Briton James Walker puts Dunlop mindset to test on return to Nordschleife
British racing driver James Walker will return to the gruelling Nürburgring after a four-year hiatus, driving a Dunlop-shod BMW 235i in the ultra-competitive VLN series. After a successful 15-year career spanning single seaters and sportscars, Walker moved his family back to Jersey and gave up racing, until being tempted back to racing in Germany on 22-23 September.
Dmack competitors have taken both the overall and team’s British Rally Championships, after every single round in 2017 was won using the brand’s tyres. Keith Cronin and Mikie Galvin were crowned overall champions on the final two rounds at Rally Isle of Man, with a 0.1 second victory. Competitors using Dmack products won 78 out of the 100 stages. Unbeaten overall since May 2016, Dmack tyres have been used by the winners of 12 consecutive BRC events.
Victories on Dunlop in two classes at Endurance World Championship opener
The new season in the FIM Endurance World Championship began this weekend with the Bol d’Or at the Paul Ricard circuit in southern France with Dunlop victories in both classes.
Hamilton wins first battle of Pirelli wet tyres at Singapore
The first ever wet Singapore Grand Prix saw the top six starting on Pirelli’s Cinturato Green intermediate tyre and a mixture of Cinturato Blue wets and intermediates further down the grid. the early safety car periods provided the opportunity for some drivers to change from wet to intermediate tyres, while Daniel Ricciardo, who had started on intermediates, opted to change to a fresh set of intermediates. The Red Bull driver finished the grand prix second, behind the Mercedes of race winner Lewis Hamilton.
Audi seals 9th Blancpain GT series title on Pirelli tyres
Following a closely-fought one-hour race at the Nürburgring in Germany, Audi claimed both the Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup drivers’ and team titles, as well as the race win. The overall Sprint Cup drivers’ title went to Stuart Leonard and Robin Frijns, who also won the race overall in the #17 Audi R8 LMS. However, it was another Audi of Belgian Audi Club Team WRT that clinched the overall Sprint Cup team title, with Marcel Fassler and Dries Vanthoor finishing the race 10th to secure the teams’ championship: adding up to a highly-successful weekend for the Ingolstadt-based manufacturer.
Metzeler expands Racetec RR range with new 18” classic racing sizes
Metzeler has introduced its new Racetec RR tyre for classic motorcycle racing with a debut race victory at the weekend’s Bol d’Or Classic, fitted to the Kawasaki GPZ1100 of Marcel Kellenberger and Stefan Merkens from Bolliger Classic Endurance team. The new tyre is now available in 110/80ZR18 M/C TL (58W) front; and 150/65ZR18 M/C TL (69W) and 160/60ZR18 M/C TL (70W) rear. The street legal tyre was developed for road racing, and now expands with the latest sizes in K1 compound to classic racing.
Mini Challenge commits to Dunlop for further 3 years
Dunlop has extended its official tyre partnership with the Mini Challenge for at least another three years. In addition to the tyre supply component of the partnership, Dunlop will also guarantee the champion a drive in one of its British Touring Car Championship test sessions. The series is now established as one of the UK’s premier one-make championships in its own right, with a strong reputation for close racing, professional organisation and strong promotion.
TerraClean’s Colin Turkington targets third BTCC championship
TerraClean ambassador and double BTCC champion, Colin Turkington, has placed himself in contention for a third championship, lying second in the standings with just two events to go.
Dunlop has extended its partnership with the BMW M235i Racing Cup, described by product manager Dunlop Motorsport EMEA, Alexander Kühn as “the perfect entry point into the VLN.” The Cup began in 2014 and regularly features more than 20 cars battling in the most heavily occupied and extremely competitive class in the VLN and the 24h race on the Nurburgring. All BMW M235i Racing cars have competed for four consecutive seasons on the toughest race track of the world, racing exclusively on Dunlop racing tyres in the dimension 265/660 R18.
Hamilton leads Mercedes 1-2 at Monza F1, as Ricciardo tyre gambit pays off
Mercedes, led by Lewis Hamilton, took the top two podium steps at Monza’s Italian grand prix as nearly every driver chose a one-stop supersoft-soft strategy. Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo adopted a different strategy, starting on a soft and moving to the supersoft for the second stint to move 12 places up from his starting position of 16th on the grid – the result of penalties. The Australian also set the fastest lap of the race, which was two seconds faster than last year’s equivalent, using the same tyres.
Triple win and one-make GT podium for Dunlop at World Endurance Championship
Some of the closest World Endurance Championship racing of the season was witnessed at the 6 Hours of Mexico, as Dunlop supplied the tyres to the winners of all three classes in which the brand was present. In addition all three steps on a GT class podium were claimed by Dunlop drivers for the first time since the WEC was formed in 2012.
Eifel classic requires correct tyre management: DTM tyre supplier Hankook
The Hankook supplied DTM championship enters the final third of its 2017 season at the Nürburgring this weekend for races 13 and 14. The tyre manufacturer and exclusive DTM partner states that the correct management of the race tyre and a pit stop strategy tailored to the racetrack and the car set-up will be keys to success in the Eifel Mountains. In the last meeting at Zandvoort, discussed in the video below, this was exemplified by Loic Duval (Audi), who climbed from 13th on the grid to finish runner-up, completing 26 of the 37 laps on one set of the Ventus Race – the longest stint by any of the drivers, and one that earned him the first podium of his DTM career.
Falken wins a place on the podium at Grenzlandrennen VLN race
Falken has returned to the Nürburgring podium at the 40th RCM DMV Grenzlandrennen, with the tyre brand’s Falken Motorsport team’s Porsche 911 GT3 R, driven by Martin Ragginger and Klaus Bachler following up victory for the BMW in July. In changeable weather conditions familiar to the Eifel region Ragginger/Bachler brought the Porsche over the line in third place at the second VLN Endurance Championship race of the season at the circuit.
Pirelli helps Moto Club Benelli set six scooter speed records
The Moto Club Benelli has set six new scooter world speed records at the famous Bonneville Salt Flats, in Utah, USA on Pirelli’s new Diablo Rosso Scooter tyre. The Benelli model 491 scooter with custom graphics by Aldo Drudi, was prepared by Bologna-based performance company, Malossi, using their 50, 85 and 100cc RC-one engine configurations, further enhanced by Jörg Möller.
Video: Avon aids Bielicki set motorcycle burnout world record
Avon Tyres’ Storm 3D X-M has helped Polish stunt rider Maciej “DOP” Bielicki set a new world record for the longest recorded rolling burnout on a motorcycle. Using a specially closed road near the Harley-Davidson dealership in the city of Rzeszów, south-east Poland, Bielicki set the record on his Street Rod bike, spinning the rear wheel for just under three miles. Watch the video below on Tyrepress.com.
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