Hankook has already updated the specification of one of its Rally1 tires in time for next week’s Rally Portugal.
Taking over from Pirelli as the World Rally Championship’s official tire supplier in 2025, Hankook has prioritised durability over performance as it looks to create a tire that doesn’t become a defining factor in rallies.
So far that has worked, with few punctures dominating the headlines in either Monte Carlo, Sweden, Kenya or the Canaries.
But with the rough roads of Sardinia and Greece rapidly following next week’s trip to Portugal, Hankook WRC spokesperson Steven Cho told DirtFish an even more robust tire has been developed specifically for the Rally1 machines.
Cho said: “There’s a new specification of gravel tire coming for Rally1 at the next event – we’ve been planning that from the beginning of the program with all the different stakeholders, and so we’re looking forward to introducing that new tire.
“It’s very similar [but] we’ve made some changes to the pattern, so it should be a little bit more robust even than the tires that we’ve had before. As we build up towards Sardinia and Greece, we expect the conditions to be much stronger, or much more difficult. So small changes, but we want the tire to be even more robust.”
Looking ahead, Hankook is weighing up whether any more tire development is needed for 2025.
Cho explained: “Of course as every event has new challenges and new environments, if we feel a reason that we have to make a pivot, we’re ready to do so.
“But at the same time, our ability to move quickly and bring updates is good in one way, but also we’d like to provide stability and predictability to the product for the competitors as well because, you know, they’re putting a lot of energy and effort into optimizing their package for our tire.
“And so a combination of being able to be nimble and pivot while at the same time trying to be stable and predictable. So we’ll have to balance those two together.”
Could Tarmac tires be improved?
Do the Tarmac tires match the performance of Rally1 cars? Not according to Evans
The recent Rally Islas Canarias offered WRC drivers the opportunity to try Hankook’s hard-compound Tarmac tire, meaning they’ve now driven on the entire range of rubber available.
Generally, feedback has been positive with drivers feeling they’ve perhaps not the best for pure performance but thankful for the durability.
Adrien Fourmaux told DirtFish: “Globally, it’s positive. We need to understand them. I think we [Hyundai] missed a little bit that [in Canaries], but actually, I think it’s quite a fair play tire, if I can say that. I mean that we don’t have so many issues with it.”
Team-mate Ott Tänak added: “I think so far it’s been on a good level. The pace has been good and not so much trouble, so definitely a good start.”
World championship leader Elfyn Evans does however believe the Tarmac tire can “definitely be improved”.
He told DirtFish: “I think for the level of performance that we have on the car, the tire maybe doesn’t support that level of speed at the moment.
“Having said that, there’s a lot of good things in that they’re consistent, the wear rate is fine – all the stuff that allows us to have a fair fight at least is there. But the level of performance probably doesn’t match what the car is capable of.”
