Hankook is already working on news tyres for the 2017 DTM
The Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters’s official tyre partner Hankook, who has renewed its agreement with promoter ITR until the end of 2019, is preparing a new compound for next season, as the DTM will end its current homologation freeze at the end of this year, with new technical regulations being drawn up for 2017.
The DTM moved back to a single standard tyre compound last season, which is used for the entire event in a move orientated to make race strategies easier to be followed by spectators. The use of the new standard compound caused some controversy at the beginning of 2015, but problems were solved after Lausitzring, with Hankook supplying a revised tyre.
Last week, the circuit Southeast of Berlin hosted testing sessions held by the tyre manufacturer in order to continue the development of the new compound for 2017, with Daniel Juncadella at the wheel for Mercedes AMG and Bruno Spengler and Mattias Ekström performing the testing for BMW Motorsport and Audi Sport respectively. Manfred Sandbichler, Hankook motorsport technical director in Europe, explained the current line of work in an exclusive interview.
“Lausitzring is very challenging from a technical standpoint”, Sandbichler explained to TouringCarTimes. “The DTM course includes a total of 12 curves and just a few straights. You can only drive full throttle on 55% of the track. Accelerating out of the many slower areas requires good traction above all else. The asphalt at Lausitzring also has very fine pores, is smooth and has been repaired in some areas, which presents additional challenges for the tyres. Some areas of the track also require banking. Altogether, multiple factors come together at Lausitzring, providing us with a good opportunity to demonstrate the performance level of Hankook racing tyres.”
One of the challenges Hankook has had to face with the single compound is to provide a tyre with the adequate level of grip for both qualifying and race conditions. The manufacturer’s motorsport director highlights the level of cooperation with all key players in the DTM to achieve this goal: “This is the sixth year Hankook has served as exclusive tyre partner of the DTM. This is evidence of a successful partnership and shows that Hankook racing tyres completely fulfil the requirements of the DTM in all respects.”
Decisions in the DTM are made with the agreement and consensus of all the parts involved. Asked what are the manufacturers demanding from Hankook’s new compound, Sandbichler explained: “Above all, manufacturers anticipate seeing the high performance and quality they expect from Hankook racing tyres and, of course, consistent starting conditions for everyone. One other key aspect plays a role for us is safety. As a tyre partner, it is important that we guarantee optimal, flawless racing performance with our tyres. Our tyres provide teams with the materials they need, so the outcome of a race is decided by the driver only. Nothing will change about this requirement over the next three years.”
2017 is round the corner in regulatory terms. Despite not having any final decisions made regarding the tyres, Hankook has a route map to achieve a compound ready for the new DTM technical regulations. Manfred Sandbichler asserted: “Currently, there is no final tyre regulation for the coming years. Still, the characteristics of the Hankook Slick are obvious: besides a high grip level, it supports drivers by providing a consistently high level of quality. For drivers, this means that they can fully rely on the tyres throughout the entire length of the race, as they ensure consistent performance from the first lap to the last. We will therefore develop the new generation of DTM racing tyres with this in mind over the next few years.”
