Ever since the Rally Monte-Carlo was organised for the first time in 1911, the event’s trademark changeable, wintry conditions have played a major part in forging its popularity and reputation. Although there was no snowy backdrop to this year’s rally, competitors still had to cope with icy roads in France’s Ardèche and Vercors Mountains before tackling the legendary Col du Turini stage on the penultimate day.

For this event, where tyre choices are notoriously difficult, MICHELIN’s partners were able to select from five different products: the Pilot Sport SS1 (‘super soft’ compound), S1 (‘soft’) and H1 (‘hard’) for wet or dry asphalt, plus studded and non-studded variants of the Pilot Alpin WRC for icy or snowy conditions.

The latter was developed specifically for this year’s 2012 Rally Monte-Carlo and the early stages in the Ardèche and Vercors Mountains provided MICHELIN with a chance to showcase its potential in terms of grip, precision, durability and safety performance. The MICHELIN Pilot Alpin WRC was developed at the same time as the new MICHELIN Alpin 4 road tyre which will be presented to the press at the end of February and released for sale in the second half of 2012.

Sébastien Loeb (Citroën/MICHELIN), six-time Rallye Monte-Carlo winner: “Once again, getting tyre choices spot on proved decisive. I think my choice of four studded Pilot Alpin WRCs for Friday morning’s two stages in the Vercors was the most competitive option. It helped me extend my lead…”

In addition to tyre choices, tyre management strategies also played a key role in the final outcome. The latest WRC regulations for 2012 have further reduced the number of tyres each competitor may use during a rally. At the same time, the so-called ‘Priority 1’ and ‘Priority 2’ drivers had to manage their limited allocations of each tyre type for the five days of action, yet that took nothing away from the extremely high level of competition. On the contrary!

Congratulations to our partners Citroën, who with Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena have won the 2011 FIA World Rally Championship.

This year saw Michelin make a welcome return to the world class rallying after five years away from the sport. It turned out to be an emphatic return, securing both the FIA World Rally Championship and Intercontinental Rally Challenge titles with its partners.

In off road rallying, driving conditions can suddenly change at any stage of the race, so Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena both had to have confidence in their tyres’ ability to adapt. Michelin tyres, with their excellent grip, gave them that confidence, whatever the weather or terrain.

The World Rally Championship visited Coffs Harbour in September and the teams experienced the extremes of Australian weather.

After kicking off in heavy rain which made the stages particularly slippery and challenging, the remainder of the Rally Australia took place in fine, sunny conditions and on roads which were perfectly suited to the hardcompound MICHELIN LATITUDE Cross H1.

The win ended up going to FORD, with Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen steering the N°3 factory FIESTA RS WRC to a victory which promises an exciting finale to this year’s World Rally Championship. Indeed, the result takes the Finns to second place in the provisional standings, just 15 points behind the leader Sébastien Loeb. Mikko and Jarmo were joined on the podium by team-mates Jari-Matti Latvala/Mikka Anttila who finished 14.7 seconds adrift after losing the lead on SS25. Co-driven by Chris Patterson, Norway’s Petter Solberg profited from his experience of slippery conditions to finish third in his privately-entered DS3 WRC, 44.8s behind Hirvonen.

The Power Stage was won by seven-time world champion Sébastien Loeb (CITROEN DS3 WRC) who stays at the top of the provisional Drivers’ standings, despite a crash on the morning of Day 1 (Friday, September 9) that could have seen him lose his advantage in this year’s title chase. Fortunately for him, his team-mate Sébastien Ogier, who could have profited from the chance to ease into the championship lead, went on to clout a tree with his DS3 WRC later that day. After several hours work on their cars by the CITROEN team’s mechanics, the two Frenchmen were able to rejoin the rally on the Saturday morning.

Jacques Morelli, the manager of MICHELIN’s rally programmes, was pleased with the performance of the hard-compound MICHELIN LATITUDE Cross H1 which was the only tyre authorised for the Australian round of the 2011 WRC: “Friday’s rain made the stages extremely slippery. The treads of the LATITUDE CROSS tyres became filled with compact mud and were unable to demonstrate their full potential with regard to grip. Even so, the event was able to continue, despite the fact rallies organised near Coffs Harbour are apparently frequently cancelled in wet weather because of the region’s clay-based tracks. The sun shone from Saturday onwards, though, and our tyres were able to deliver their usual performance.”

