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Rain is predicted on two of the three-day FIA World Touring Car
Championship rounds at Monza, Italy this weekend, concentrating attention on the championship’s tyre supplier Yokohama ADVAN.
The correct level of grip is the Holy Grail of motorsport but
especially at a track as notoriously difficult as the Autodromo Nazionale, one of the longest circuits on this year’s WTCC
calendar.
The combination of long, fast straights and flat-out corners
allows drivers to reach some of the highest speeds of the year and puts enormous pressure on tyres.
“The circuit is mostly flat as well, which compounds the
problem as drivers can go even quicker,” said Yokohama’s Technical Consultant, Ian Beveridge.
“The tyre is
designed to cope with that kind of punishment though, and we’ve got
plenty of data at our disposal thanks to last year’s races and the
official WTCC test days here earlier in the year.
“Qualifying
will be very entertaining, especially if it
rains as drivers need to balance precision and acceleration into each
corner with the right level of aggressiveness in order to really be
fast.”
Tyre
wear is further exhausted by Monza’s notorious curbs and the low grip
level on-track. “That can leave drivers fighting under-steer or
over-steer,” said Beveridge. “The resulting slide tends to be much
harder to manage than on other tracks because they go further!
Six drivers will be carrying the maximum 60kg, five of which are
currently at the top of the championship classification.
With
50kg ballast, following his win at Brands Hatch last month,
Chevrolet driver Alain Menu is keen to make the most of his slight
advantage. “Lately, we have seen the Lacetti do better on fast tracks
than
it was able to previously, so who knows how the ballast will affect
it,” said the 44-year-old Swiss.
“Extra
weight is a serious disadvantage at Monza but
everyone will be carrying it so things should be equal at the top!
Qualifying should be good fun! I’d expect several cars to post
extremely
close times to each other.”
Yokohama ADVAN will also be supplying WTCC partner series
International Formula Master with control tyres this weekend in the UK.
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