Yokohama HPT Introduces A005 Radial Tyre for UK’s Sports2000 Series

The UK distributor for Yokohama tyres, Yokohama HPT, has announced the introduction of a new specification race tyre to the UK. The A005, developed for the Sports2000 race series, replaces the now discontinued bias tyre used by the series. Sports2000 has exclusively used Yokohama tyres, supplied by George Polley Motorsport, for 25 years, up to and including 2010. The series is based on sports prototype-style single seaters, using either the Ford Pinto or Duratec engine and its value and fun-conscious approach means huge grids every season.

With the end of production of the bias tyre, Yokohama HPT and the organisers of the series began working on a replacement control tyre to ensure that the relationship could continue and the series was able to maintain its cost-effectiveness and competitiveness into 2011.

The result is a development of the A005 racing slick tyre. Initially, it was suggested that excessive amounts of negative camber would be needed on the Sports2000 cars to get the tyres to work properly – in some cases this was estimated to be more than the cars were capable of sustaining. However, according to series co-ordinator Colin Feyeraband, simply bolting the new tyres on with the same car settings instantly gave better lap times.

The development process continued to the next phase, with a range of compounds available to test at Mallory Park circuit in Leicestershire. Four different specification tyres were assessed on the front and back of three separate cars, to establish the optimum combination to provide the best car balance. By the end of the test, the organisers signed off the specification for the dry weather tyre and the process now moves into the wet weather option development phase.

Commenting, Feyeraband said; “For us, it’s a win-win situation. The new tyres grip better, last longer and don’t roll, so there’s no body rubbing. They also work much better than the previous tyres when cold, which means more racing action from the word go, as they don’t need to warm-up so much. Everyone who has driven on the new Yokohamas is very impressed with the performance and I’m confident we’ll see every lap record broken next year.”

Yokohama HPT head of Motorsport Mark Evans said; “I’m delighted that the new tyre works so well on the Sports2000 cars and that the organisers of the series are pleased with it. The bias tyre was a tough act to follow but with the end of production, we knew that we had to work with the organisers to provide a replacement and it looks as if the A005 is just the job. I’m looking forward to seeing even more exciting competition in Sports2000 next season.”