BFGoodrich once again faces the biggest competition in off-road motorsports: the Dakar Rally. The off-road tyre brand will support numerous teams and fight for their 17th overall victory.
The Dakar Rally is the most ambitious off-road event in the world and therefore an ideal place to put BFGoodrich tyres through a challenging test. This endurance race of more than 7,500 kilometres long tests all participants for two weeks in which they will have to cross canyons, mountains, dunes and fast sections, where they will find areas with rocks or sharp stones. Therefore, the tyres for the Dakar must offer a unique combination of grip, traction, directional stability and robustness, as well as high resistance to wear.
In the 2021 edition of the rally, BFGoodrich once again offers the participating teams a combination of next-generation tyres, with the aim of guaranteeing the best performance and reliability on the terrain: BFGoodrich All Terrain T / A KDR2 +, BFGoodrich MUD TERRAIN T / A KM3 and BFGoodrich T / A KM3 UTV / SSV.
The BFGoodrich All Terrain T / A KDR2 + debuted at the Dakar Rally in 2018, and has evolved edition by edition. Since the 2020 Dakar, in which they have contributed to the victory of Carlos Sainz and Lucas Cruz with the MINI JCW Buggy, its carcass has been updated to further refine and maximise its performance on the second Dakar in the Middle East.
“Our technical team has adapted the latest specification of the BFGoodrich All Terrain T / A KDR2 + tyre to the characteristics of the terrain that we expect to find during the second visit of the Dakar to Saudi Arabia,” says Jérôme Hancart, Technical Director of the rally cross- country of BFGoodrich. "By constantly pushing the boundaries of the different criteria that contribute to the overall performance of our products, our engineers will allow our partners to focus 100% on the sport aspect, without having to worry about their tyres."
Also part of the Dakar caravan will be the BFGoodrich KM3, the fifth generation of the first radial off-road tyre, which was launched in 1980. This tyre, which is also available for road vehicles, has been developed and evolved thanks to experience gathered in the competition. It is capable of handling both sand and mud and is designed to climb the steepest slopes or tackle dunes effectively. Following the expansion of the dimensional range in 2019, the BFGoodrich KM3 now covers 78% of the market. Many participants in the Dakar 2021 will also use the BFGoodrich T / A KM3 SSV tyre, the variant for the fast and light Side by Side (SSV).
The route of the Dakar 2021 is totally different from that of the last edition, although it promises to retest the new specification of BFGoodrich tyres. All the stages are new and, among them, is one of the great challenges of the race during the second week: the marathon stage.
The rally will start on January 3 in Jeddah, on the shores of the Red Sea. Competitors will hug the coast for several hundred kilometres before heading towards Al Jawf. From there they will head to Ha’il, located on the ancient trade route from the Red Sea to Mesopotamia. After a day of rest, on January 9, the route heads southwest. The Dakar 2021 will conclude in Jeddah on January 15.
Make sure you keep up to date with the truck and bus tyre market
Click here to receive our regular e-newsletter.
