The silence was golden. And very much appreciated. Hankook’s biggest step in global motorsport had been a success.
Flagging the cars away from outside the world’s most famous casino, in Casino Square, Monaco, the irony wasn’t lost on Hankook’s senior motorsport director Manfred Sandbichler. This was a gamble. Fortunately, the Korean firm had done its homework and loaded the dice in its favor.
But still, seeing the cars arrive back in the principality after four days of competition in the French Alps, Sandbichler was relieved. And delighted.
“We did our testing,” Sandbichler told DirtFish. “Throughout the year we have been doing all of our development and taking all the data and so on. But… you know, this kind of business you have so many things which you cannot calculate before. The weather conditions, what’s going on on-site, the results, the driver comments and stuff like this.
“We did everything we could, but you just never know exactly what is coming your way. The sun comes out, the temperatures rise – what does this mean? Then there’s the snow, the ice. Let me say, before the event the mood [in Hankook] was a little bit scared. Nobody was talking so much, but we were thinking the same: ‘What if we get punctures?'”
Remember Monte 2021? When Pirelli landed back into the World Rally Championship. Sébastien Ogier punctured on the first full day and when Ott Tänak caught a rock and drained the pressure from his Hyundai’s front-left, the Estonian delivered the driest of lines.
“It’s a beautiful morning,” said the 2019 champion with a face reflecting anything other than a beautiful morning.
That was what Hankook wanted to avoid last month.
The stages came and went and almost everybody emerged with fully inflated boots on all four corners.
Sandbichler smiled: “We were so proud to finish the first event ever in the WRC with such a positive feeling and a good result from tire point of view. We have no failures. We have no punctures and we didn’t have, let me say, any bad comments – not from the drivers, not from manufacturers and not from the engineering teams.
“We are really proud and really happy that we have done this job in this way, because this brings us now in a situation where we feel much more confidence than before in everything. Of course, we know we have a good product that we worked hard with and developed well, but like I said, we want confidence from those people around us and in the general mood, in the service area.
Hankook is pleased to have the support of those in the service park
“I understand that people were concerned when we arrived for the very first time – we also know the history of Monte Carlo. We are aware this is one of the most demanding and most critical rallies throughout the whole calendar. So, then you understand how nervous I was before and how I feel after the finish. For me it’s like day and night. It was like on and off, it was a great show. But that moment (waving the cars away), it was such an emotional thing for me – something I will never forget.
“But this is just the beginning.”
Sandbichler is right, of course; that’s just round one. There are another 13 to follow and two years after that. On paper, next week’s Rally Sweden should be easier.
Manfred baulks slightly at that description.
“Maybe… less difficult,” he counters. “In Monte we had four tires, in Sweden we should be using just one. But after that we go straight to Safari where we need the gravel tire in Kenya. One of my colleagues asked me: ‘Manfred, why have you selected the three most difficult rallies right at the start of the year?’ I told them I didn’t make the calendar!
“The challenge for these rallies is the same: we have to perform under each condition. We are really optimistic and we are really confident in our product. The aim is to be successful for the drivers, to satisfy the teams and to make the events perfect.”
But, perhaps, most importantly the job of the control tire is the same as it ever was: to fly under the radar and be part of the process and not part of the story. The tire is the same for everybody, offering the same durability, reliability and performance. How the cars are tuned to the tires is down to the teams, but the key here is to maintain to absence of the p-word from the equation.
Give the drivers and teams nothing to complain about. Nothing to say.
Silence, right now, really is golden for Hankook.