IndyCar teams to Bridgestone: We don’t want to lose “best partner ever”
US publication Tire Review reports IndyCar teams are petitioning Bridgestone Americas to reconsider its position with the race series. Following the tyre maker’s March 4 announcement that its sponsorship and Firestone brand tyre supply contract would not be renewed after 2011, a “near-unanimous” vote is said to have been taken amongst teams to “stick with Firestone – regardless of the price.”
Continue ReadingFIA bans retreads in European Truck Racing Championship
At its meeting in Paris on March 8, the World Motor Sport Council decided to prohibit the use of retreaded tyres in the FIA European Truck Racing Championship. The ban on retreads in the race series took effect immediately; the FIA regulatory body has not publicly outlined its motivation for the ban.
Continue ReadingHankook to support Gardemeister in IRC campaign
Hankook Tire says it is aiming for championship success in the 2011 Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC) after signing up to support driver Toni Gardemeister and his team. The Finnish driver will contest selected rounds in a Hankook shod Skoda S2000, beginning with next month’s Rally Canarias.
Continue ReadingKumho scores third rally victory in three weeks
Kumho achieved its third rally victory in as many weeks on Saturday when Andy Burton and Robin Kellard won the Malcolm Wilson Rally in their Peugeot Cosworth. The Subaru Impreza of Roger Chilman and Andrew Sankey finished second overall and the Mitsubishi Evo IX of Stephen Petch and John Richardson finished eighth, meaning Kumho-shod cars filled three of the top 10 places on this popular event. Kumho’s European Motorsport manager Steve Thompson said: “Andy is clearly on a roll and our gravel tyres once again proved to be the best rubber for the job. We will continue to look after our growing number of runners to the best of our ability and hope the season continues as successfully as it has started.”
Continue ReadingCooper Avon launches British GT, F3 seasons
Today was the joint launch day for Cooper Avon’s biggest UK motorsport series – the British Formula Three, supplied in its 60th season by Cooper Tires, and the British GT, once again supplied by Avon Tyres, which announced this week that it had signed up to the championship until “at least 2014” – the same period for which Cooper is signed up with F3. Hosted at Silverstone, the event marks a special occasion for Cooper Avon in British F3, as this season marks the 30th anniversary of its first association with the championship, when Avon supplied the tyres to such giants of motor racing as then-future Formula One champions Ayrton Senna, Mika Hakkinen and Jenson Button. Cooper took over the tyre supply to the series in 2008, though the tyres are still manufactured at Melksham, Wiltshire – the company’s European motorsport base.
Continue ReadingFirestone brand to exit Indycar
The Indycar series is held in equal high esteem by US motor racing aficionados as Formula One is in other parts of the world, and as has been the case for the Bernie Ecclestone run championship, vehicles racing in Indycar have been fitted with tyres produced by Bridgestone companies for a good number of years. But the similarities do not end there; more than a year after the withdrawal from Formula one was announced, Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations (BATO) stated it has “mutually agreed” with Indycar to end the sponsorship and supply contract for its Firestone brand – a partnership it describes as “one of the most successful in all of motorsports” – at the end of the 2011 season.
Continue ReadingFederal the official sponsor of Australian tuning show
Summernats 2011 in Canberra, Australia has become Federal Tyres’ first name-sponsored automotive show, alongside distributor National Tyre Wholesalers. The precision driving event at Canberra Showgrounds is a motorkhana style grass event where courses are set up with varying degrees of difficulty. It tests different aspects of both the car and driver to see who can better accelerate, turn, brake and manoeuvre their way through the course in the quickest way possible.
Continue ReadingMichelin launches Power Cup 2011
Michelin has announced a provisional schedule for the 2011 Michelin Power Cup race series, whose entry list has grown to almost 60 riders following its first UK season last year. The series offers motorcycle racers “unprecedented amounts of track time and prizes, including tyres and sponsors’ products,” says Michelin, with TV coverage courtesy of Motors TV. The season consists of eight rounds with three 12-15 lap sprint races for 600cc and 1000cc classes at each round. The season will run from March to October with provisional stages at Brands Hatch (12-13 March), Mallory Park (16-17 April), Anglesey (28-29 May), Snetterton (18-19 June and 29-30 October), Pembrey (16-17 July), Cadwell Park (20-21 August) and Oulton Park (17 September).
