Bridgestone Considers Greater Choice for F1 Teams
In the wake of the shelving of Formula One’s proposal to prohibit the use of tyre-warming blankets, Bridgestone – the sport’s tyre provider – is considering the possibility of a new approach, offering the teams a wider difference in terms of the compounds available. At each Grand Prix, Bridgestone is required to supply two different compounds, both of which each team is obliged to use for racing. At present, teams and drivers complain that the compounds are too similar, leading to too little differentiation. Bridgestone’s proposed changes would mean that the tyres available, instead of being a mere one place apart – for example: very soft and soft – would vary more – such as with soft and hard.
Continue ReadingBridgestone Modifies F1 Slick Compounds
Following the FIA announcement that tyre warmers will not be banned from next season, Bridgestone has made the decision to alter its slick tyre compounds preceding this month’s round of testing. Motorsport journalists have reported that Hirohide Hamashima – leader of Bridgestone motorsport – stated that the basic construction of the slicks would remain the same, despite the changes to the compounds used.
Continue ReadingNew F1 Feeder Series May Launch Another ‘Tyre War’
The FIA is inviting will tenders for a new feeder series for Formula One. This championship, called Formula Two, will be launched in 2009 and used as an inexpensive platform to develop emerging driver talent for Formula One. It is hoped this can be achieved within a budget of around 200,000 euros a car per season. Formula Two, in its previous incarnation, was eliminated in 1984 and replaced by the unsuccessful Formula 3000 championship. If Formula Two is re-introduced, a question mark would hang over the fate of the current GP2 series, which is solely supplied by Bridgestone; some believe that a new feeder series would be the death of GP2, and the possibility exists of a new tyre war emerging.
Continue ReadingF1 Tyre-Warmer Ban to be Axed
Following criticism from drivers and teams, the World Motor Sport Council is set to cancel its plans to forbid the use of tyre-warming blankets in Formula One. The proposed ban was due to be implemented from the start of the 2009 season, but safety fears abounded in the wake of the announcement. Bridgestone, the manufacturer behind all F1’s tyres had previously suggested that the fears of drivers were motivated by the desire to retain an advantage over opposing teams, and that the company was confident that its new tyre would be safe to use whether cold or hot. The ban was proposed by the sport’s Technical Working Group as a way of slowing down the cars and making more possible the spectacle of passing manoeuvres.
Continue ReadingBridgestone Announces F1 Tyre Compound for Final 2008 Races
Bridgestone has announced the compound allocation in the Potenza tyres to be used in the final five rounds of this year’s Formula One series. For the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim, the hard and medium compounds will be used, the first time these tyres have been approved at this track. In Hungary, the soft and super soft compounds will be used, the same allocation as last season. The European Grand Prix at Valencia – the first Grand Prix at this new street course, will utilise the soft and super soft compounds. In Spa and in Monza the hard and medium compounds will be used, a change from last season when the medium and soft compounds were brought to both of these tracks. “The data we have gained from the first seven races of the season have enabled us to make our allocation choices for the following five events,” commented Hirohide Hamashima, Bridgestone Motorsport director of motorsport tyre development. “Of these races, Valencia and Hockenheim are notable. We did not race at Hockenheim last year, so this will be the first time we have raced there with the current family of tyres. Valencia, of course, is a new street track and we do not have any previous data, and there is none from other race series. It will be interesting for everyone concerned to learn the track characteristics here. For Spa and Monza we have moved the allocation a position harder and will bring the hard and medium compounds, instead of the medium and soft used in 2007. We have made this change after analysing the data from last year, as these tracks were harsher than we had predicted. We will make an announcement about the tyre allocations for the final four races in the season later in the year.”
Continue ReadingF1 Tyre Warmer Ban Delay Rejected
Bridgestone, the official supplier of tyres to Formula One, is refusing to buckle under pressure from teams and drivers over the introduction of a tyre warmer ban next season. It is currently permitted for Formula One teams to keep tyres warm with the use of specially-manufactured blankets, and drivers have expressed a great deal of concern at the implications of a ban on the use of the product. Citing not only concerns over the speed differential between cold and hot slicks, Williams driver Nico Rosberg was quoted by autosport.com as stating, “It’s not racing, it’s survival”, calling into question the safety of the proposed ban.
Continue ReadingHiQ Offers Touring Car Tyre Fitting Opportunity
HiQ recently gave a tyre fitter from Derby the chance to showcase his skills to drivers of the British Touring Car Championship at Donington Park. Dave Parker, a mobile tyre technician with HiQ, worked trackside changing tyres for Matt Neal, Darren Turner, and all the stars of Britain’s premier motor racing series. The 30-year-old will join the Dunlop Motorsport team after HiQ bosses singled him out on account of his quick-change skills. The fast fitter, based at HiQ’s Abbey Street store, vowed to teach Dunlop Motorsport a thing or two about tyre changes as well.
