A strong debut for Michelin gravel tyres

This year’s Rally Mexico lived up every bit to the event’s reputation as an extremely selective test of the cars, drivers and tires alike.

The rough, rocky stages combined fast and, at times, very fast flowing portions with slower, narrower and twistier sections, while temperatures of up to 35°C added to the difficulty of the challenge.

Despite the stifling heat, the new MICHELIN LATITUDE Cross tire was particularly competitive and even enabled the drivers to beat 2010’s benchmark times on certain stages, an especially remarkable achievement given that the latest-generation WRC cars are less powerful than their predecessors which contested last year’s event.

"First of all, I would like to congratulate our partners Citroën and FORD for the great show they put on this weekend. The 2011 WRC campaign is only at its early stages, but they have provided further evidence of their knowhow by developing new cars that are both competitive and reliable out of the box. Meanwhile, the speed and reliability of the latest MICHELIN LATITUDE Cross tire, which was making its debut here in Mexico, proved a perfect match for the exacting conditions, and it is exactly this balance between these two factors that we have been focusing on since the new tire was originally designed in the middle of 2010," notes Nick Shorrock, the Director of Michelin Competition. "MICHELIN’s new range of WRC tires matches the demands of our partners whose smaller, lighter cars call for different driving styles. Our tires also comply with the championship’s latest 2011 regulations which permit open competition between tire companies."

This confirmation of the new MICHELIN LATITUDE Cross’s potential is only the start of the French firm’s ongoing R&D programme, and an in-depth analysis of its tires’ performance this weekend in Mexico will play a fundamental part in the development of the next evolution to MICHELIN’s WRC range.

The fact that the new MICHELIN LATITUDE Cross fulfilled its mission in Mexico was corroborated by Michelin’s partner teams and drivers.

Sébastien Loeb (factory Citroën driver, winner of the 2011 Rally Mexico): "My MICHELIN tires performed very well and were fast and reliable. Coupled with the excellent performance of the new Citroën DS3 WRC, their competitiveness enabled me to post even faster times than last year on certain stages."

Ford, meanwhile, was running six cars in Mexico. Team Principal Malcolm Wilson: "We have only just begun the new WRC season which has been marked by the debut of the new Ford Fiesta WRC and new MICHELIN tires. This weekend’s result is very positive for us, not only because Mikko Hirvonen and Jari-Matti Latvala finished second and third respectively, but also because we showed that our new car is competitive. Our MICHELIN tires contributed to that performance."