Marangoni King of the Hill
Marangoni is celebrating the success of its hill climbing champion, Simone Faggioli, who recently won European Hill Climb Championship for the second time. Faggioli, who drives an Osella FA30 with Zytek 3000-V8 engine and Marangoni Zeta Linea Racing tyres, achieved the feat one race from the end of the 2009 series. The Marangoni sponsored driver last won this European title in 2005, in a similar car again fitted with the Italian company’s race tyres. Faggioli took the 2009 title after winning six of the eleven stages which make up the European Hill Climb Championship. A slow puncture meant that Faggioli could only manage third place on the fearsome Italian Trento-Bondone stage, but this was won by his Marangoni teammate Davide Baldi.
Continue ReadingSuccess For Toyo Off-Road Drivers
In the USA, Team Toyo Off-Road drivers had a huge weekend during the 40th Anniversary BorgWarner World Championship Off-Road Races at Crandon International Off-Road Raceway recently. More than 40,000 fans at the Raceway, and thousands more watching the live broadcast by ABC television, saw Toyo-sponsored drivers set new track records in Pro 2WD and Pro 4X4, as well as winning the headline events including the BorgWarner World Championship for Pro 2WD and the BorgWarner Cup, which carried a prize of $40,000. In fact, Toyo-sponsored drivers scored a 1,2,3 in the prestigious Pro 4x4 race.
Continue ReadingBridgestone Prepares Medium GP2 Compound for “Fastest Track”
The penultimate round of the 2009 Bridgestone-supported GP2 Series will be held at Monza on 11-13 September as part of the Italian Grand Prix weekend, where the medium compound GP2 tyres will be used. The circuit is one of only three on this year’s GP2 calendar that remains with the same compound of slick tyres as in 2008. Known as the ‘Autodromo Nazionale di Monza’ the circuit is the fastest that GP2 drivers experience during the year. Maintaining tyre durability and employing more aerodynamically efficient car set-ups will be the key to a successful weekend.
Continue ReadingMaxxis-backed Japspeed Sweeps Podium at Norfolk Arena
Round Four of the British Drift Championship belonged firmly to Team Japspeed as its drivers, Danny Eyles, Shane Lynch and Steve Biagioni took to the podium having drifted successfully around the Norfolk Arena.
Continue ReadingPirelli’s Scorpion Graces Australia in WRC Round
Rally Australia is back on a new route after two years of absence from the WRC calendar, and it looks like being one of the most interesting events of the 2009 Championship.
Continue ReadingBridgestone Favours Hard Slicks for San Marino MotoGP
Hot, humid conditions in San Marino on the first day of its Grand Prix have produced a favourable reaction to the hard compound Bridgestone slicks amongst the field. Whilst both options were used during the free practice session to get a feeling for the available grip and balance from each, it was on the harder slicks that the best times were recorded.
Continue ReadingMaxxis-sponsored Japspeed Team Wins Prodrift Round 3
Maxxis-sponsored Team Japspeed experienced success with driver Danny Eyles winning Round Three of the Prodrift Super Series at Donington (held back on 8 August), setting up an exciting series climax to be held at the end of the week (6 September).
Continue ReadingToyo Joins VLN Race
Toyo Tire & Rubber Co., Ltd. will participate in the next round of the VLN at the Nürburgring continuing their race tyre development programme. As in the recent Millenium Merdeka race at Sepang, the “Lammertink Racing with Toyo Tires” team will be working with Toyo engineers to further develop their race tyres. Lammertink will use their Porsche 997 GT3 race car fitted with 245/640R18 front tyres and 285/680R18 rears against the very experienced “Ringmeisters” of the VLN series. Lammertink will use Proxes RS1 if the conditions are dry with Proxes RR1 wets available if it rains.
Continue ReadingBridgestone ‘Puts the Lead Out’
Starting with the European Grand Prix, Bridgestone has introduced new recyclable tin weights into its Formula One and GP2 Series wheel and tyre balancing process. The use of tin as balance weights, comments Bridgestone, is believed to have a lower environmental impact than the previously utilised lead weights. Over the course of a season the company uses almost a tonne of wheel balance weights.
Continue ReadingHankook Team Farnbacher Ready for Le Mans Series at the Nürburgring
Hankook Team Farnbacher drivers Pierre Kaffer – this year’s class winner at the Le Mans 24 Hours – and Allan Simonsen in the GT2 class will be on the starting line for the 1000 kilometre race of the Le Mans Series, which is to be held at the Nürburgring on August 23. The Team will be driving a Ferrari F430 GT fitted with Hankook Ventus racing tyres.
Continue ReadingMikkelsen, Hankook Geared Up for Barum Rally
Norwegian rally ace Andreas Mikkelsen has completed a successful test in the Hankook Opel Corsa ahead of the Barum Czech Rally Zlin, to be held later this month. The 20 year old headed to the UK for his first taste of the Hankook-liveried car that is contesting selected rallies this year ahead of a full assault on the Intercontinental Rally Challenge in 2010.
Continue ReadingFirth Wins Avon Tyres British GT4 Championship "By a Big Margin"
A metal commodities trader from Wakefield has been crowned the 2009 Avon Tyres British GT4 champion after clinching the title at Silverstone on August 16. Jody Firth, who races a 500bhp Ginetta G50 for Team WFR in the UK’s premier sportscar championship, now has an unassailable lead in the GT4 class, leading team-mate Nigel Moore by nine points with one round remaining. With the pair certain to share the car in the final round, Moore can only receive the same points as Firth and the gap between the two will thus remain the same.
Continue ReadingYokohama UK Distributor Reports WTCC “Great Success”
July's UK round of the FIA World Touring Car Championship at Brands Hatch was dubbed “a resounding success” by the UK distributor of Yokohama tyres, whose flagship ADVAN range is used as control tyre for the series. Yokohama HPT hosted dealers and clients to witness the spectacle of the world's best touring car racing.
Continue ReadingButton Launches Bridgestone Roadshow
British Formula One Drivers Championship leader, Jenson Button opened Bridgestone’s Driving Nation Roadshow in Birmingham on Thursday 30 July.
Continue ReadingF1 Performance Feeds into HP Tyres from Bridgestone
Having supplied the tyres exclusively to Formula One for the past two seasons, Bridgestone could be said to know a thing or two about racing performance. The technical leap to produce slicks this year shows that the company is no slouch in terms of making changes too. But does the company’s knowledge of track-based technology aid its development of UHP products for road users? Bridgestone certainly believes so, underlining the point by using the same Potenza branding on its road-going products as it does on its F1 rubber: “The technological advances that Bridgestone makes on the racetrack feed directly into its high performance road tyres,” it states. In its unique role in F1, Bridgestone works with many of the world’s major motor manufacturers in a high performance environment. Technical developments made on the track with such manufacturers as Toyota and Ferrari, Bridgestone explains, are applied to Bridgestone’s high performance passenger car tyres. Andy Dingley, advertising and promotions manager at Bridgestone, comments: “As we supply all of the teams in F1 we have generated large amounts of technical data, as well as learning new methods of working, which is certainly beneficial for our passenger tyre development strategy.”
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