“After analysing the tyres which came off the cars and listening to the drivers, it transpires that the hardcompound H1 option was the correct choice, except for Friday’s rain. We received positive feedback from the drivers, especially concerning the LATITUDE CROSS’s consistency. Wear rates where very low from start to finish and no problems were reported.”

The final round of the Championship was held in November and despite an accident on the public road between stages that ended his weekend early, Sébastian Loeb and Daniel Elena were crowned 2011 WRC Champion.

The 13th and last round of the 2011 World Rally Championship took teams to Great Britain for the Wales Rally GB which featured an extremely exacting route and some equally demanding conditions. MICHELIN accomplished its mission to the letter by providing its partner teams with the means to be competitive from start to finish. That was rewarded by an emphatic eighth world title for Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena (CITROEN DS3 WRC), coupled with the first win of the year for Jari-Matti Latvala and his co-driver Miika Anttila (FORD FIESTA RS WRC).

The 2011 Wales Rally GB kicked off with two short asphalt stages before moving into the country’s familiar forests where the drivers were faced with the challenge of constantly changing grip and predominantly muddy, slippery surfaces.

By dictating the use of soft compound gravel tyres for the ultimate round of the season, the FIA (Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile) placed the focus on crew safety. But that choice finally turned out to favour performance, too, since the front-runners were able to push hard and express their talent to the full. This scenario produced a thrilling fight between Sébastien Loeb and Jari-Matti Latvala who were never separated by more than a handful of seconds for the majority of the event.

Loeb harvested an eighth Drivers’ crown on Friday when Mikko Hirvonen, his last rival in the title chase, was forced to retire. He then kept up the fight for outright victory in Wales until Sunday morning when he was eliminated by a collision on a road section. That incident handed the win to Ford’s Jari-Matti Latvala on a plate.

The MICHELIN LATITUDE Cross S1 took the usual ingredients and potential pitfalls of the British round in its stride as the French firm’s partners posted the benchmark times. The CITROEN and FORD of the two pace-setters both ran on the same soft-compound MICHELIN tyre which first proved its ability last May in Argentina where the temperatures were much higher and the ground much sandier! Its ability to deliver on two such different events says a great deal about the versatility of Michelin’s WRC range.

Wales Rally GB marked the end of what turned out to be a highly satisfying season for MICHELIN which was making its return to the discipline after a five-year absence. MICHELIN is currently in the process of validating its new range for the 2012 WRC campaign. Competitors on next January’s Rallye Monte-Carlo (January 17-22) will be able to choose from four types of tyre, including a new asphalt tyre (20/65-18, 225/40 R 18) available in a choice of three compounds (hard, soft, and super soft). The other MICHELIN tyre will be a new studded snow/ice 18-inch tyre (18/65-18, 215/45 R 18).

The menu of the opening day featured two attempts at a loop of three loose-surface stages which, for the first and only time this season, forced the teams to start a predominantly asphalt event with a gravel set-up and hard-compound MICHELIN Latitude Cross H gravel tyres on 15-inch diameter wheels.

The demanding conditions punished many of those who dared to stray off the main line with damaged wheels after impact with rocks or stones, but the performance potential of MICHELIN’s gravel tyre produced times that were significantly lower than those recorded over the same tests last year. The MICHELIN LATITUDE Cross H delivered an average gain of 0.7 seconds per kilometre, despite the fact that this season’s generation of cars are less powerful than those of 2010. It was also interesting to note that Friday’s stages incorporated several asphalt portions on which MICHELIN’s gravel was able to showcase its versatility.

The switch to an all-asphalt format for the action on Saturday and Sunday forced the teams to modify the suspension and ground clearance of their respective cars and, here again, MICHELIN provided its runners with a choice of competitive and durable products.

In Saturday’s mild weather conditions (dry roads, and temperatures of around 22°C), the frontrunners opted for the hard-compound ‘H’ version of the 18-inch interior diameter MICHELIN Pilot Sport tyres. The only variant was the decision to carry either two spare wheels or, like Ogier/Ingrassia (CITROEN DS3 WRC), a single spare in order to save valuable weight.

