Hankook director of motorsport Manfred Sandbichler recognizes its tires can't suit everyone
Photography by Toyota
Words by Mark Paulson & David Evans
Another gravel rally and another underwhelming performance from Kalle Rovanperä.
The two-time world champion’s fourth position on Rally Estonia was perhaps his most worrying result yet, despite salvaging some decent points with second in the Super Sunday standings and a powerstage win.
As the three-time Estonia winner said himself: “If I can’t do it here, I don’t think I can do it anywhere else.”
The Finn’s struggles with adapting to Hankook’s gravel tires continue unabated. With more than half the season down, one has to wonder if Rovanperä will ever be able to extract maximum performance from the WRC’s new control tire in the way that he seemingly did so effortlessly with the previous Pirelli rubber. Or indeed Hankook’s asphalt tire, on which he was so dominant on Rally Islas Canarias in April.
Rovanperä is not alone in finding it difficult to adapt. Reigning world champion Thierry Neuville has also voiced his lack of feeling with Hankook’s rubber.
But the issue appears to have affected Rovanperä more than anyone, with no solution in sight.
If arguably the WRC’s quickest driver is finding it impossible to adapt, but the tire works for others, how does Hankook deal with that?
“This is the best question of all,” smiled Hankook director of motorsport Manfred Sandbichler.
“It’s a control tire. It will not satisfy everyone. So, maybe you’re the lucky man, you find the right car setup, which is 100% in line with our product. Your driving style is exactly what the tire is asking for, then you’re in the lead.
“If you’re a little bit away, you will struggle. But this is our daily business.”
Hankook has earned praise by prioritizing durability over ultimate performance in its first year at rallying’s highest level. Performance developments could offer some hope for Rovanperä that the tires’ characteristics will move towards his preference – but that will not be Hankook’s focus.
“The maximum performance is always one of our targets,” said Sandbichler, “but even more important for us is the safety reason.
“And at the end of the day, if it’s a control tire you should be supplying a tire for everyone, to make everyone happy – which is impossible, as you know. It’s not possible.
Rovanperä scored well in Estonia, but was far from his best - worrying, considering it's his favorite event
“So this makes the story even more difficult. You will have drivers which, let me say, are able to handle the tire in an easy way, other drivers need some more time and other drivers don’t understand the product at all.
“But this is normal in our business and we are aware about the situation. But, as I said before, performance is very important for us but safety is most important.”
As if the WRC’s full calendar were not varied enough, Hankook really faced a baptism of fire with three of the most extreme events opening the season. Reflecting on its first half-season, Sandbichler is satisfied that Hankook successfully rose to the challenge but recognizes there is room for improvement.
He said: “The first eight rounds so far, they’re a really big challenge for us. We start with Monte Carlo, then we go to Sweden, then we go to Africa.
“There are ups and downs, like always in tire life, but our resumé so far is extremely positive. We learn a lot, we collect a lot of information, data, statements, of course.
“We learned that we have still some improvements in front of us. We are not unhappy with the results so far but we still recognize that we have to do something in a different way because Greece, for example, was one of the really hardest ones I ever saw.
“And also in Kenya, there was also a story where they say, ‘OK, when you have rocks like this, what are you going to do?’ We are happy with the situation, but we’re still hungry to improve.”
Words:Mark Paulson
Tags: Hankook, Kalle Rovanperä, Manfred Sandbichler, WRC, WRC 2025
Publish Date July 27, 2025 DirtFish 
https://dirtfish-editorial.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com/2025/07/hDSGW79X-ROVANPERA08EST25tb350-780x520.jpg July 27, 2025
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