Chinese tire company DMACK will join Michelin as a tire supplier in the World Rally Championship next season. The company is aiming to supply privateer crews with tires manufactured by Shandong Yongtai Chemical Group in its state-of-the-art facility in Dongying, China.
Work on its gravel tires is already well under way and DMACK expects covers to be available for competitors and teams to test from the end of next month.
Dick Cormack, DMACK's motorsport director, said: "This is a golden opportunity for DMACK tires to enter the FIA World Rally Championship market and the supreme competitive challenges and excellent brand exposure it has to offer. We studied the FIA's new tire regulations for 2011 and decided to make a proposal.
"Technically, the new regulations are very achievable for a new manufacturer and we based our proposal on bringing a very strong and durable product to the championship – we also wanted to help encourage more entries into the events by offering a two-tier pricing structure.
"Ongoing testing of the WRC tires is taking place at our research facility in China and at the hands of our test driver Mark Higgins. As the first Chinese tire manufacturer to enter the WRC, we see the opportunity to take the DMACK and Yongtai brands to a whole new level."
Michelin, which announced this week that its approach to rejoin the WRC had been accepted by the FIA, is expected to supply all the factory teams in next year's championship.