MotoGP Travels to Sepang for Penultimate Season Meeting
Unlike in previous years, MotoGP will go into the Malaysia Grand Prix without prior knowledge of the destination of this year’s Championship Title. While the eventual winner will almost certainly be Fiat Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi, every rider will see the meeting as a chance to make an impression on the circuit at Sepang, which has the longest lap of any MotoGP circuit at 5.548km and is characterised by two long straights preceded by slow corners. Good grip on corner exit is crucial to maximise speed along each straight, and with the temperature generally the highest of any race on the calendar (often up to 50 degrees Celsius) focus, concentration and rubber will all be tested to the limit, making the Grand Prix a challenging one for tyre supplier Bridgestone too.
Continue ReadingGerman Hillclimb Championship won on Avon Tyres
Osella BMW PA20/S driver, Joerg Weidinger has clinched the German Hillclimb title for the 2009 season on Avon tyres, finishing third at the final race of the season in Mickausen. Weidinger said, “I am delighted to win the title and I want to thank Avon Tyres and all who have been involved in the 2009 season. The tyres were brilliant and thank you for developing such great tyres for my race. It has been of great satisfaction to myself and my team.” Avon Tyres are the chosen racing tyre of 250 motorsport champions across Europe every year, in categories as diverse as the British GT Championship, FIA European Rallycross Championship, Formula Ford and historic racing.
Continue ReadingCooper Tire Test Driver Wins Westfield Series
Cooper Tire’s development test driver, Chris Davison has won the 2009 Westfield Sportscar Series. Davison’s day job involves driving quickly and consistently so that Cooper can evaluate the development of new tyres, giving him a significant amount of practice that was clearly put to excellent use. The title was decided between Sutton-born Davison and title contender Simon Pryke, from Leicester.
Continue ReadingTurbo Technics MD Claims Speed Championship Titles
The managing director of Northampton-based turbocharger specialist Turbo Technics has taken the overall championship title in this year's BARC SBD Speed Championship, as well as the class honours in the Richard Egger Insurance Hillclimb and Sprint Association 2009 Speed Championship. Geoff Kershaw formed Turbo Technics in 1981, and claimed the titles at the wheel of his famous twin turbocharged Ford Sierra in his first year back in competition after a three-year break. Kershaw began sprinting and hillclimbing in 1967 and has been a regular competitor ever since. He cites as his inspiration a fellow driver who continued to race well into his 80s. Kershaw, who is 65, has no intention of giving up in the foreseeable future.
Continue ReadingAvon Tyres Dominate Goodwood Revival Top Ten
Avon Tyres were the dominant rubber at the recent Goodwood Revival. All top ten finishers rode on Avon tyres, while the top five were utilising a new race version of the 100/90-19 Roadrider on the rear, with an AM20 front. Top slot went to a Fred Walmsley machine, ridden by 1987 500cc GP champion Wayne Gardner. Walmsley remarked, “I know this is classic racing, but I’ve been using Avons and helping to develop them for the last 30 years. In all that time, I have to admit this recent development is truly impressive. In the past we’ve never had all the range of fitments we’ve required, but now we can get Avon’s latest in 18- and 19-inch sizes which are perfect for us – and they suit the bikes a treat! On classic machinery, no-one makes the original tyres anymore, so you’ve always got a trade-off when selecting rubber, but over the last 12 months Avon’s products have really come on.”
Continue ReadingKönig Wheels Boasts Video Game ‘Fitments’
With a raft of new motorsport video game releases comes the opportunity for top brands to score some novel recognition points within the market. König Wheels distributor, Varga Trading Company, contacted tyrepress.com to let us know that its wheels are currently optional fitments to the high performance machines featured in recent title, ‘Need for Speed: Shift’. The brand also features as part of the Audi models’ in-game livery. The ability to modify vehicles has become more prevalent in recent games, prompted by the pretty incredible choices offered by virtual racing simulator series, ‘Forza Motorsport’ (Xbox 360) and ‘Gran Turismo’ (Playstation 3). With the latest editions of both of these series due over the next few months, auto manufacturers seem to be realising the impact appearances in video games can have in brand conscious markets.
