Goodyear Racing has responded to the withdrawal of Cyan Racing from the FIA World Touring Car Cup, stating that no manufacturing issue has been identified with the tyres used in the series.
Goodyear, the control tyre supplier to WTCR for the past three seasons, has found itself embroiled in several tyre issues during the 2022 season.
First, the races on the Nürburgring Nordschleife were cancelled altogether after teams expressed concerns about repeated tyre failures in the run up to race day.
More recently at Vallelunga, Cyan Racing withdrew all five of its cars from the races, following concerns that it could not make the rubber last a race distance.
Several other competitors, from Audi, Honda and CUPRA, then also suffered tyre failures in the races.
This morning, Cyan Racing, still dissatisfied with the current situation, withdrew from the rest of the season due to perceiving that it is ‘most severely affected by the 2022 tyre failures’.
The full statement from Goodyear reads:
“Goodyear Racing has been working with the FIA and Discovery Sports Events (DSE) on analysing the root cause of tyre conditions that were experienced by several teams at the FIA WTCR Race of Italy.
“Following the race weekend, Goodyear Racing conducted a comprehensive technical analysis, including the inspection of returned tyres, which has not identified any manufacturing issue with the specification.
“The analysis has identified that tyre temperatures on some, but not all, cars recorded during the event were above and beyond any level seen in the previous two seasons of the FIA WTCR, apart from at the 2022 FIA WTCR Race of Germany.
“Goodyear, DSE [Discovery Sports Events] and the FIA are working with the teams to fully understand the cause, including analysing car setup, track severity and the impact of the track temperatures.
“The preliminary data for the forthcoming races at Anneau du Rhin and the fact that several teams tested there in April without reporting tyre performance issues has led to Goodyear confirming that there will be no change in the tyre specification.
“In addition, a free practice session took place this evening including full race simulations. Goodyear will continue working closely with teams to advise on setup recommendations.
“After the remaining circuits in the rescheduled 2022 season are confirmed, Goodyear will review the tyre specification and setup recommendation for those circuits.
“During 2022, Goodyear has been providing a specification of tyre that was approved by the championship and teams and was used successfully in the 2020 and 2021 FIA WTCR seasons.”