Snowy victory for L’Estage launches ’09 championship challenge

MANIWAKI, Que. (February 11, 2009) – A brand new car, a time-tested team and proven winter tires from Yokohama were the winning formula for Rallye Perce-Neige, first round of the 2009 Canadian Rally Championship.

Reigning North American Rally Cup champions Antoine L’Estage and Nathalie Richard piloted their new Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X RS to victory in its very first outing in a classic winter rally with epic battles from start to finish.

L’Estage and Richard, both from St. Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que., first sat in their new car barely 12 hours before taking it into battle over the icy forestry roads of the rugged area north and east of the Ottawa River. Despite a cautious start, the pair parlayed their experience and the right choice of winter tires into a dramatic last-stage win in the slippery conditions.

The team’s inventory of winter tires includes Yokohama’s popular Ice Guard IG 20 range, which the team relies on to negotiate the worst of the icy road surfaces. A tire consumers can purchase at any Yokohama retailer, the IG 20 combines two effective water absorption technologies in the compound and a host of tread design features to help deal with the critical “danger zone” created between -6 degrees C and 0 degrees C, or when ice begins to melt in above-freezing temperatures – the circumstances when Canadian drivers face among the worst winter traction conditions.

The compound of the IG 20 utilizes both shelled micro-bubbles and absorptive carbon flakes in a combination that drastically reduces the critical film of water between the tire and the ice. Yokohama tire engineers have identified the film of water created by the tire’s interaction with ice as the crucial factor that limits traction in winter driving. The water is created when the weight, spinning and braking action of the tire melts the ice at the point of contact, or when ice begins to melt in above-freezing temperatures.

Removing as much of this film of water as possible is the job of shelled microbubbles and absorptive carbon flakes in the compound. The tiny shelled microbubbles absorb the thin film of water using suction and the absorptive carbon uses capillary action to remove the water. Together, they can remove sufficient water to reduce ‘micro hydroplaning’ – the dangerous condition which reduces control on icy surfaces.

That a tire created for consumers excels in rally competition is no surprise, says Yokohama marketing manager Jonathon Karelse. “Rally competitors face real-world conditions, on real roads, just like the rest of us. The tires that succeed in providing security and control for you and me in every day driving do the same job for top rally drivers in competition,” says Karelse. “It all just happens a little faster.”

Yokohama has been a supporter of rally motorsport in Canada for more than a decade.

The Canadian Rally Championship has been televised nationally since 1993, and the 2008 series was made available on multiple media platforms, including as downloads from iTunes, on-line on Flat Over Crest (www.flatovercrest.com) and to 80 million homes in Europe on MotorsTV. The 2009 Canadian Rally Championship includes six events, and spans the country from the shores of Quebec’s Gaspé region to the mountains of interior B.C.

Yokohama Tire (Canada) Inc. markets and distributes a full line of tires for high performance, passenger car, light truck, and commercial truck applications, as well as off-the-road tires for mining, forestry and construction applications. It maintains distribution centres across Canada to serve more than 700 independent tire dealers.