Continue ReadingWorld’s Fastest Land Rover Defender Uses Michelin Tyres
A Michelin Diamaris-shod diesel-powered Defender 90 has just won the World’s Fastest Land Rover Defender shootout. The event, which took place at Bruntingthorpe proving ground in Leicestershire on Tuesday 29 September, attracted 27 entries from tuners and private individuals who brought along their Defenders to see which would be fastest over a number of tests. These included straight-line acceleration and timed sprints around short circuits. Commenting on the performance, the car’s owner Charlie Fawcett said: “We are obviously very pleased to have won this event as we were up against some much more powerful opposition, including supercharged V8-powered vehicles. In the end though, the (285/50 R18) Michelin tyres really made a difference as we were able use every one of our 239bhp to easily win both of the timed circuit sprints, and the overall title. At times we had so much grip that the car was cornering on two wheels and our driver said it reminded him of his Clio race car in the way it turned into corners.”
Continue ReadingGoodyear Enters World of Outlaws for Series Tyre Supply Deal
Goodyear will supply the tyres for the World Racing Group’s World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series in an agreement that will last more than one season, according to a press statement released by the Group. The agreement will begin at the 2010 Florida DIRTcar Nationals next February, with World of Outlaws competitors required – somewhat ironically by the Series’ rules – to fit Goodyear rubber to their rear wheels.
Continue ReadingDutch Student Wins 2009 Bridgestone Journalism Contest
Dutch student Tim Biesbrouck has been selected overall winner of the 2009 Bridgestone e-reporter contest. Biesbrouck, aged 21, was one of eleven finalists this year. He was given the opportunity to show the world, and Bridgestone, his reportage skills at the Hungarian Grand Prix in late July, and his “natural flair for journalism” sufficiently impressed the media and motorsport representatives making up this year’s judging panel.
Continue ReadingMaxxis-Sponsored Driver Wins British Drift Championship
Maxxis has been heavily involved in the spectacular sport of drifting in the UK this year, so it must be gratifying for the manufacturer to have experienced the success of Steve Biagioni from Maxxis-sponsored Team Japspeed, who was crowned British Drift Champion for 2009.
Continue ReadingRicciardo Wins First Cooper Tire British F3 International Title
Cooper Tire & Rubber Company’s first year of sponsorship of the British Formula 3 International Series has been completed, with Australia’s Daniel Ricciardo becoming the first driver to win the prestigious championship. The Cooper Tires brand took over title sponsorship of the series in 2009 as part of a three-year deal, and also took over the role of sole tyre supplier to the series from associate brand Avon Tyres.
Continue ReadingJones Brothers Clinch Avon Tyres British GT Title
The 2009 Avon Tyres British GT Championship was decided by a single point in a title fight that went down to the very last lap of the 14-race season. Identical twin brothers David and Godfrey Jones clinched the honours, sharing the driving of an Ascari KZ1R in the series they first entered nine years ago.
Continue ReadingJag Team Picks Yokohama for ALMS
(Tire Review) Yokohama will be back at the American Le Mans Series next season on RocketSports Racing 's Jaguar XKR GT2 entry. According to Mark Chung, Yokohama director of corporate strategy and planning, the new entry debuted at the Petit Le Mans race this past weekend running on Yokohama Advan A005 tyres. The car will also run at Laguna Seca on 10 October, using the races to introduce the car and utilize the track time for testing and development.
Continue ReadingGreening the WTCC
Yokohama's commitment to making the WTCC a environmentally friendlier goes further – this year, as was the case in 2008, the company will make use of "green electricity" at the Yokohama Tire Service Garage at the WTCC Race of Japan between October 30 and November 1.
Continue ReadingYokohama to Introduce ‘ECO’ Tyres into WTCC
A change of tyre is in the pipeline for the FIA World Touring Car Championship. Yokohama Rubber has announced it will supply its ‘ECO’ racing tyres as one-make tyres for the WTCC series for the 2010 to 2012 seasons. The ECO product follows on from Yokohama’s Advan A005 dry surface and Advan A006 wet weather tyres, supplied since 2006.
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