Sunday’s cooler conditions brought a threat of rain and, although FORD continued to run the hard compound, MINI and CITROEN opted for a ‘mixed’ strategy which included the soft compound ‘S’ version of the MICHELIN Pilot Sport. Both teams carried soft compound tyres as spares, but the DS3 WRCs were on hard rubber all-round as they headed out for the final loop, while the MINIs ran two hard tyres and two softs on the car, in addition to the two soft-compound products in the boot. Thanks to this tactic, MINI was able to secure a one-two finish on the ‘Power Stage’ with Meeke and Sordo.

Here again, the performance and consistency of the crews’ MICHELIN tyres allowed them to put in extremely competitive times. The win ended up going to Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena (CITROËN DS3 WRC) who emerged in front from Day 1 before making sure of the 2011 Manufacturers’ crown for Citroën at the end of the event.

That achievement was hailed by Nick Shorrock, the director of MICHELIN Competition: “This title rounds off a very successful year for a team which celebrate its 10th win of the season here, despite the increasingly stiff competition it faces. I would also like to underline the maturity of all the drivers of our partner teams [Citroën, FORD and MINI] who have made the most of their MICHELIN tyres at the wheel of cars that are lighter and less powerful cars than those they campaigned last year. The speed at which they adapted highlights the quality of the tyres we developed for 2011.”

The final round of the season takes teams to Great Britain for Wales RallyGB (November 10-13) where the cars will compete on MICHELIN LATITUDE Cross H tyres.

Tyre strategy played a role in Sunday’s close fight (October 2) between the two front-runners Sébastien Ogier, whose CITROEN DS3 WRC was on ‘H’ tyres, with two ‘H’ spares in the boot, and Dani Sordo whose MINI John Cooper Works left morning service on the ‘S’ option, with a single ‘S’ as a spare. Thanks to the performance of his MINI and the advantage of his soft-compound tyres in the early morning chill, Sordo succeeded in closing the gap to his French rival up to the end of the day’s third test, Haguenau 1 (SS20). He went on to complete the rally in second place, 6.3 seconds short of the winner.

Indeed, as the temperature climbed, Sébastien Ogier’s hard-compound tyres came into their own and contributed to the factory CITROEN driver’s Rallye de France-Alsace success. The 25 points he scored today, plus his Power Stage ‘bonus’ point, have taken the Frenchman (193 points) to within three points of his team-mate Sébastien Loeb in the World Championship standings. Sébastien Loeb was forced to retire from his home event on Day 1 when his CITROEN DS3 WRC developed a rare mechanical problem.

The top-three was rounded off by Petter Solberg (CITROEN DS3 WRC) whose spectacular yet efficient driving style earned him a podium finish, 1m23.8s behind the winner. The three points for winning the Power Stage went to Jari-Matti Latvala (FORD Fiesta RS WRC).

MICHELIN Competition’s director Nick Shorrock underlined CITROEN’s win, the exceptional result of Dani Sordo’s MINI, which was only contesting its fourth WRC event since its debut, and the performance of the MICHELIN Pilot Sport. “Our partners told us how pleased they were with the performance of the new MICHELIN Pilot Sport,” he reported. “Our tyres were a second per kilometre quicker than the times set here this time last year, even though the cars are less powerful! That’s a great result, especially since wear rates have been very low. This rally also enabled MICHELIN to demonstrate the reliability of its Pilot Sport asphalt range, especially here where the stages matched the WRC regulations concerning tyres.”

The next round of the World Championship will take teams to Spain for the Rally RACC Catalunya-Rally de Espana on October 20-23, 2011. The first leg of this predominantly asphalt event will be on gravel, and teams will run the MICHELIN LATITUDE Cross.

The Power Stage was won by seven-time world champion Sébastien Loeb (CITROEN DS3 WRC) who stays at the top of the provisional Drivers’ standings, despite a crash on the morning of Day 1 (Friday, September 9) that could have seen him lose his advantage in this year’s title chase. Fortunately for him, his team-mate Sébastien Ogier, who could have profited from the chance to ease into the championship lead, went on to clout a tree with his DS3 WRC later that day. After several hours work on their cars by the CITROEN team’s mechanics, the two Frenchmen were able to re-join the rally on the Saturday morning.

New Zealanders Hayden Paddon/John Kennard succeeded in wrapping up the 2011 PWRC crown in their MICHELIN-equipped Subaru Impreza. Hayden Paddon is the first driver from Oceania to win one of the World Rally Championship titles.

