Tyre compound change for EFRA 1:8 GT European C/ships

EFRA, the governing body for RC racing in Europe, has announced a change of control tyre compound for the upcoming 1:8 GT & GTE European Championships.  The fourth running of the Euros for nitro and third edition for electric, MRC Leipzig host the event at their track in central Germany from June 18-21 with Italy’s PMT the official tyre supplier.  Initially selecting the Q5 compound as part the new for 2025 rule that drivers must use one single compound for both axles, after testing it was discovered the the cars, especially electric, were difficult to drive due to the rear being to hard a compound.  As a result, the race will now switch to the softer Q3 compound.  Drivers are now also allowed to change tyres in the Main Final due to the softer compound.  In Nitro it will be Natanaele Senesi who will be looking to defend his title while another Italian, Rosario Giaimo, will be looking to retain the title he won at the Naxos World track in Sicily, Italy, last year.  Later this year 1:8 GT drivers will also compete for the World Championship title in Chile.

Important Announcement for GT8 and GTE racers planning to attend the European Championships:

Following extensive testing of the new tyre rules for 2025 (one single compound for both axles) it has been decided to change the compound from Q5 to Q3.  The reasoning behind this decision is that the Q5 tyre has shown to be quite difficult to drive in the early minutes of the run as the tyre is quite hard now when used in the rear.  This is particularly a problem for the Electric class.  As the rule requires the use of the same compound for both classes it has been decided for the benefit of the drivers to soften the compound to the Q3 tyre.  Drivers are now permitted to change tyres in the main final and so this opens up the various strategy options and there is no need to force a hard tyre to complete full distance without tyre changes if it is very difficult to drive.

Source: EFRA [efra.ws]