Gravel Tyres

L Pattern (L30, L40, L50)

The L-pattern is the basic forest tyre from Michelin. This pattern give good grip in a straight-line and so it is good for braking and accelerating.

A number of compounds are available - for the front tyres, an L30 will normally last about 7-8 miles before going off (overheating); an L40 will last about 12-16 miles and we would use L50's for anything longer. A lot depends also on how twisting the stage is, the ambient temperature etc. Because the Peugeot is quite a light car, we usually only need L30's on the rear wheels regardless of the length of stage.

FB Pattern (FB71, FB81)

The FB-pattern is designed to give more lateral (sideways) grip. This means it is can provide much better traction through the corners. The trade-off is that the straight-line braking is not as good. On the Scottish Rally in 2000, I started off with L-pattern tyres, but soon realised that this was a mistake and swapped to FB's. However, I then had to change my driving style somewhat - to stop quickly, you can no longer just brake in a straight line - you have to scrub of speed by sliding sideways - it looks very spectacular from the outside!

Like the L-pattern, a number of compounds are available - the FB71 is similar to an L30 compound and FB81 is similar to an L40.

Go to Asphalt Tyres

Return to Rally Driving