Flashback To 2003.
Michelin Studs: Stars of The Snow!

Their bite rewarded once again with victory over the Värmland's
wintry country lanes.

For 13,680 Michelin studs, it was time to celebrate yesterday evening in
Karlstad, host town to the 2003 Swedish Rally, second round of the World
Rally Championship. Once again, these thousands of metal tips led from
start to finish to add yet another success to the French tyre firm's record
in snowy Scandinavia.



KARLSTAD, Monday February 10 2003  -  "We  might  only  be  small,  but  our
ability to bite into the hard, frozen ground and to soak up  the  tremendous
forces generated every time we hit  the  ice  enabled  us  to  go  the  full
distance over even the longest groups of stages. Once again,  I  believe  we
played a crucial role in Sweden..."

That's how one of the 13,680 winning studs on the 52nd Swedish Rally  summed
up the weekend's ride over  the  Värmland's  glacial  toboggan  run  at  the
traditional post-event press conference.

"I would like to dedicate this success to our Michelin  tyres  whose  design
and construction enabled us to strike the  ice  repeatedly  and  efficiently
without our having to give it a second thought. A special mention also  goes
of course to the performance and balance of the car we equipped, as well  as
to the outstanding talent and control  of  the  driver  at  its  wheel,"  it
added.





2004 AND THE ADVENTURE CONTINUES.



KARLSTAD, twelve months later - On the eve of the 2004 Swedish Rally,  these
tiny metal tips are once again in a buoyant mood, a mood expressed  by  this
Michelin  stud  questioned  during  Thursday's  shakedown  session,  already
anchored in its tread block and ready for action.

"I am the latest in a long line of Michelin studs that have triumphed in  20
of the last 24 Swedish Rallies to have taken place,"  it  explained  between
two runs through the short test stage.

25,000 IMPACTS

"This enviable pedigree is extremely motivating, for our mission is a  tough
one. For example, just spare a thought for my fellow  studs  who  will  have
the task of competing over the 'Granberget' stage, the length of  which  has
been extended to 52.57km this year. They will strike the  ground  more  than
25,000 times. each! And in places, they will hit the ice around 25  times  a
second!"

"We may well only weigh a few grams," interjects  a  tread-mate, 
"but  even
though our tips are made from tungsten, we really do have  to  put  up  with
some stiff punishment in the name of performance! We're  important  for  the
show too. Without us, there would be  none  of  the  spectacular  slides  or
ultra-short stopping distances that  have  become  the  hallmarks  of  these
three fast and furious days of rallying over tracks on which people find  it
difficult simply to stand up."

"If we have successfully accomplished our mission so often in the  past  as,
hopefully, we will do this weekend, it's essentially thanks to  the  quality
of the bond between the special alloy from which we are made and the  rubber
in which we are housed, the secret lying in the design of our base  and  the
gluing process used to anchor us inside the tread blocks."

Given the tough job studs are called upon to do, pre-rally testing is
clearly critical, as Michelin Competition's rallies manager Aimé Chatard
explains: "Our pre-Sweden test programme with our partners in December and
January enabled us to validate the latest evolutions of our tyre/stud
packages."

A NEW STUD

"Our technicians were able to work in a valuable cross-section of
temperatures ranging from 0°C to -16°C, which covers most of situations we
have found in Sweden in recent years. Most but not all."

"Even so, this work allowed us to validate a new stud design developed for
stages of around 35/40km in length on what I would describe as 'average'
ice; i.e., not as hard as it gets at -25°C, but less brittle than it is
when you get closer to the 0° mark. We were very pleased with the results
of this work, but of course nothing can replace the real thing."


LOOKING AHEAD TO 2005

At shakedown, the studs' 'other halves' - that is to say the tyres
themselves - were already looking ahead to the future as well as to the
immediate task in hand: "Given the current trend concerning tyre
regulations," declared one of them, "This is perhaps the last year we will
be available with two types of tread pattern; one for ice, and another for
snow."

"The shift towards a slimmer range for the WRC," continues Aimé Chatard,
"will most probably lead to a single tyre type for Sweden from 2005. But
which option to choose? The current Michelin GE, designed for ice, or the
Michelin GA, designed for snow? Or perhaps an all-new product? Our
engineers are already looking into the matter, for tomorrow is just around
the corner!"

-michelin-


http://www.motorsport.com -- your source for motorsport news on the Internet



--- FIDOGATE 4.4.9