Do you want to be first with the news for the opening round of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship this weekend?

At 10am on Sunday morning, the Dunlop Facebook and Twitter feeds will be the first port of call for the official announcement of driver tyre choices.

Previously, spectators and competitors could not find out which tyres a driver had chosen until the cars were on the grid, ready for the race. From 2014 the information will be made public first on Dunlop’s social media feeds.

Be first to speculate the race results based on tyre choice as well as news and views from the Paddock by liking /Dunlop.UK or following @DunlopLive. The early release of this information will allow spectators and fans to discuss driver strategy ahead of the start of the race and encourages people to get further involved with car set up, track conditions and the effect tyres have on these parameters.

2013 saw some nail biting action on track thanks to the use of the Sport Maxx Soft Compound and after testing and experience on the tyre, the second half of the 2013 championship saw teams find more opportunities to exploit the Soft tyre and integrate its benefits within their strategies. At Snetterton in August, two of the three races were won on the Soft tyre for the first time and drivers on the Soft compound were regularly registering their fastest laps in the final laps of the races. With results like this, the ‘option’ tyre is a real talking point for fans.

Andy Marfleet, Dunlop Brand Manager, said “We are thrilled to be the first people to host this information on our social media feeds. As the championship sponsor and tyre supplier it seems natural for us to release this news during race day.

“Tyres have become a major talking point in the BTCC since the introduction of the Soft option tyre in 2013 and we hope to see the teams and drivers use it even more within their race day strategy across the 2014 season.

“Fans and spectators will now get this information ahead of the race at 10am on race day and we hope that this will stem even more discussion and debate over how each race will pan out.”