The news that DMACK was keen on entering the premier rallying series has been going around the media for some time now, yet nothing was made official by either the Chinese company or the International Automobile Federation (FIA). Given that the ruling body announced, earlier this year, that it will allow multiple tire manufacturers to join the series from 2011 onwards – as compared to the sole supplier strategy up until now – the Asians decided to give it a try.
According to Autosport, the WRC-spec tires will be manufactured by Shandong Yongtai Chemical Group in its state-of-the-art facility in Dongying, China, and will be ready for testing at the end of October. Additionally, it seems that DMACK targets not the championship's manufacturers, but privateer teams.
“This is a golden opportunity for DMACK Tyres to enter the FIA World Rally Championship market and the supreme competitive challenges and excellent brand exposure it has to offer. We studied the FIA's new tyre regulations for 2011 and decided to make a proposal,” said Dick Cormack, DMACK's motorsport director.
“Technically the new regulations are very achievable for a new manufacturer and we based our proposal on bringing a very strong and durable product to the championship - we also wanted to help encourage more entries into the events by offering a two-tier pricing structure.”
“Ongoing testing of the WRC tyres is taking place at our research facility in China and at the hands of our test driver Mark Higgins. As the first Chinese tyre manufacturer to enter the WRC, we see the opportunity to take the DMACK and Yongtai brands to a whole new level,” added the DMACK official.
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