Goodyear becomes FIA ETRC title partner

The Goodyear FIA European Truck Racing Championship (Goodyear FIA ETRC) kicks off on 21-22 May in Misano, Italy. This year Goodyear increases its commitment to the pinnacle of European truck racing by becoming its title partner.

Exclusive tyre supplier for almost two decades and official partner since 2016, Goodyear views its new status as title partner as a means of helping drive the championship towards its net zero emission target set by the FIA in line with the Paris Agreement. The goal is for the championship to become net zero by 2038 the latest.

The 2022 season will see 15 teams and their drivers compete across eight rounds and 32 races to determine who will be crowned champion. The championship will visit historic venues such as Nürburgring, Zolder, Hungaroring and Le Mans Bugatti, before the season finale in Jarama in October.

Driving innovation, both on and off track

Goodyear views the FIA ETRC as providing the “perfect test lab for innovation.” Flagging up the “key role” that tyres play in achieving greater efficiency and lower emissions, the tyre maker stresses that the technologies it pioneers for the track “filter down” to roadgoing products in a number of ways.

Stronger casing technology provides commercial vehicles with a greater level of protection and robustness. Meanwhile, compound enhancements allow for improved rolling resistance and an all-around more efficient journey, as well as increased mileage.

“We are excited to extend our relationship and commitment to FIA ETRC,” says Maciej Szymanski, Goodyear’s director marketing Europe. “As title partner, we are in a position to learn from the challenges the race drivers face on track to better serve our customers across Europe in the field of bringing more efficiency and sustainability. The extreme conditions of wheel-to-wheel racing in Goodyear FIA ETRC help us to learn valuable information about tyre performance to add to Goodyear’s expertise in supporting fleet operators with advanced tyre management solutions.”

Szymanski additionally shares that moving forward, Goodyear will further extend the service life of its racing tyres’ casings by bringing them into “high-quality and select retreading programmes” for on-road applications. He adds: “We look forward to increasingly link our sustainability efforts in the championship to how we support commercial vehicle fleets across the region.”

Valued partner

Georg Fuchs, ETRA managing director, adds: “Goodyear has been a valued partner for many years, we are excited to have strengthened our partnership and welcome Goodyear as our title partner.

“We are striving to become a leading platform for sustainable technologies and to make truck racing a relevant research and development platform for manufacturers. Over the last few years, we have already been able to provide a testing ground for Goodyear and their road relevant developments. We are proud to know, that Goodyear on road tyres are carrying a bit of the truck racing excitement in them.”