Continue ReadingDunlop renews motocross title assault with factory teams
Dunlop has announced that its Geomax tyre is the choice of factory-backed teams from Honda, Yamaha and KTM in both MX1 and MX2 classes of the 2011 Motocross World Championships. Dunlop’s links with Motocross go back to the beginnings of the sport. The brand has a “race-to-road” (or in this case “off-road”) policy with motorsport, and using it as a “high-pressure development laboratory teaches the designers important lessons,” which can be passed on to customers, incorporated directly into the production tyre range.
Continue ReadingMaxxis renews bike motorsport commitments
Maxxis International’s involvement in motorcycle motorsport continues in 2011 with a renewal of its association with two factory teams. The company will continue as headline sponsor of the Maxxis ACU British Motocross Championship until the end of the 2013 season and has renewed its partnership with Lincolnshire-based Maxxis Henderson LPE Kawasaki. The team, says Maxxis International, is going from strength to strength with rising Estonian MX1 star Gert Krestinov signing up for his second season in the UK as part of the Official Kawasaki Motors UK motocross team.
Continue ReadingFederal shows expanded motorsports line
Taiwan’s Federal Tires is calling 2011 its “year of motorsports” as it continues to develop its product portfolio, which includes the FZ-101, FZ-201, FZ-202 on track and the Federally G-10 and G-11 rallying tyres. The FZ-201 is used in four motorsports series – the Nippon Challenge in UK; the Rally Tarmac Championship; Malaysian Super Series Championship; and the Sepang 1000km (S1K) Endurance and Touring Car categories.
Continue ReadingKumho tyres shod winner of GMF Motor Factors Wydean Forest Rally
Four of the top ten finishers at the GMF Motor Factors Wydean Forest Rally on 12 February were shod with Kumho R800 gravel rally tyres, the Korean manufacturer reports. They included the Peugeot Cosworth of Andy Burton and Robin Kellard, which took the top podium spot, and the Mitsubishi Evo IX of David Wright and Michael Wilkinson that was fourth overall and first in class B13.
Continue ReadingAvon confirmed as Chevron GR8 Championship tyre supplier
Avon Tyres will supply race tyres to the Chevron GR8 Championship, the brand has announced. The championship is a one-make series featuring 260bhp cars built by the Cheshire-based sportscar manufacturer. Helen Bashford-Malkie, managing director of Chevron Racing Cars, said: “We chose Avon because they offered the best combination of performance and value, which is what our competitors are looking for from both Chevron and our suppliers.
Continue ReadingJK Tyre launches Asian race series
In a move it refers to as the “biggest announcement in Indian motorsport in recent times,” JK Tyre has officially launched the JK Racing Asia Series, a championship sponsored by the tyre maker and managed by Motorsport Asia, the region’s largest promoter and organiser of motorsport events. The series gets underway in April and the 2011 season will consist of 18 races held over six weekend events in Malaysia, Korea, Indonesia, China, Singapore and India. On three occasions the JK Racing Asia Series will support the Formula One Grand Prix.
Continue ReadingAvon Tyres official supplier for MSV F3 Cup
Avon Tyres Motorsport, the competition tyre division of Cooper Tire & Rubber Company Europe, has been confirmed as the official supplier of racing tyres to the 2011 MSV F3 Cup – a series for former Cooper Tires British Formula 3 Series cars. David Scott, race operations manager for MSVR, said: “In the past few weeks there have been intense discussions with tyre and fuel suppliers for the 2011 MSV F3 Cup. As a result, I am delighted to announce that our suppliers will be Avon Tyres Motorsport and Sunoco Race Fuels. Both of these suppliers are well known to the competitors and will require no changes to the cars.”
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