Goodbye Michelin and BFGoodrich… Hello Pirelli

Since the creation of the FIA World Rally Championship, the Michelin Group (Michelin then BFGoodrich) has won 256 victories and 43 titles (23 constructors and 20 drivers). This winter, the French group is making way for Pirelli for the 2008 season.

By winning the tender issued by the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile, Pirelli becomes the exclusive supplier for four-wheel-drive cars participating in the Championship. This marks the end of the great Michelin adventure.

In the heart of winter 1973, yellow and blue Saviem SG2 vans loaded with tires traveled the roads of southeastern France. Michelin Competition, led by Pierre Dupasquier, entered the new World Rally Championship alongside the Alpine-Renault team with a radial-structured slick tire. With six victories, Alpine-Renault and Michelin clinched their first World Championship title.

The following years are less successful for the firm from Clermont-Ferrand, although only the 1977 season remains winless. The second title comes in 1982 with Walter Röhrl and the Audi Quattro. Between 1984 and 1986, Michelin dominates the Group B era with Audi and Peugeot.

With Lancia, titles then accumulate in Group A with, for the first time, an anti-puncture foam that receives the Technological Innovation Trophy at the 1988 Paris Motor Show.

Entering the WRC era, Michelin asserts its dominance on asphalt with its High Potential « compound » in 1998. The same revolution arrives on gravel in 2005 with the « BTO ».

In 2006, the group decided to focus the Michelin brand on circuits and allowed BFGoodrich to engage in the WRC. Until the end of its contract in 2007, the American-origin brand won all four titles with Loeb in the drivers’ category and Ford among the constructors.

From now on, the teams will be able to work with Pirelli to prepare for the 2008 season. The Italian brand had recently worked for Mitsubishi, Subaru, Peugeot, and Ford.

Press Release from the WRC