Dunlop and TOCA are pleased to reveal that the announcement of driver tyre choice in the British Touring Car Championship will now be made available on Dunlop social media feeds before any other outlet.

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 at 10am on race day.
In 2013 tyre choice became a major talking point within the BTCC with the introduction of a softer ‘option’ tyre. At each round every driver has one set of special Dunlop Sport Maxx Soft compound tyres for use in one of the three races.  Before Saturday’s qualifying, drivers must nominate the race in which they will use the tyres without the knowledge of other drivers’ strategies.

The Sport Maxx Soft compound tyre has a different operating window to than the Sport Maxx Medium 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 tyre were regularly registering their fastest laps in the final laps of the races.

The tyre options will continue in 2014 and the result-changing information of who will use what tyre in what race will now be available at the start of race day via Dunlop’s popular social media feeds, Facebook and Twitter (/Dunlop.UK and @DunlopLive). This allows 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.

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.”

N.B The tyre supply includes Sport Maxx Soft, Medium and Hard compounds and BluResponse Wet tyres. The Soft and Medium tyre choice will be taken to all circuits apart from Thruxton, where the Sport Maxx Hard tyre will be exclusively used.