Tyres could peg back 2017 World Rally Car speed increase

There have been concerns over the speeds next year's significant increase in power will bring, but that is forcing Michelin and DMACK into a redesign of their World Rally Championship tyres.

DMACK managing director Dick Cormack said the extra power would mean much higher tyre wear, and the changes required to ensure adequate longevity will reduce grip and limit speeds.

"Michelin and us are aware there will be a significant increase in the level of wear, particularly on gravel," Cormack told Autosport.

"That means a compound and possibly even a pattern change to deal with that.

"If we increase the tread width, that will give the tyre more life, but at the same time you really need to reduce the gap between the tread blocks and inevitably that's going to reduce the grip."

Cormack believes the revised tyres will make life even harder for the championship leader running first on the road.

"On a clean line the drivers will still get compound grip," he said, "but for the driver first on the road, it looks like there could be even less grip next year."

The prospect of limiting drivers to a single set of tyres for each day of a WRC round to save costs has also been discussed, but Cormack was not in favour.

"There's a difference between the endurance side of this sport and world championship rallying," he said.

"The WRC is about going as fast as you can on every stage and running one set per day would really compromise that.

"These cars cost £450,000 each and the topic of conversations is about saving £250 on a tyre - it doesn't seem to make sense."