ADVAN DELIVERS CLOSE QUALIFYING IN ZANDVOORT
Media information, 5 May 2007
Strong winds and a sandy track provided an interesting challenge in qualifying for Yokohama ADVAN at the FIA World Touring Car Championship in The Netherlands today, but the tyre manufacturer delivered regardless.
Driving styles have been key to success so far in Zandvoort this weekend
and pole setter Chevrolet's Alain Menu is well aware that a more aggressive
approach was crucial in getting the best from his ADVANs over one lap.
The Swiss driver gave a first-class qualifying performance, posting a time
of 1:47.044.
gTyres only need to perform over one or maybe two laps at a time during
qualifying,hsaid Menu.
gThe aim is to post the fastest time so there is no real need to look
after the tyres.
Tomorrow's races will be different though as the goal is to perform well
for the duration.
I'm really happy with how my Yokohama ADVAN worked and obviously they were
a great contribution toward setting pole position today.h
SEAT's Yvan Muller shares the same opinion as his fellow WTCC driver, re-enforcing
that tomorrow's races require an entirely different approach in order to
use the ADVANs' full potential.
gQualifying needs a much more aggressive driving style whereas Sunday's
two races are all about being smooth on the tyres,hsaid the 37-year-old
Frenchman.
gYou have to keep tyres on your mind whilst driving a race, there is no point in doing three aggressive laps which could compromise the tyres.
There are two races to think about each Sunday and a driver needs to be
consistently smooth over the whole distance.
h Zandvoort's sandy conditions have also been an important factor for
the Yokohama ADVAN engineers and Yokohama Europe Marketing Manager Kazuyoshi
Sekiguchi recommends WTCC drivers do not underestimate the effect of the
sand on the track.
gHere more than anywhere we need to make sure we have a consistent product,
delivering high levels of grip especially in corners where the sand is
at its most treacherous,h said Sekiguchi.
gADVANs are known for their quality and I look forward to tomorrow's races
showing our product's high level of performance once again.h
