Grip is vital on every stage tackled in the FIA European Rally Championship, especially on the snow and ice-coated roads of Rally Liepāja-Ventspils, venue of round two from this Friday (1 February).
Michelin, which along with Yokohama is an official ERC partner, will unleash its X-ICE NORTH tyre to provide the necessary grip craved for on the slippery Latvian tracks.
Engineers at the tyre company have designed a tread pattern that can clear the stage of loose-surface snow, while biting through the layer of ice beneath to provide grip. This is achieved through the use of 20mm metal studs, which extend 7.0mm from the surface of the rubber blocks. And on every Michelin X-ICE NORTH tyre, 384 studs are inserted. Each stud weighs four grams, which puts the weight of each tyre at 12 kilograms.
To ensure teams on Rally Liepāja-Ventspils have enough tyres at their disposal, Michelin will send a four-person crew of tyre fitters to Latvia with one technician on the ground to provide expert tyre-related advice to competitors.