Hankook presents a new gravel tire for the Safari Rally

As the World Rally Championship prepares to resume this week in Kenya, Hankook, the sole manufacturer of WRCThe team took the opportunity to optimize its gravel tires. Specifically, the Koreans announced the development of a new version of their Dynapro R213, their tire range dedicated to this surface, which should theoretically offer better grip in cold or wet conditions. This is good news, as the first images from the reconnaissance runs of this third round of the season showed particularly muddy and treacherous terrain. Indeed, the Safari Rally, which is taking place a little earlier than usual this year, has left Nairobi and moved to the shores of Lake Chad. Naivasha, and will thus offer a slightly different playing field than usual, something several drivers had already pointed out.

Hankook reacts after a difficult start to the season

It must be said that Hankook has not yet been convincing in this 2026 season. After a disastrous Monte Carlo Rally where the Hankook tires never seemed to satisfy the crews, Sweden went slightly better, but the snowy and very icy conditions there tended to even out the performance of the Asian tires. In the company's defense, it's worth remembering that it has very few opportunities to test its tires in real-world conditions before the races, with limited test days based on the number of sessions available to the teams. Thus, after only one full season in the top category, it's difficult to have a tire that is fully effective on all surfaces, even though Hankook has nevertheless prioritized the performance of its tires on gravel, the preferred surface of the World Rally Championship, on which ten events are being held this season.

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