Yokohama promise investigation into Nürburgring tyre failures

Yokohama have said they’ll look into the problems experienced by the drivers throughout the Nürburgring weekend, following a number of high profile punctures putting cars into the barriers over the course of the weekend, including opening race leader Tiago Monteiro.

A number of drivers have been critical throughout the weekend of the Yokohama rubber, and with both ROAL Motorsport’s Tom Coronel and Honda’s Tiago Monteiro crashing out heavily in the first race, further questions were raised over some drivers over safety.

“The situation to race here is not very good,” said Lada’s Gabriele Tarquini. “This year something has gone wrong with the tyres. We’ve tried to speak to Yokohama to solve the problem, but the problem is not solved. We need special tyres to race here. On Thursday seven tyres exploded, Friday four or vie, today we’ve had two, and it’s not really safe.”

Following Monteiro’s crash in the first race, the team allowed drivers Norbert Michelisz and Rob Huff the option to skip the second race if they felt it was too dangerous, but both opted to take part, finishing second and fourth respectively.

“We seem to have a lot of punctures. It’s not necessarily the tyre itself, it’s the difference in the tyres from one set to another,” said Huff. “Honda have said if we want to race, race; but if we don’t want to race, we’ll support you.”

Sébastien Loeb Racing’s Tom Chilton however believed it was all down to set-up, explaining that the Citroëns went for a conservative approach this weekend with their 80kg of compensation weight, and none of the French manufacturer’s cars experienced any tyre problems all weekend.

“I was conservative with my set-up and that’s why all the Citroëns finished,” said Chilton to TouringCarTimes. “Everyone else was trying to get more grip by running too little pressure and then were going bang, but we were sacrificing because we wanted to make sure the tyres were safe, especially with the extra weight.”

Yokohama have promised an investigation into the tyre issues experienced at the Nordschleife.

“We will conduct a thorough investigation into the incidents seen this weekend at the Nürburgring ” said David Oliva, communications manager of the championship’s tyre supplier Yokohama. “Safety is paramount at Yokohama.”