Hankook top management in London for Formula E season finale

Two of Hankook’s top executives travelled to the UK to witness the end of the ninth season of Formula E, for which the tyre manufacturer is the exclusive supplier. Sanghoon Lee, president & COO, Hankook Tire Europe, and Jeongho Park, executive vice president & CMO Hankook, joined the Formula E management and all 22 drivers for an official photo, while Jeongho Park also presented the winner’s trophy to the victorious Jaguar TCS Racing team after driver Mitch Evans’ victory the first race of the weekend on Saturday.

Felix Kinzer, director communications at Hankook; Benoit Treluyer, FIA FE development driver; Nico Muller, Team ABT; Thomas Baltes, Motorsport engineer, Manfred Sandbichler, Director Motorsport (Photo: Xavi Bonilla / DPPI)

Hankook said its first season as official technical partner and tyre supplier of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship had been “extremely positive” during its press conference in London. Felix Kinzer, Hankook communications director, Manfred Sandbichler, Hankook director motorsport, Benoît Tréluyer, development driver FIA / Formula E, Thomas Baltes, chief engineer motorsport, and Nico Müller, ABT Cupra Formula E Team, reviewed Season 9 at the Hankook London E-Prix.

Sandbichler said: “Our summary is extremely positive. The Hankook iON Race has arrived in Formula E and has been fully accepted. It has behaved exactly as requested ahead of the season. Of special note is the fact that we did not suffer a single product-related puncture all season.”

Baltes added: “The Hankook iON Race impressed all along the line, and in all kinds of conditions: in a cool 8 degrees in Mexico and with track temperatures of 60 degrees in a hot Rome, in the Berlin rain and the dust of India, and of course on a wide range of different surfaces. The performance was always there.”

Kinzer said: “The tyre also helped the drivers with their power management, as the relatively low roll resistance allowed them to save valuable energy.”

Tréluyer said he was satisfied with the iON Race: “We had clear guidelines from the FIA and Formula E when developing the tyre. It is nice to see that Hankook has implemented these precisely and delivered exactly the product that was requested.”

Current Formula E driver Nico Müller also praised the tyre supplier: “At the start of the season, we all first had to learn how to work best with the new tyre. We are now very good at that, and the tyre is absolutely reliable. I am really impressed how well it performs in all conditions.”