Jacques Morelli, the manager of MICHELIN’s rally programmes, was globally pleased with the performance of the hard-compound MICHELIN LATITUDE Cross H1 which was the only tyre authorised for the Australian round of the 2011 WRC: “Friday’s rain made the stages extremely slippery. The treads of the LATITUDE CROSS tyres became filled with compact mud and were unable to demonstrate their full potential with regard to grip. Even so, the event was able to continue, despite the fact rallies organised near Coffs Harbour are apparently frequently cancelled in wet weather because of the region’s clay-based tracks. The sun shone from Saturday onwards, though, and our tyres were able to deliver their usual performance.

“After analysing the tyres which came off the cars and listening to the drivers, it transpires that the hard-compound H1 option was the correct choice, except for Friday’s rain. We received positive
feedback from the drivers, especially concerning the LATITUDE CROSS’s consistency. Wear rates where very low from start to finish and no problems were reported.”

The next round of the WRC brings crews back to Europe for the asphalt Rallye de France Alsace (September 30-October 2) where MICHELIN’s partners will be able to choose between the H
(hard) and S (soft) versions of the PILOT Sport, depending on the prevailing conditions.

The factory FORD team’s other Finns Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen came fourth, 1m 9.1s behind the winners. After losing almost two minutes over Friday’s three stages, Hirvonen was fastest on 12 of the weekend’s 22 stages.

Winner Sébastien Loeb was very pleased with his CITROEN DS3 WRC and underlined the contribution that his MICHELIN LATITUDE Cross S1 tyres made to his success. “I was able to focus on driving my DS3 without having to worry about my tyres,” he noted. “They allowed me to push hard without suffering any punctures or incidents. I was very quick through the corners and, once the car was set up for a turn, I was able to accelerate with the pedal to the floor thanks to the grip provided by my tyres.”

After his early delay, the only solution for Mikko Hirvonen was maximum attack as he carved his way back up the leaderboard. He pushed his FORD Fiesta RS WRC to the limit, but both the car and its MICHELIN tyres were perfectly up to the job: “I am delighted to have won 12 stages. It was a good way to thank the millions of rally fans we have here in Finland,” he said. “The Fiesta RS WRC is a great car and its performance is matched by its MICHELIN tyres. They were quick and consistent over each loop of stages, and also resisted wear remarkably well.”

Rally Finland is one of the fastest rounds of the season, as Jacques Morelli, the manager of MICHELIN’s rally programmes, explains: “The Finnish stages necessitate a smooth driving style and require the drivers to think ahead in order to position their car on the ideal line for the ensuing corner as it lands after the event’s hallmark jumps. The stages are predominantly sandy and call for little hard acceleration out of corners. Good lateral grip is consequently crucial to permit the drivers to maintain high cornering speeds. The MICHELIN LATITUDE Cross S1 packs two features which allow it to deliver maximum grip: its asymmetric tread pattern – with the outer portion designed for high grip – and its soft compound which has been carefully calculated to perform in conditions where grip is at a premium.”

Today’s result means that the MICHELIN LATITUDE Cross S1 has passed the ‘elk test’ with flying colours in a country which boasts breath-taking landscapes and where the connoisseur fans were this year treated to another fast and furious show which went down to the wire.

The next port of call for the World Rally Championship is Trier, Germany, home of the 2011 ADAC Rally Deutschland (August 18-21). The season’s first asphalt round will mark the debut of the MICHELIN Pilote Sport. The hard-compound version (H) of this tyre is designed for dry conditions. If it rains, competitors will be able to switch to the high-grip, softer-compound ‘S’ version (soft).

Rallying is a national passion in Argentina! Many tens of thousands of spectators lined this weekend’s stages to cheer on the drivers who faced an exhausting challenge due to the difficulty of the varied route which included sandy ground, stony trails and… pristine asphalt! The punishing test to which the 2011 Rally Argentina put the cars and drivers set the scene for the debut of the soft-compound version of the MICHELIN LATITUDE Cross S1.

CITROEN/MICHELIN’s seven-time World Champions Sébastien LOEB/Daniel ELENA won the 2011 Rally Argentina with a total time of 4h 3m 56.9s, despite taking a one-minute time penalty for late arrival at Friday’s lunchtime service halt. The consistent run of the FORD FIESTA RS WRC driver Mikko HIRVONEN (+2.4s) harvested second place, while Loeb’s team-mate Sébastien OGIER (+7.3s) had to settle for third place after rolling out of the lead four stages from home.

