Kumho enjoys first ‘top ten’ VLN finish

Kumho has numerous class wins in Germany’s Nürburgring-based VLN series under its belt, but during the opening round of the 2013 season on 13 April, the tyre maker achieved its first ever top ten finish, courtesy of the twins Dennis and Marc Busch, driving an Audi R8 LMS Ultra. The brothers occupied a lowly 40th place on the starting grid, thanks to a loose splitter during qualifying, but then managed to climb 32 places to finish 8th overall.

This was the first time the Busch pairing have shod their Audi with Kumho tyres. They acquired and raced the LMS last year, but this season decided to upgrade the machine to ‘Ultra’ specification and switch tyre brands.

Commenting on the Busch win, Kumho’s European motorsport manager Steve Thompson said: “These are serious motor races, and this first round comprised no fewer than 500 drivers from 30 nations doing battle round the incomparable 24.6 kilometre-long circuit for four hours. As ever it was a great test of man and machine and we were delighted with the performance achieved by our tyres, and very much look forward to the remaining rounds of the championship.”