Yokohama says 2011 motorsport season “one of most successful”
Yokohama says that its 2011 motorsport season ranks as “one of the most successful” for the Japanese tyre manufacturer. It has supplied tyres to the Intercontinental Rally Challenge and the World Touring Cars Championship at the highest levels of circuit racing and rallying, while also helping “grass roots” level competitors to “clinch a huge variety of championships in almost every conceivable form of motorsport”.
Continue ReadingFalken “to aggressively expand” motorsport activities
Falken Tire has announced that it will continue to expand its motorsport activities “aggressively” in 2012. Teams supported by the manufacturer won two American Le Mans Series races in the challenging GT class during the 2011 season and claimed a second consecutive Championship in the Formula Drift series. “Falken vigorously supports its motorsports involvement with numerous marketing strategies,” explained Andrew Hoit, Falken’s vice president of marketing. The brand demonstrated its marketing strategy in blending motorsport involvement and social networking activity at events in Europe too, such as its use of Facebook during the 24 Hours at the Nürburgring, reported by Tyres & Accessories in June.
Continue ReadingSRO Awards evening honours Cooper, Avon champions
The 2011 Avon Tyres British GT champions, Jim and Glynn Geddie, and the 2011 Cooper Tires British F3 Series champion, Felipe Nasr, have been honoured at the SRO awards evening in Oxfordshire. Cooper Avon has enjoyed another successful season of supporting the events, celebrating a joint landmark with the British Formula Three International Series – Cooper Avon’s thirtieth and the championship’s sixtieth – and seeing busy grids for the GT series. Cooper Avon is signed up with both championships until at least 2014.
Continue ReadingHankook DTM tyre supplied for NZ V8 Supertourer championship
The V8 SuperTourer championship in New Zealand has announced that Hankook will supply the tyres it developed for the German-based DTM series. The Korean manufacturer will hold the exclusive position for the next three years following a period of testing.
Continue ReadingF3 Euro Series Kumho supply deal to end
The F3 Euro Series will announce a new tyre supplier for 2012 as the existing deal with Korean manufacturer Kumho will not be renewed, Autosport.com reports. The website reports that the championship's managing director Walter Mertes says the amicable ending of the supply agreement meant the championship had lost “an always loyal partner”.
Continue ReadingHankook previews maiden DTM season closer
Hankook’s maiden DTM season as tyre supplier got underway in May of this year at Hockenheim near the Hardtwald Forest, and it comes to an end at the same venue this weekend. Hankook says the track’s varied characteristics offer everything that makes racing so attractive: high-speed straights follow many narrow and wide, slow and fast corners.
Continue ReadingPirelli to supply 17” Diablo to World Superbike Championship in 2013
From the 2013 World Superbike Championship season Pirelli will replace the current 16.5" tyres with larger 17" Diablo Superbike tyres. Pirelli says the move will better allow the company to develop its road-going products in the motorsport arena. The Italian manufacturer says it “develops its reference product through technologies and advances learned from its highest-level production series, the World Superbike Championship, for which it is the sole supplier.
Continue ReadingMaxxis reviews season in motocross
Tyre brand Maxxis is heavily involved in British motocross, with a title sponsorship of the sport’s British Championship and team sponsorships in three separate series. It is, for instance, associated with Maxxis Henderson LPE Kawasaki rider Bryan Mackenzie, who claimed his first British Motocross Championship podium at the final round of the series on 2 October, providing what Maxxis described as “a fitting climax” to the 2011 season. Having qualified in third in the MX2 class, Mackenzie made the most of some good starts, settling quickly into a rhythm and posting a second and two third place finishes. This netted him second on the day, while his commitment and consistency throughout the eight rounds was rewarded with fourth place in the series standings.
Continue ReadingMaxxis delighted with ‘best ever’ British Drift Championship
Maxxis, the official partner of the British Drift Championship, has reported that the organisers of this series have acclaimed the 2011 season as “the best in the championship’s history” thanks to overwhelming support for all three classes. According to the company, such was the level of skill demonstrated over the past six months that there was everything to play for at the final round, held at the Nissan factory in Sunderland, and some very close battles provided a fitting end to the campaign.
Continue ReadingMartin Tomczyk is maiden DTM champion on Hankook tyres
Martin Tomczyk is the new DTM champion. In Sunday’s penultimate season round at Valencia, the Audi driver wrapped up the title by finishing third and prior to the finale at Hockenheim, he is now beyond reach with an advantage of 13 points. His main rival Bruno Spengler (Mercedes-Benz) only scored two points by finishing seventh and now has to defend his current second position in the drivers’ standings at Hockenheim. With his third race win of the season, Mattias Ekström (Audi) came within two points from the Canadian.
Continue ReadingGoodyear extends NASCAR till 2017
Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company and NASCAR have jointly announced that they have extended their exclusive tyre supply agreement for NASCAR’s top three racing series for the next five years. The agreement, which extends through the 2017 season, renews Goodyear as the “Exclusive Tire Supplier” of NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series, the NASCAR Nationwide Series and the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Goodyear has had an uninterrupted commitment to NASCAR since becoming a race tyre supplier in the 1950s.
Continue ReadingTeam Falken’s Carter crowned 2011 British Drift Champion
Team Falken driver Matt Carter has won the 2011 British Drift Championship Super Pro class after a sixth place finish in Sunderland. The Falken team took second place in the Constructors Standings, missing out on first place by two points.
Continue ReadingQuality not quantity – Fewer tyres for WRC and WTCC in 2012
Current FIA strategy is to increase its championships’ association with “road relevant technologies and environmental sustainability in motor sport” while maintaining control of the costs involved. This focus was reflected in several decisions approved at a meeting of the World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) on September 23. Amongst a number of points agreed upon at the Singapore-based meeting was the decision to reduce the number of tyres available to competitors in next year’s FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) and World Touring Car Championship (WTCC).
Continue ReadingZircotec ceramic thermal barrier helps resolve BTCC car’s heat problem
Zircotec’s ceramic exhaust coating has helped a British Touring Car Championship team reduce its car’s underbonnet temperatures. Team Dynojet’s Toyota Avensis has seen an improvement in performance and reliability since using Zircotec’s ThermoHold coating, delivering a string of podium finishes. Race engine developers X CTech R selected the ThermoHold-based thermal barrier to deliver close to a 37 per cent drop in under-bonnet temperatures. This protects the gearbox from the effects of heat, allowing the team to focus on other areas of performance, resulting in three podiums in the last two meetings.
Continue ReadingAvon-shod Caterham breaks donut world record
Avon Tyres’ niche CR500 product has helped long-time partner Caterham Cars and stunt driver Terry Grant set a new Guinness World Record for the number of donuts completed in one go, spinning a 150bhp Caterham Roadsport consecutively 566 times. Having seen his own previous record of 161 donuts beaten on Sunday, 4 September by one of Caterham’s rival sportscar manufacturers at 283, Grant was determined to reclaim his place at the top of the Guinness World Record table.
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