Yokohama completes F2 tyre testing
Yokohama has completed pre-season testing at Silverstone for the new specification Formula Two cars, which will use Yokohama products as control tyres for the first time in the 2012 season. Yokohama HPT, the UK distributor of the company’s tyres and TSW brand wheels, will supply the products ready-mounted to the control wheel rims and deliver to MSV, the UK-based company which manages the championship. It will also provide expertise and on-event support to the series, as it travels around some of Europe's most iconic racetracks.
There have been several new specification changes for 2012 for Formula Two in addition to the adoption of Yokohama as control tyres for the entire field. With top level success in the FIA World Touring Car Championship and decades of use in the Formula Three Grand Prix of Macau, Yokohama is confidant that it will deliver the required performance in this new series – one widely acknowledged as a stepping stone to the pinnacle of single-seat motorsport.
The final pre-season test took place at Silverstone with 18 drivers taking part, indicating how popular the series has become. Superb spring weather greeted the drivers and teams as they finalised their individual car set-ups for the first round in two weeks time and the temperature gradually increased throughout the day, providing all with very useful and representative conditions.
The day saw four sessions and it was Markus Pommer who set the pace, going fastest in three of the four sessions, with Swiss driver Alex Fontana claiming the honours in the other. By the end of the test, Pommer had set a lap time two seconds faster than the same pre-season test a year ago; Yokohama says this added performance is a reflection of both the quality of its tyres, and the new carbon brakes used in the series.
Commenting, Pommer said: “The car felt fantastic all day and we hardly had to make any changes. During the third session, we used worn tyres and concentrated on longer, race runs which went really well and the tyres didn’t drop off at all.”
Head of Motorsport at Yokohama’s UK distributor, Yokohama HPT, Mark Evans said: “I am delighted that the test went so well and the drivers, teams and organisers were so pleased with the tyres’ performance and longevity. The Yokohama engineers have worked incredibly hard to develop this new generation of ADVAN A005 and A006 tyres to suit the F2 cars, which generate enormous downforce and cornering speeds and their hard work has clearly paid off.
“It’s very important that the tyres deliver not only the performance but are able to sustain that over the full race distance and this week’s test demonstrated this. We’re now very excited about the first round of the series in two week’s time and of course, Yokohama HPT Ltd will be there, supporting the Yokohama engineers, the drivers and the teams.”
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