Lynk & Co Cyan Racing has formally withdrawn from the FIA World Touring Car Cup event at Vallelunga in Italy, citing tyre safety concerns.
The team had already issued a statement on Saturday, saying that it could not race due to concerns about the tyres, but that the decision would be reviewed on Sunday.
Prior to the start of the opening race, all five Lynk & Co drivers peeled into the pits at the end of the formation lap to signal that they would take no further part in the on-track activities.
In a statement provided to TouringCars.Net prior to the race, a Goodyear spokesperson said that “it’s not a general safety issue as the problems are centred around one model of car”.
During the opening race, further tyre issues were experienced by drivers of other cars, including Attila Tassi and Tiago Monteiro (Honda), Mehdi Bennani and Nathanaël Berthon (Audi) and Rob Huff (CUPRA).
The full statement from Cyan Racing read:
“Lynk & Co Cyan Racing is unable to take part in the FIA World Touring Car Cup Race of Italy with its five cars due to tyre safety concerns because of the current weight levels.
“The drivers of the team experienced tyre failures whilst running within the recommended operating window from the official tyre supplier during practice at Vallelunga – including a resulting crash at over 220 km/h for Yvan Muller at Turn 2.
“The Lynk & Co 03 TCR of Cyan Racing is by far the heaviest car of the WTCR, for example currently running 80 kilos heavier than the Hyundai Elantra N TCR of points leader Mikel Azcona.
“This means that the tyre issues affect the Lynk & Co cars earlier, more frequently and severely compared to the other cars.
“The team called for actions from the WTCR stakeholders prior to qualifying.
“No solution has been found by the stakeholders of the WTCR since then, thus meaning that Lynk & Co Cyan Racing cannot take part in the Vallelunga races.
“’Our decision has been taken as I don’t believe that we can complete a full distance in a safe way,” said Fredrik Wahlén, team manager of Cyan Racing.
“’We have provided information to all WTCR stakeholders that the combined weight and tyre situation makes for an impossible equation. It is not the decision we wanted to take, but a suitable solution to this issue has not been found since the start of the Vallelunga weekend until now.’”