Michelin suing the FIA over rally tyre decision

Paris - Group Michelin is suing the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) to get the FIA's recent decision to grant Pirelli Tyre SpA the exclusive tyre supply contract for the 2008-2010 World Rally Championship (WRC) annulled.

Citing what it calls “irregularities in the tender process,” Michelin is appealing against the FIA's decision before the Tribunal de Grande Instance-literally the court of bankruptcy, which has jurisdiction over cases not specifically allotted to another court-in Paris.

The FIA disclosed on 27 Feb. that it had selected Pirelli to be the WRC's exclusive tyre supplier for the next three seasons, but it did not elaborate on its reasons for selecting Pirelli over Michelin, which is supplying all the major WRC competitors this year with BFGoodrich-brand competition tyres after Pirelli withdrew from the WRC circuit last year.

At that time, Michelin expressed its dissatisfaction at the decision, saying:

“The financial and technical efforts we deployed for the past two seasons have therefore not been acknowledged, which is all the more regrettable since we know that today's and tomorrow's WRC car manufacturers unanimously supported our proposal,” said Frederick Henry-Biabaud, BFGoodrich rally competition director.

“The BFGoodrich brand was therefore eliminated on the basis of criteria unknown to us but obviously unrelated to sports.”

Commenting on the FIA's decision, Pirelli at that time said the FIA world council accepted the Milan-based tyre maker's proposal, “appreciating not only the quality of the company's product and its capacity for technical innovation but also its commitment to developing young drivers and the promotion of national championships.”

Michelin withdrew - under protest - from Formula 1 racing last year. In recent months, the FIA has awarded the WTCC tyre contract to Yokohama, over a bid by existing supplier, Michelin. As reported above, the FIA snubbed Michelin by awarding the WRC contract to Pirelli. Speaking off the record, a number of people involved in motorsport and the tyre industry said they had no idea of the reasons for these decisions, but all independently suggested that one factor may have been the Formula 1 race at Indianapolis in 2005, when Michelin failed to supply appropriate tyres, leading to a public relations disaster for F1 in North America.

From Tire Business (A Crain publication)

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