Dunlop’s fastest-fitting success in Dubai

The battle of the supercars in the Dunlop Dubai 24 hour race is made possible by the frenetic activities of tyre-fitters in the pit lane, which the headline sponsor and tyre supplier calls “the world’s busiest fast fit centre”. During the 24 hour race, the Dunlop team fitted over 3500 racing tyres. At peak times, during the opening stages of the race when all the cars were competing, the team was fitting, inflating and balancing a Dunlop tyre every 15 seconds.

“This is probably the biggest and fastest weekend tyre fitting operation in the world. If any tyre dealer or fast-fit centre has fitted more than 3,500 tyres in one day we’d love to hear from them to learn how they did it!” said Jean-Felix Bazelin, general manager, Dunlop Motorsport.

Dunlop set up a tyre fitting production line in a temporary structure in Dubai, staffed by expert tyre fitters from seven different countries. The company designed a process flow that included six fitting and balancing machines, upgrading the motors on the machines to improve fitting speed by 50 per cent.

“When supplying high-profile races, we talk a lot about the technology in our tyres. However, none of our success would be possible without the professionalism and efficiency of the Dunlop technicians. Their new record is a victory in the tyre-fitting world championship,” added Bazelin.