MICHELIN Competition’s Director Nick SHORROCK was extremely pleased with the performance of the MICHELIN LATITUDE Cross S1, although he did question the value of running mixed gravel/asphalt stages and the negative impact that could have had on the safety of the crews. “MICHELIN developed the LATITUDE Cross S1 for use on gravel. On that front, it rose to its mission perfectly here in Argentina where the teams benefited from a competitive balance between performance on soft ground and resistance to sharp stones,” he said. “On the dirt stages, which made up the vast majority of the route, the LATITUDE CROSS S1 gave evidence of its performance potential, while wear-rates were low, which is obviously good for driver safety.

“On the other hand, the inclusion of long portions of asphalt on SS4/7 and SS8/12 put our tyres through an ordeal for which they were not designed, and wear-rates consequently reached excessive levels in certain cases. MICHELIN, which places road safety as its most important priority, took the initiative of putting tyre change opportunities into place after SS8 and SS12. We trucked 100 wheels and tyres to each one, and that enabled the crews to complete the rest of Saturday’s loop on suitable tyres.”

Jacques MORELLI (Manager of MICHELIN’s rally programmes): “If it had rained, the low wear-rates recorded by our soft-compound tyres would have enabled the drivers to contest this event in total safety. Indeed, the possibility of unsettled weather is dialled into the design and development of our WRC tyres. Now that the balance between the outright performance potential and strength of the MICHELIN LATITUDE Cross range matches the demands of our partners, we can begin to fine-tune them by incorporating other factors, such as different driving styles, into future evolutions.”

The WRC’s next port-of-call is Greece (June 16-19, 2011) which is notorious for being the championship’s toughest rally on tyres.

MICHELIN LATITUDE Cross S1
The MICHELIN LATITUDE Cross S1 (17/65R15) was developed for predominantly sandy ground and low temperatures. It delivers a high-quality balance between performance, strength and durability and comes with a single type of tread pattern. MICHELIN had 1,000 tyres available for its partners in Argentina.

Italy’s round of the WRC also marked the debut of the Prodrive-run factory MINI. Following the team’s extremely busy test programme during the build-up to the big day, Dani SORDO steered his ‘Countryman’ to sixth place overall.

MICHELIN Competition Director Nick SHORROCK explained the importance of the new car’s arrival in the championship: “MINI’s arrival puts the last brick of MICHELIN’s 2011 WRC programme into place. The Anglo-German machine’s debut was especially important since it coincided with the early days of the new MICHELIN LATITUDE Cross tyre. Our aim here in Sardinia was to ensure that our partners were just as pleased with the newcomer’s performance and strength as they were last month in Jordan. Judging by the positive feedback we have received from them, we successfully fulfilled that mission.”

MINI Team Manager David RICHRDS underlined the positive contribution the MICHELIN LATITUDE Cross has made to his team’s WRC bid: “The Rally Italia Sardegna was the new MINI’s first competitive outing. We used this event to collect valuable information which we will use to continue the development of our car. Our MICHELIN LATITUDE Cross tyres have served as a benchmark for our programme and, once again, they did their job very well. That said, knowing MICHELIN, I’m not surprised by that at all!”

The CITROEN and FORD drivers were equally eloquent about their tyres.

Sébastien LOEB (winner): “Our MICHELIN tyres performed impeccably throughout the weekend and helped minimise the impact of the fact that I was first into the stages on all three days. They also stood up very well to the punishing terrain here in Sardinia and allowed me to concentrate on making full use of my CITROEN DS3 WRC’s potential.”

Jari-Matti LATVALA (driver, FORD ABU DAHBI): “I won SS14… on three wheels!” Indeed, the rear-left MICHELIN tyre of his FIESTA RS WRC suffered a cut following an impact some nine kilometres into SS14. Yet that didn’t prevent the Finn from pushing hard to complete the stage
with a time of 8m 44s.