Continue ReadingRace to Touring Car Victory from Home with Yokohama
Racing fans that spend more time in front of the computer screen than behind a windscreen can now participate in their own global race series. Yokohama has announced its partnership in the new Virtual World Touring Car Championship (V-WTCC), an online championship for motorsport enthusiasts. V-WTCC, explains Yokohama, is an online version of ‘RACE 07 – The Official WTCC Game’. Participants from around the globe can demonstrate their skills, competing for the title of V-WTCC Champion. After successfully competing in the earlier knockout rounds, six lucky qualifiers will receive invitations to the Grande Finale, held at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza in Italy. The V-WTCC winner will make his or her way into the simulated racing history books and receive a yet-to-be revealed grand prize.
Continue ReadingGlow In The Dark F1 Tyres?
An item on the PaddockTalk website suggests that the latest thing in Formula 1 could be glow-in-the-dark tyres. Bridgestone is said to be looking into the possibility of coating the sidewalls and grooves with special, fluorescent paint.
Continue ReadingBridgestone Motorsport Announces F1 Tyre Specifications
Bridgestone, the official tyre supplier to the FIA Formula One World Championship, has announced the compound allocations for the Potenza tyres to be used in the first nine rounds of the 2008 season. The tyres for 2008 feature minor changes from those of last season, changes Bridgestone says were made in the interests of safety. The allocations for the first nine races of the current season are the same as used in the respective events in 2007 aside from the Bahrain Grand Prix, which will now use the medium and soft compounds, as opposed to the hard and medium compounds in 2007.
Continue ReadingAutogem Hosts Playstation F1 Competition
To mark the forthcoming 2008 F1 season, Autogem will be hosting a series of online Playstation 3 (PS3) races for its customers, staff and suppliers. The idea is to host an ongoing competition that replications the season’s tour of real-life F1 circuits in the virtual world. Autogem is offering prizes for the 2008 championship, which is totally free of charge. As Autogem’s managing partner Prashant Chopra explained: We already have a select number of colleagues and friends within the industry that go absolutely bananas racing so we thought wed put together a championship of our own and have some fun. Each race will coincide with actual races in the season and we already have a good online turnout. With prizes on offer and bragging rights to win for, come online and see if youre really as good as you think you are!
Continue ReadingBeru f1Systems’ New Truck TPMS
With all eyes on green issues at the moment, Beru f1Systems is pointing out that tyres are the second or third largest expense for most truck fleet operators. Tests by tyre manufacturers have shown that under-inflation by 15 per cent reduces fuel economy by 2.5 per cent. Incorrectly inflated tyres also wear faster and are more prone to premature failure. That’s where BERU f1systems’ new Truck Tyre Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS). The new system has been engineered specifically for the challenges of tyre pressure monitoring on large, multi-wheeled vehicles operating in fast-moving logistics environments. It is capable of automatically detecting trailer changes, and re-calibrating itself to keep the driver informed.
Continue ReadingBridgestone F1 Tyres ‘Essentially the Same’ as 2007
Bridgestone reports that Formula 1 teams are busy testing ahead of the 2008 season, with most running their new cars at the latest test session at Valencia in Spain, and teams have the benefit of racing on tyres that are fundamentally the same as those tried and tested last year. Interest in the new season seems at an all-time high with a staggering 35,000 crowding the track to watch the Ferrari duo of Felipe Massa and defending World Champion Kimi Raikkonen set the fastest times. Perhaps most impressive, however, was Nico Rosberg who finished third on the timesheets in the new Williams FW30, which had only had its first shakedown the day before. Rosbergs best time was just a tenth behind Raikkonen and two-tenths faster than McLarens Heikki Kovalainen. The man most of the crowd had come to see - Spains double World Champion Fernando Alonso - finished the day with the sixth fastest time behind countryman and McLaren test-driver Pedro de la Rosa.
Continue ReadingGoodyear’s New Eagle F1 Asymmetric Wins Independent Test
Goodyears Eagle F1 Asymmetric was recently rated best in a Tire Rack test. A comprehensive test of the new Goodyear tyre pitted it against three competitors in the Max Performance tyre category. The Tire Rack team tested the four tyres in road conditions - allowing subjective feedback on noise, ride quality and everyday handling, then judged the tyres in wet and dry conditions on the companys test track. In summarizing the overall win for the Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric, Tire Rack concluded, An excellent Max Performance Summer tyre that almost does it all. Goodyear representatives put the tyres success down to innovations like the tyres Active CornerGrip(TM) Technology, which puts an Aramid reinforcement in the inside sidewall of the tyre.
Continue ReadingFirst Test for ‘Official’ Bridgestone F1 Tyres
Bridgestone Motorsport had its first outing in the capacity of official tyre supplier to the Formula One world championships between January 14 and 16, when nine of the eleven competing teams attended the opening test of the 2008 season at the Jerez circuit in Spain. A mixture of 2007 and 2008 specification cars were tested by a variety of race and test drivers through the field over the three days, and in keeping with the 2008 regulations, teams ran without traction control and used the standard ECU. Mixed weather conditions greeted all teams present – BMW Sauber and Honda Racing opted not to attend – and Bridgestone’s dry weather medium compound Potenza grooved racing tyre dominated the proceedings. The wet and extreme wet racing rubber were not wholly relegated to the tyre rack, however; conditions on Monday morning and Wednesday provided an opportunity for their use. Afterwards, Bridgestone Motorsport Technical Manager Tetsuro Kobayashi spoke of the lessons learned at Jerez:
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