Hill leads BSB into Showdown
Maxxis-sponsored Swan Yamaha’s Tommy Hill is to continue the defence of his MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship title, as the series approaches the final three rounds of the season with the highly anticipated Showdown, which features the top six riders. Having qualified third fastest at Donington Park on 8-9 September, Hill posted a double podium for the fifth consecutive round, finishing second in race one and third in the second race. His seven wins so far this season – at Oulton Park, where he followed up an early season victory with an impressive, first ever hat-trick in the championship in July, and at Snetterton and Knockhill – have earned him 35 podium credits, giving him a 10 point lead over nearest rival Josh Brookes of Tyco Suzuki. Hill now heads the elite group of six riders representing six different teams when the Showdown gets underway at the Assen TT Circuit in the Netherlands on 21-23 September. Alex Lowes (WFR Honda) and Tommy Bridewell (Supersonic BMW) have joined defending champion Hill, Brookes, Shane Byrne (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki) and Michael Laverty (Samsung Honda) as Title Fighters.
Continue ReadingDunlop-shod LMP2 takes ALMS overall victory in Baltimore
The American Le Mans Series’ LMP2 prototype category has become something of a Dunlop specialism in recent seasons, the tyre supplier says. In 2011, Dunlop supplied winning vehicles’ tyres in both International and European Le Mans Series, as well as the Le Mans 24 hour race with Greaves Motorsport. This year, all but one of the teams in the American Le Mans Series, in addition to all the teams in the European series and the new FIA World Endurance Championship’s LMP2 category, have chosen to run on Dunlop tyres. In the latest round of the ALMS, Christophe Bouchut and Scott Tucker led a one-two finish for Level 5 Motorsports at the Baltimore Sports Car Challenge, the Dunlop-shod team’s second overall win in ALMS with the Honda Performance Development ARX-03b prototype.
Continue ReadingTeam Falken repeats Baltimore ALMS GT class victory
Team Falken’s strong tyre performance and experience in last year’s victory allowed it to score a repeat performance at the Baltimore stage of the American Le Mans Series in the GT class. Having spent limited time on the track during practice, including some “light contact with the wall”, Team manager Derrick Walker chose Falken’s 2011 Baltimore tyres over the “new generation” tyres. “We relied on our track record at Baltimore, and the rest was indeed history,” stated Kevin Jones, Falken’s ALMS supervisor.
Continue ReadingASBK riders to have 3 tyre brand choices in 2013
Riders competing in the 2013 Australian Superbike Championships will have the choice of racing on Pirelli, Michelin or Dunlop tyres as series organiser, International Entertainment Group (IEG), has decided to end the practice of using a control tyre for all but one competition class. IEG will also place a cap on the number of tyres that can be used and the price of tyres, a measure it says will ensure costs are kept to a minimum for all participants.
Continue ReadingGoodyear supply to US sprint series winding up
Goodyear Tire & Rubber shares that its role as official tyre supplier to the US-based World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series will end after the 2012 season. Announcing the decision on 14 August, GoodyearRacing marketing manager Justin Fantozzi said “for three years, Goodyear’s high quality tyres have helped to maintain the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series as the most exciting and competitive series on dirt. We wish the World of Outlaws continued success in the future.”
Continue ReadingHankook-sponsored Millen masters Pike Peak in record time
The victor in this year’s Pikes Peak International Hill Climb conquered the 'Race To The Clouds' in record time – and this is good news for Hankook Tire, as the protagonist responsible for this feat was none other than Hankook-sponsored driver Rhys Millen. The New Zealander’s Hyundai Genesis Coupe – fitted with Ventus F200 racing slicks – reached the summit with an overall time of 9:46:164 to claim victory over a field of almost 200 cars and motorcyclists. Millen’s Hyundai is the same car that his professional racer father Rod Millen drove to a world record time in the Time Attack 2WD class at last year's running of the race.
