Hankook replaces Pirelli as sole WRC supplier in 2025

If you have read AUTOhebdo, the information will hardly surprise you, In accordance with what we announced to you, Hankook was chosen by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) to supply tires for the Rally1 hybrid category from 2025 in the World Rally Championship (WRC).

The contract will run over three years, from 2025 to 2027 inclusive. The FIA ​​defends its choice with these terms, published on the sidelines of the World Council in Baku (Azerbaijan), Wednesday December 6. “This decision follows a tender procedure launched by the FIA ​​in July 2023 and based on criteria such as supplier capabilities, durability, technical quality, cost per tire and marketing. Hankook will replace Pirelli whose sole supplier contract for the WRC will end at the end of the 2024 campaign.

Exit therefore the transalpine manufacturer, which in any case had not seen fit to propose an extension of the lease with the WRC. Once in the running to take over the contract, Michelin was therefore not victorious in these negotiations. Too bad for the credibility of the WRC, which is currently struggling with expensive and few cars at the start!

The WRC therefore does without the Clermont-based firm, holder of all World Rally records: 347 victories since the creation of the World Rally in 1973, more than 7 specials won with 500 different drivers, more than 58 podiums, 1 Manufacturers' world championship titles with 000 different brands, 30 Drivers' world championship titles.

Rather than Michelin, the FIA ​​favored the new perspectives offered by Hankook. The South Korean company specializes in circuit racing (DTM et F3 Europe in the 2010s and Formula E since 2023). Their experience in the world of rallying concerns the Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC) in the early 2010s with Toni Gardemeister and Patrik Florin.

In 2013, Hankook won an exclusive contract for Junior WRC tires on Ford Fiesta R2s, a contract which lasted only one season. In 2016, the FIA ​​had authorized Hankook to supply tires in the WRC, at the same time as Michelin, Pirelli or D-Mack, but no team entered for the year had preferred the said manufacturer.