Dunlop has announced significant changes to its tyre specifications for the 2019 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship ahead of a 17th consecutive season as the sole tyre supplier to Britain’s leading motorsport series.
The most significant change is the introduction of an all-new wet tyre. The latest Dunlop Sport BluResponse Wet features a new method of compound manufacturing, derived from Dunlop’s test-topping range of high-performance road tyres.
This moulded groove technique allows for more consistent compound stability throughout races, meaning there is very little drop off in lap time from the race start to finish. In testing at Rockingham in October, teams saw a one second a lap improvement on a fully wet circuit.
Most of this performance was driven by an impressive 30 percent gain in lateral grip, allowing drivers to lean on the tyre harder in long, fast corners.
Mickey Butler, Dunlop’s UK and One Brand Motorsport Event Manager said: “The feedback on the new Sport BluResponse was universally positive. The one lap performance figures are important, but not as crucial as the gains over a race distance. The stability of the tyre construction, as a result of the new production method, meant that lap times remained stable. Dunlop are delivering ‘stronger for longer’ performance throughout a race distance.”
Dunlop will also introduce a new colour coding system, designed to help spectators and commentators identify tyre choice has been updated for 2019.
Last year, the Dunlop Sport Maxx Prime had a bright yellow sidewall and both option tyres (whether softer or harder, depending on the option tyre chosen by Dunlop for that circuit) used a reflective silver sidewall logo.
This year, at Snetterton, drivers will have to use each of the three options on a triple-header race day for the first time and at Knockhill the Option Soft tyre becomes the main choice. This means Dunlop had to differentiate between the two option tyres, so the Sport Maxx Option Soft will now have a green sidewall.
The Sport Maxx Prime (Yellow) , Sport Maxx Option Hard (Silver) and Sport BluResponse Wet (Blue) colour coding remains unchanged.
Sport Maxx ‘Option’ compounds:
Green Option Soft: Brands Hatch Indy, Oulton Park, Silverstone and Brands Hatch GP
Yellow Prime: Knockhill, with the Option Soft compound being the ‘Standard’ tyre
Silver Option Hard: Donington Park and Croft
The Hard compound tyre will continue to be the sole dry tyre to be used at Thruxton.
The new colour coding system is on display at Autosport International at Birmingham’s NEC, 10-13 January.