Continue ReadingPirelli travels to Northern Ireland for BRC’s penultimate event
The penultimate round of the MSA British Rally Championship will move to Northern Ireland this week for the second all-asphalt round of the series, the Todds Leap Rally Northern Ireland on 17-18 August. Pirelli will bring a mixture of 15” to 17” RX7, RX5 and RE7 asphalt tyres; the RX7 is a medium compound tyre for dry conditions, while the RE7 is for dry and damp conditions and can be used as a full wet. The N3 will also be available in one 15” size for wet conditions. The tyre supplier also boasts the involvement of its 2012 Pirelli Star Driver, Jukka Korhonen, who will travel from his native Finland where he was competing on Rally Finland, round eight of the World Rally Championship. Korhonen made his competitive debut on asphalt in May when he finished second in class on the Jim Clark International Rally at the wheel of a TEG prepared Skoda Fabia R2.
Continue ReadingTwo tyre sponsors for Malaysian endurance race
The Malaysia Merdeka Endurance Race (MMER) is, according to the Straits Times newspaper, the biggest endurance race in Asia and the 13th MMER will take place between Aug 29-Sept 2.
Continue ReadingEx-Pirelli Star Driver Evans wins Rally Finland
Former Pirelli Star Driver Elfyn Evans claimed victory in last weekend’s Neste Oil Rally Finland, round three of the Pirelli-backed WRC Academy. Evans’ win marks the Briton’s second consecutive victory in this year’s series.
Continue ReadingPirelli tyre supplier for GT1 World Championship successor
Next year a new Sprint Series is set to replace the FIA GT1 World Championship, which is currently exclusively supplied by Pirelli along with the FIA GT3 European Championship. The new championship will be combined with the current Blancpain Endurance Series, with an overall title for both. The cars, calendars and tyre regulations will ensure that competitors can take part in both series, with a GT world title awarded to the overall winners. Pirelli reports it will supply tyres to the new championship next year on an exclusive basis.
Continue ReadingVipal visits Donington with sponsored truck racing team
On Sunday 1 July, retread and repair materials producer Vipal visited Donington Park with the truck racing team it has sponsored for the past two years, Buggyra of the Czech Republic. Buggyra driver David Vrsecky collected 37 points over the weekend, with a second placed finish in the final race.
Continue ReadingFormula Two visits “spiritual home” on Yokohama rubber
Halfway through its first season supplying rubber to the series, Yokohama was at Brands Hatch last weekend (14-15 July) for the FIA Formula Two championship. The Official Tyre Partner called Kent’s Brands Hatch circuit the series' spiritual home, and was supplying drivers with its ADVAN A005 dry slick and ADVAN A006 wet tyres – a necessity with the inclement conditions in the south of the UK. The meeting saw another new face on the top step of the podium while a prospective motorsport student got a behind-the-scenes look at the series with the Yokohama technicians.
Continue ReadingBSB’s second 2012 visit to Brands Hatch this weekend
The British Superbike series visits the Brands Hatch GP circuit this weekend, supported by Pirelli’s Diablo Superbike tyres. Series leader Tommy Hill returns from Oulton Park, where he won all three races, and a Japanese test for the legendary Suzuka Eight Hour endurance race. At last season’s Brands Hatch GP run, Hill was joined on the podium by Shane Byrne and Josh Brookes, and these are the three riders leading the BSB Championship this year, with a comfortable gap between them and fourth placed Michael Laverty. This seventh round is the second visit to the wooded Kent circuit but the first to the full GP format.
Continue ReadingInfinity-backed AMD achieves Pro Class British Drifting victory
Acorn Motorsport Division (AMD), backed by Infinity Tyres has claimed victory in the Pro Class of the Maxxis Tyres British Drift Championship at the Teesside Autodrome. Mark Lappage secured the top step of the podium in mixed weather conditions over the weekend. “To get my first ever win under my belt is truly inspiring. It’s given me the confidence to know the car is good enough to beat everyone so I will keep pushing to match these results in the future,” said Lappage in reference to his victory.
Continue ReadingLoeb victorious at X Games on Cooper tyres
Cooper Tire describes the X Games Rallycross Final in Los Angeles as the world’s highest profile Rallycross event, and the company was pleased to support the eventual winner, eight-time World Rally Champion Sébastien Loeb, with its tyres on his successful debut. Loeb was invited to make a one-off rallycross appearance by US regular Travis Pastrana and took a crushing debut victory in front of the American crowd in his Citroën DS3, leading home the Ford Fiestas of Ken Block and Brian Deegan in second and third respectively.
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