Bertrand DORON (MICHELIN tyre developer) was also satisfied with the way the Rally Italia Sardegna unfolded: “I wanted to confirm the highly encouraging data we collected in Jordan concerning the durability of the new MICHELIN LATITUDE Cross. The average wear-rate over
the past three days was less than 40 percent, and that meant the drivers could confidently start certain loops of stages with just one spare wheel and tyre in the car.”

The next outing for the MICHELIN LATITUDE Cross will be Argentina where the ‘soft’ version of this gravel tyre has been nominated (MICHELIN LATITUDE Cross S1).

The new MICHELIN LATITUDE Cross – characteristics and statistics
The new MICHELIN LATITUDE Cross (17/65R15) is available with a single type of tread pattern, but in a choice of two compounds: H1 (Hard) and S1 (Soft). The tyre nominated for the Rally Italia Sardegna was the MICHELIN LATITUDE Cross H1. MICHELIN had 1,200 tyres in Italy for
its partner teams.

A big feature of the event was the competitiveness of the latest MICHELIN LATITUDE Cross, and the brand’s so-called “joker” tyre was unanimously acclaimed by the firm’s partners after its performance on the stages near the Dead Sea in Jordan.

“MICHELIN started the 2011 WRC with tyres that were designed to deliver a high standard of performance in a context that permitted free competition between tyre manufacturers,” says Nick SHORROCK, the director of MICHELIN Competition. “The early part of the season saw stage times come down, and our tyres were sufficiently strong to stand up to the punishment of the opening rounds. However, our partners drew our attention to their need for a solution that delivered an even more finely-tuned balance between performance and strength. The new MICHELIN LATITUDE Cross which made its debut in Jordan is the fruit of development work which started towards the end of 2010 in response to this demand.”

FORD ABU DAHBI’s Jari-Matti LATVALA hailed the newcomer’s quality: “MICHELIN has done a fantastic job. Their new tyre stands up to even greater punishment than before, and it is still extremely fast…” Indeed, the new MICHELIN LATITUDE Cross enabled the drivers to go quicker than they did here last year on certain stages. For example, Mikko HIRVONEN (FORD Fiesta RS WRC) completed SS15 (Mahes 1, 20.44km) in 14m 33.0s, which was 11.1s quicker than Daniel SORDO in 2010 (an improvement of 0.54s/km).

Sébastien OGIER (CITROEN, winner of the 2011 Jordan Rally WRC): “In addition to being very fast, the new MICHELIN is also very consistent over the longer stages.”

Jacques MORELLI (Manager of MICHELIN Competition’s rallying activities): “The challenge MICHELIN faced when designing the new LATITUDE Cross was to make it even stronger than before, while still ensuring a very high level of performance and durability. Simply stiffening the sidewalls would have had a big effect on the quality of the feedback delivered to the drivers. On top of that, a stiff construction tends to lead to extra wear. We consequently focused on the construction of both the sidewalls and the crown in order to combine performance, strength and long tyre life.”

After spending the weekend analysing the new tyre’s performance and talking to the drivers, MICHELIN rally tyre developer Bertrand DORON was very pleased with the end result: “The new MICHELIN LATITUDE Cross performed even better here than it did during our test before March’s Rally de Portugal. Their low wear, especially after Friday afternoon’s loop, which included a stage of more than 41km, was particularly surprising. Few drivers exceeded wear-rates of 40 percent.”

Xavier MESTELAN (Technical Manager, CITROEN): “MICHELIN had a new tyre in Jordan which is adapted to the characteristics of the CITROEN DS3 WRC. It worked in perfect harmony with the suspension of our cars.” Christian LORIAUX, his counterpart at FORD ABU DAHBI, agreed: “We and our drivers were very pleased with the way the new MICHELIN performed. It should help us further optimise the potential of the FIESTA RS WRC.”

The next round of the 2011 World Rally Championship is the Rally d’Italia which begins on May 5. Sardinia will provide the backdrop to what promises to be another close fight between CITROEN and FORD and will also star the H1 version of the new MICHELIN LATITUDE Cross on the Mediterranean island’s notoriously rocky stages.

New MICHELIN LATITUDE Cross. Specification and data.

The new MICHELIN LATITUDE Cross (17/65R15) is available with a single tread pattern but in a choice of two compounds: H1 (Hard) and S1 (Soft). The version available for the Jordan Rally WRC was the MICHELIN LATITUDE Cross H1. MICHELIN had 1,000 tyres available for its partner teams in Jordan.