Michelin's new tyre gives DC win in MC

MICHELIN'S NEW TYRE GIVES DC WIN IN MC David Coulthard released the pressure that has been steadily building on himself and the whole of the West McLaren Mercedes team with a start to finish victory on the switchback Monaco circuit this weekend. The Scot finally got the victory that has eluded the team so far this season and suddenly the spirit is soaring, and the challenge now is to keep the McLaren right with the BMW Williams and Schumacher's Ferrari for the remainder of the season and hope that the points start to gather. Michelin brought a brand new and un-tested tyre to the Principality, a new construction with a soft compound that worked straight out of the box. Motorsport Director, Pierre Dupasquier said, "This was a new design from knowledge of this circuit. Coupled with the fantastic job that David and McLaren did to take victory it is important to see the performance of all the other Michelin runners to know we have the answer today. With Montoya on pole with probably the qualifying lap of the year, Ralf Schumacher third and Jarno Trulli's Renault fourth we had a great result. Canada is a whole new scene and we must decide which tyre we must use to keep the performance". For David Coulthard this was his 12th GP win and second Monaco victory. For Michelin Monaco followed the Malaysian win and for McLaren Mercedes this was the first of the year. Superbikes British weather may have hindered the riders but did not dampen the spirits of the 61,000 fans who flocked to Silverstone to see the World Superbike stars race in the sixth round of this global series. Troy Bayliss arrived in the UK with a fantastic record of 8 wins from the first 10 races and a 38-point championship advantage. Superbike riders work hard and none more so than Bayliss. Torrential rain left lake size puddles of standing water in many places which were sure to be a test even for Michelin's new wet tyres. In the first race Troy was caught out by the puddles on the Ducati Infostrada Michelin, he remounted only to make the same mistake again when off-line passing two other riders. Page 1 of 2 In what will be recognised as one of the most notable rides ever, he again got back on the bike to take a fighting fifth place with Colin Edwards winning on the Castrol Honda Michelin machine. For race two Edwards had his own problems even on the warm-up lap before the pair raced with Bayliss taking the result. Ducati team-mate Rubens Xaus took third to make it an all Michelin podium, these three being the three official Michelin backed entries in the series. Bayliss is now 29 points ahead of Edwards with 14 races still to run. Ends. For further information please contact Stuart McCrudden Associates: Tel: 01621 892814 Fax: 01621 892815 E mail: enquires@smapr.net Ian Hughes Michelin Press Office Tel: 01782 402000 Fax: 01782 402040 Ref: PR270502 Issue Date: 27 May 2002 ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by Waymaker http://www.waymaker.net The following files are available for download: http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2002/05/27/20020527BIT00690/wkr0001.doc http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2002/05/27/20020527BIT00690/wkr0002.pdf