In an era of new eras, are you ready for the World Rally Championship’s next epoch-making moment? Step forward Hankook. And say hello to La Joue du Loup.
In a ski resort north-west of Gap this weekend – tire-wise – everything changes. Pirelli left the chat in Monza last week, Hankook’s new in town in the Hautes-Alpes from tomorrow (Saturday).
You’re right, that’s not all that’s new: a week on from his M-Sport farewell, Adrien Fourmaux steps aboard a Hyundai i20 N Rally1 for the first time. And Kalle Rovanperä puts Formula 1 and Killarney behind him to get back to business in Toyota’s 2025-spec Yaris. Rarely has the Rallye National Hivernal du Dévoluy known such popularity.
If ever there was the perfect Monte Carlo Rally test event, this is it. At the time of typing, it’s -7 (20F) in a cloudless night sky. But the sun’s done its work, for the remainder of this week the snow’s coming.
Such potential inconsistency is far from ideal for Fourmaux as he looks to learn his way around a new car, but it will offer a great workout for the world championship’s new boots.
Hankook has, of course, been around motorsport for a good while now, but the three-year (2025-2027) agreement to supply the WRC’s control tire is its biggest moment by some margin.
Is it ready? We’ll soon find out, but I’m impressed with what I’ve seen so far. Mindful and inordinately respectful of Pirelli’s agreement with the WRC Promoter, Hankook has kept its powder dry and declined to talk loquaciously on anything about its new program.
That silence has been misinterpreted by some. Some of the sport’s more senior drivers have questioned the South Korean firm’s testing timeframe and delivery of tires in the last few days.
That’s unfair.
All three manufacturer teams have received an allocation of tires to test across all surfaces, with more than 2100km (1300 miles) run in eight different countries. Is that enough? It’s never enough for drivers. But in these cost-cutting times of testing restrictions, it’s as good as it’s going to get.
And let’s face it, the sport hasn’t exactly given Hankook an easy ride in. For much of the first half of the year, trying to figure out what to test with was something akin to pinning the tail on a donkey as talk of Rally1 gave way to the potential for Rally1 minus and Rally2 plus. Just when they thought it was all sorted, the curved ball of hybrid-less, 100-kilo lighter cars was hurled in their direction.
Despite all of that, Hankook’s senior director of motorsport Manfred Sandbichler is happy with where they’re at.
Hankook's new tires will get a workout on roads like this this weekend
“Thanks to the excellent co-operation we had with the 2024 control tire supplier Pirelli, it was possible to already test this year for the 2025 season with all manufacturers on equal terms,” he told DirtFish.
“Supervised by FIA and in close co-operation with the technical department, these tests have been carried out on Tarmac, ice, snow and gravel, simulating all conditions encountered in the WRC. Throughout the whole process, we have maintained full transparency with the manufacturers and the FIA, sharing detailed updates on tire development and supply plan.”
We can’t underestimate what Hankook has taken on here: supplying the WRC is one of the most complex jobs in global motorsport. Take the first three events: there’s dry, damp and wet asphalt, ice, snow and then it’s off to Kenya in March where hard-baked dirt can flip to ankle-deep black cotton mud in the blink of an eye and wringing of a cloud.
“The WRC is a tough environment to compete,” Toyota technical director Tom Fowler told DirtFish. “It’s not an easy start for anybody – whether it’s a new manufacturer, a driver or a tire supplier. We’re working with Hankook to do everything we can to make this one a successful partnership in the interests of the championship as a whole.”
And Rallye National Hivernal du Dévoluy will offer a genuine insight into what’s coming out of Casino Square next month. This weekend’s 10 stages are split across Saturday and Sunday and all but one of the stages is followed by a service or a tire fitting zone. The organisers couldn’t have done more to generate a real-time test in a competitive environment.
I wish Sandbichler and his team every success. It’s fantastic to welcome a new name to the sport’s highest level.
Here’s to that new era.
