Elite Garages Launches Motorsport Tyre Division

Having been established for almost 45 years within various sectors of the automotive industry, Sussex based, Elite Garages has now opened a Motorsport Tyre division within the wholesale operation based in Mannings Heath, Horsham.

Managing director Richard Whittemore commented: “With the increased number of people taking their cars on track to explore their performance limits, we felt it necessary to open a specialist division to offer sales support and technical information for these customers.” At the beginning of 2005, this idea became a reality under the watchful eye of Dave Blackley, who has over 10 years experience in the tyre industry with Elite Garages.

During this time Elite also became official suppliers of the Pirelli and Yokohama range of motorsport tyres. The company also recently began selling Kumho motorsport tyres. “As both Pirelli and Yokohama have race winning pedigree we thought that these two makes would be an ideal point from which to launch our Motorsport division. We hope to add further manufacturers to our portfolio so we are able to cater for all customer’s budgets and needs,” said Blackley.

“The Pirelli P Zero C is already a firm favourite among track day users that have 15 & 16 inch size wheels, and this has now been joined by the Corsa in 17, 18 and 19 inch sizes. Pirelli’s engineers have focused on dry grip and handling without compromising wet weather grip and noise levels. This, combined with a true racing compound and tread design, gives the Corsa the handling and grip properties of a slick, whilst still being road legal.”

“The Yokohama A032-R & A048-R are also very well known to track users, in particular owners of Lotus Elise, Exige and 340R vehicles. They also cater for owners of ‘hot hatches’ with track tyres available in sizes ranging from 10 to 18 inch,” Dave Blackley explained.
With Elite’s fleet of 23 vans the company is able to offer deliveries across the South East from Ashford in Kent to Bournemouth in Dorset (with most areas getting a guaranteed two deliveries a day). “We can offer a courier service to areas outside our own delivery boundaries within the UK mainland, with the option of International deliveries if required,” Blackley commented.

With a new warehouse currently under construction at Mannings Heath, Elite plans to increase its tyre holding to in excess of 30,000 tyres to cater for as wide a selection of wheels as possible.