Pirelli is inspecting the tires which caused issues for frontrunning Rally Portugal crews through the opening afternoon of competition around Arganil.
Sébastien Ogier, Ott Tänak and Craig Breen were the highest profile crews to suffer tires being knocked off rims and punctures on the Portuguese roads.
M-Sport driver Breen told DirtFish: “The stages have been unbelievable this afternoon – totally destroyed in some places. If you ask me where did it happen with the tire, I’d have to say it could be 150 different places! It was incredible.”
Ogier was forced to retire from the opening day, suffering a pair of punctures with only one spare Pirelli aboard his Toyota GR Yaris Rally1.
Pirelli brought an evolution of its Scorpion hard and soft compound tire to the opening gravel round of the season, with the focus on improved strength and durability.
Pirelli’s rally activity manager Terenzio Testoni told DirtFish he wanted to look at the tires which had suffered problems before offering a detailed analysis.
“The afternoon stages were definitely the hardest,” he said. “A lot of the drivers were comparing them more with the traditional stages from Turkey – not Portugal. There were some very deep ruts and big rocks out there. It was a tough day. Now we will look at the tires from today.”
