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1 Mar 2007, 11:33 (Ref:1854500) | #1 | ||
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Pirelli win WRC tyre contract.
Pirelli have won the contract to be the official tyre supplier to the WRC from 2008-2010, all teams will therefore switch to Pirelli after this season. BFGoodrich are not amused! They claim that all the teams are happy with their tyres and that the decision is "unrelated to sports"!
Pirelli pulled out because they weren't interested in competing against a "lesser brand" like BFGoodrich (they were happy to compete against Michelin). Could this also be the reason that Pirelli won the contract? Is it brand snobbery by the FIA? Will it make any difference to the pecking order of teams? |
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1 Mar 2007, 12:03 (Ref:1854514) | #2 | ||
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Pirelli has a pretty patchy record when it comes to motor sport. They were gung ho in the early 80's for F1 with Brabham, but then Michelin came along and they left.
Can't see this as anything other than a cash thing. |
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1 Mar 2007, 12:10 (Ref:1854517) | #3 | ||
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Pirelli have been playing heavily on their history in motorsport in the press releases:
"Racing is in Pirelli's DNA, so clearly an agreement of such importance is recognition of a commitment to motorsport that has continued uninterrupted for a hundred years," Full article: http://uk.sports.yahoo.com/28022007/...-contract.html The BFGoodrich take on this is worth reading too http://uk.sports.yahoo.com/27022007/...elli-news.html Last edited by BertMk2; 1 Mar 2007 at 12:14. |
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1 Mar 2007, 12:25 (Ref:1854524) | #4 | ||
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Yes money talks I guess! I still don't understand why world championships have a single tyre supplier rule - I thought the whole point was that 'competition improves the breed'. Its fine having a single tyre supplier in club competition but this is supposed to be the pinnacle of motorsport...
Don't tell me its about cutting costs when there are now 16 WRC rounds with more (probably) to come... |
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3 Mar 2007, 14:17 (Ref:1857180) | #5 | ||
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pirreli have more money and friends in the FIA me thinks
as far as im aware pirreli also lack the infrastructure and support network required to shoe all the cars in the wrc. bet prodrive are really annoyed after leaving pirreli and finding BFgoodrich tyres so much better and now they have to go back to the pirreli |
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3 Mar 2007, 14:21 (Ref:1857181) | #6 | |||
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Quote:
i think its more to do with reducing development and slowing it down, no competition means no need to keep developing better rubber to beat the oposition. about removing the deflation moose, if a tyre with moose gets a puncture when doing 150kph+ through a forrest the moose activates.... with no moose theres a high chance that theres gonna be a huge accident with no moose as the tyre colapses............. surely its a safety feature and you dont often see the fia banning them..... |
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3 Mar 2007, 16:42 (Ref:1857238) | #7 | ||
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Is it also something to do with Pirelli being a more "prestige" brand than BFGoodrich? (Pirrelli withdrew partly because they didn't want to run against a "lesser" brand name). Maybe even a further snub of Michelin by the FIA following the F1 debacle at Indianapolis? Surely they wouldn't be that petty?
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4 Mar 2007, 10:53 (Ref:1857837) | #8 | |||
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im sure its all financial and we'll probbaly see some atrocious tyres at wrc events in the next few years |
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9 Mar 2007, 03:15 (Ref:1861998) | #9 | |||
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Quote:
First that say they had best tyres (pretty much unquestioned), financial and technical superiority and unanimous support from the teams, they follow up with a real barb... "the BFGoodrich brand was therefore eliminated on the basis of criteria unknown to us, but obviously unrelated to sports." I might suggest that it may be quite a while before we see them again |
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12 Mar 2007, 15:38 (Ref:1864736) | #10 | ||
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Michelin (BFGoodrich) are taking legal action against the FIA regarding this decision.
http://www.crash.net/news_View~cid~4~id~144429.htm |
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12 Mar 2007, 15:49 (Ref:1864741) | #11 | ||
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As if the FIA will even consider Michelin (BF Goodrich) after this! I'm fairly sure that the decision was influenced by the F1 tyre fiasco and the fact that BF Goodrich isn't a "premium" tyre brand. Interesting to see what appears in the court case
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12 Mar 2007, 16:04 (Ref:1864755) | #12 | |||
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Just personal deals in sportscar racing - and even those are possible going to be single supply soon. |
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12 Mar 2007, 17:26 (Ref:1864834) | #13 | |
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Subaru will be delighted then!
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12 Mar 2007, 21:28 (Ref:1865090) | #14 | ||
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BFgoodrich/michelin have lots to loose by not fighting this and little to loose from fighting it, they have the infrastructure and the people required to supplied WRC but have been kicked out by pirreli waving its cash at the fia. there are lots of technicians and event support personel who are gonna be out of jobs at the end of the year, spare a thought for them (they're good hardworking guys) because the FIA clearly hasnt.
what exactly does the sport gain from having a sole supplier over multiple suppliers? |
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5 Apr 2007, 09:48 (Ref:1883980) | #15 | ||
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Michelins attempt to take this decision through the courts has been dismissed:
http://uk.sports.yahoo.com/04042007/...n-s-claim.html Pirelli's response: http://uk.sports.yahoo.com/04042007/...-decision.html Although, of course, Michelin are intending to appeal against the decision. |
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