When it comes to selecting the best option tyre for the ten rounds of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship, Dunlop engineers are faced with several considerations; track and ambient temperatures, the length of the races, the types of corners, heavy braking and traction, and the track surface.

The temperature variance across the circuits last year, from potentially 3 to 52 degrees, is also a deciding factor, however the wide operating window of the Dunlop Sport Maxx tyres allow temperatures of 60-120 degrees.

Dunlop has a huge database of knowledge spanning 60 years in saloon cars from which to decide which option tyre to allocate at each of the ten rounds. The subsequent choices facing the drivers and teams between those option tyres have the ability to affect race outcomes. For 2018 the choices remain largely similar to last year, with the exception of the Jubilee Celebration weekend at Snetterton which will be confirmed after the mid-season test.

BluResponse Wet

In response to requests from the fans, Dunlop’s ‘BluResponse Wet’ tyre will for 2018 run with a blue sidewall marking to easily identify in conditions where it’s not necessarily obvious when a driver is running dry or wet tyres. This will be particularly useful for television viewers watching ITV’s qualifying live stream on Saturday afternoons.

Tyre Allocation at a glance

Dry tyre allocation To be used in two races To be used in one race Brands Hatch Indy Sport Maxx Prime Sport Maxx Option Soft Donington Sport Maxx Prime Sport Maxx Option Hard Thruxton Sport Maxx Option Hard to be used in all races Oulton Park Sport Maxx Prime Sport Maxx Option Soft Croft Sport Maxx Prime Sport Maxx Option Hard Snetterton To be confirmed To be confirmed Rockingham Sport Maxx Prime Sport Maxx Option Hard Knockhill Sport Maxx Prime Sport Maxx Option Soft Silverstone Sport Maxx Prime Sport Maxx Option Hard Brands Hatch Sport Maxx Prime Sport Maxx Option Soft

How Dunlop decides which option BTCC Sport Maxx tyre to use