Dunlop’s hard tyre makes debut as the option at Rockingham

Next weekend, Dunlop’s Sport Maxx hard tyre will be the “option” available for the British Touring Car Championship weekend at Rockingham, with the hard being used as the alternative choice for the second time this season after being used earlier this year Croft.

Drivers are required to nominate which race of the day they plan to use the option tyre in ahead of qualifying on Saturday, meaning their grid position is unable to influence their choice, with who picks which tyre for which race having proven to be a key factor on race day.

“We have decided to widen its use to other circuits,” confirmed Michael Butler, Dunlop Motorsport UK events manager.

“After extensively testing the latest Sport Maxx hard version last year, the feedback and data showed that this tyre, which was designed for the extreme demands of Thruxton, could be the optimum choice at other circuits with high-speed corners.

“The BTCC season involves a varied mix of circuits, cars and temperatures and our goal is always to pick two tyres from the menu that can perform strongly over a race distance,” added Butler. “This change will also provide us with more feedback that will help us decide on tyre selection for 2017 and beyond.”

The drivers can also only opt for one of day’s races a maximum of three times throughout the course of the season.

With Thruxton not having an option tyre due to the nature of the circuit, six events have now been completed with three remaining, and the tyre choices for some drivers for the remaining three rounds are now already set, with Team BMR Subaru’s Colin Turkington consigned to using the option in Race 2 for the remainder of the year, along with team-mate Warren Scott, while Team BKR’s Aron Smith must use the option tyre in Race 1 for the final three races at Rockingham, Silverstone and Brands Hatch.

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