FIA chooses Pirelli as sole supplier to WRC, rejects Michelin

Paris - The FIA, governing body of many motorsports has made a surprise decision in selecting Pirelli as the sole supplier of tyres for the World Rally Championship (WRC) for 2008 - 2010. Previously, BF Goodrich, a Michelin brand, had been the sole choice of works teams in the WRC.

In a brief statement, the FIA said, "Pirelli has won the tender to be the official tyre supplier to the 2008, 2009 and 2010 FIA World Rally Championships. It will now enter into a formal contract to supply tyres in all events of the Championship to all competitors with a four-wheel drive rally car (as defined in the International Sporting Code).

In response, F. Henry-Biabaud, BFGoodrich Rally Competition Director, said, "We demonstrated during the 2006 championship that the BF Goodrich tyres were the best. Two World Champion titles crowned these successes. In 2007, not a single competitor in the tyre industry wished to officially oppose the BFGoodrich brand. 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.

Henry-Biabaud continued, "The BFGoodrich brand was therefore eliminated on the basis of criteria unknown to us but obviously unrelated to sports."

A year ago, the FIA and Michelin had a fierce public argument over the use of a control tyre in the Formula 1 race series. The result of that was that Michelin was ejected form the F1 series at the end of 2006.

Announcing the FIA's decision, Paul Hembery, director of Pirelli Competizioni, said “Racing is in Pirelli's DNA and clearly an agreement of such importance is recognition of a commitment to motorsport that has continued uninterrupted for a hundred years." Hembery continued, “In the specific case of the World Rally Championship, operating in perfect synergy with the FIA, the ISC, the drivers and the constructors, we decided to make a concrete contribution to the promotion of this magnificent sport - a sport in which Pirelli has obtained many memorable victories and which has provided invaluable experience for the development of production tyres.”

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Press release from FIA

Statement from BF Goodrich