.
“The car reacts differently the heavier it is so you have to adapt your
driving style to protect the tyre and make it last,” said Priaulx, who
will be hoping to extend his two-point advantage over second-place
Farfus in the Drivers Championship this weekend.
“Brno has some very long corners, which are hard on the tyre anyway, so
add weight to that and it could be an issue if you weren’t used to
driving that way.
“I’m used to it so driving that way is not a problem and Yokohama’s are always very consistent, which is good.
“I’ll be concentrating on not locking up, not spinning a wheel, not
making the usual mistakes basically! That’s the way to make your tyres
last with extra weight."
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