Bridgestone announces 2024 motorsport plan
Bridgestone Corporation has unveiled its motorsport agenda for 2024, a programme that involves supporting a wide array of motorsport events, spanning from professional races to grassroots competitions. The continued cornerstone of this support is the supply of Bridgestone Potenza and Firestone Firehawk tyres for car races, as well as Bridgestone Battlax tyres for motorcycle races.
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Bridgestone, Kwik Fit sign up for next two years of The British Motor Show
Bridgestone and Kwik Fit will partner as sponsors of The British Motor Show (15-18 August 2024 at Farnborough International) for the next two years. In 2024, Bridgestone will be the events official tyre partner and be partner sponsor of the Motorsport and Modified Arena and Hall. Bridgestone’s consumer business unit director, Brett Emerson said: “Over the past two years, we have enjoyed being at the British Motor Show in partnership with Kwik Fit, in what is both a unique four days of celebrating the automotive industry and what is an exceptional day out for families and all.
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First Prometeon-branded Serie 02 tyres debut on Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia
Prometeon Tyre Group launched the first Prometeon-branded Serie 02 tyres, the S02 Pista, into one of the toughest testing crucibles in the world, the Saudi Arabian Dakar Rally. Four Italtrans and Tibau team trucks equipped the Prometeon S02 Pista on 5-19 January, marking Prometeon’s first official participation in a competition. Roberto Righi, CEO of Prometeon Tyre Group, said launching “a product in what is regarded as the world’s toughest race for trucks” marked “an important step” in the company’s history.
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Mitas introduces Speedway, its ‘most advanced tyre to date’
Mitas is set to launch its new Speedway tyre, designed specifically for intense speedway racing, just in time for 2024 heats. The tyre was developed and tested in conjunction with professional racers in Europe, Australia and the USA and meets the highest regulation standards set by the International Motorcycling Federation (FIM).
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Nova Motorsport signs 5-year RallyX Championship tyre supply agreement
New motorsport tyre brand Nova Motorsport has signed a five-year partnership to make it the official tyre supplier to the RallyX Championship, starting with the 2024 season opener in Sweden (10-11 May). The deal represents continuity for the championship in a sense; Nova Motorsport has acquired the rights to sell products under the Avon Motorsport and Avon Racing brands from Cooper’s owner, Goodyear; has recruited several key staff from the former Cooper Avon operation based in Melksham; and has acquired all residual stock from the Cooper Tire & Rubber Company and Avon Motorsport business, including the world leading ACB11 rallycross tyre. Nova Motorsport said it is making a “firm commitment to uphold the legacy, performance and quality of Avon Motorsport products.”
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Former Cooper Avon managers James Weekley, Matthew Vincent join Nova Motorsport team
Nova Motorsport has continued its recruitment of former Cooper Avon managers previously based at the companys erstwhile European headquarters in Melksham. James Weekley, former general manager at Avon Tyres Motorsport, leads Nova Motorsport as commercial director. Ex-Cooper Tire/Avon Motorsport product technology manager Matthew Vincent has also become Novas senior product category manager. The two appointees join Paul Coates, Cooper Tire/Avon Motorsport general manager, whose appointment was previously announced, and who has become Novas contracts manager. The experienced team has been assembled by founder and managing director of the brand’s parent company, SPC Group, Paul Hallas.
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Pirelli F1 tyres are FSC certified, demonstrating boosted sustainability
Pirelli’s 2024 Formula 1 tyre range has become the first to be certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), with all the P Zero and Cinturato tyres carrying the FSC logo on the sidewall. The marking certifies that all the natural rubber used in the tyre complies with stringent environmental and social criteria required by the global non-governmental organisation for sustainable forestry. The new certification was announced on 10 October when Pirelli renewed its agreement as the Global Tyre Partner of Formula 1 until at least 2027. Pirelli said the new FSC certified tyres were introduced after an intense development programme that began in 2022. It adds that the tyres are improved in terms of reliability and performance. On average the tyres in the Pirelli F1 range contain natural rubber equating to 15 per cent of the tyre’s weight.
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Yokohama supports WRC champion Kalle Rovanperä in Formula Drift Japan opener
Yokohama will supply its global flagship Advan brand tyres and wheels to Kalle Rovanperä in the opening round of this year’s Formula Drift Japan on 6-7 April at the Fuji International Speedway in Shizuoka Prefecture. Rovanperä will be participating in the Red Bull GR Corolla from KR69 Cusco Racing.
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Falken Motorsports commits to Nürburgring racing for 2024
Falken Motorsports will return to Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie (NLS) action and the ADAC Ravenol 24h Nürburgring with its pair of Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)s. The tyre brand’s team had a successful 2023, with the teal and blue liveried Porsches finishing third in the NLS Speed Trophy thanks to several top five results – including wins in NLS5 and NLS6. With the driver line-up set to be confirmed next month, 2024 marks the second year Falken Motorsports has run the 911 GT3 R (992) and its 14th as a Porsche customer team.
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Goodyear sells Cooper Avon assets to Nova, leases Avon motorsport tyre brand
Goodyear executives have confirmed that Turbalvoroco Unipessoal LDA, trading as Nova Motorsport (Nova), will buy “certain assets used in the manufacturing and sale of” Avon-branded motorsport tyres. Nova has also acquired “the brand license, traditionally used in the manufacturing and sale of certain motorsport tyres under the names ‘Avon Motorsport’ and ‘Avon Racing’”. Tyres & Accessories understands that Nova plans to continue the production of some of the Avon Motorsport product range independently from Goodyear.
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Pirelli: F1 teams ‘working hard’ to reduce overheating’ in new cars as Ferrari goes fastest
Pirelli revealed that Formula 1’s teams worked hard on “adapting the new cars to the tyres” in the final pre-season Formula 1 test in Bahrain, focusing on the prevention of overheating. 19 drivers from all the teams completed several long runs, supplying plenty of data to analyse in preparation the 2024, which commences on 29 February at the same circuit. Pirelli said the information gathered from the test is very important, especially to confirm if the aerodynamic load simulations provided by the teams over the winter break have been correlated in reality on track.
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Pirelli looks forward to Bahrain opener for longest Formula 1 season in history
Pirelli continues its stint as exclusive tyre supplier to Formula 1 as it returns to Bahrain for the first round of the 2024 season on Thursday 29 February to Saturday 2 March. This represents a scheduling change for the usual F1 weekend, with two practice sessions on the Thursday, qualifying on Friday, and the race on the Saturday. This will be retained the following weekend in Saudi Arabia. Formula 1 made the change to accommodate the start of Ramadan on the second Sunday of March. Pirelli says Formula 1 teams arrive in Sakhir with plenty of information about how the car and tyre package works on this particularly abrasive track, where traction and braking stability are key to performance: both on a flying lap as well as on longer runs. Pirelli has selected its three hardest compounds for the P Zero tyres it will supply in Bahrain; the C1 and C2 will be the hard and medium compounds for the race, while the C3 is the qualifying option.
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Top finishers fit Dunlop Geomax in FIM E-Xplorer World Cup for electric racing bikes
Five of the top six riders in the opening round of the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) E-Xplorer World Cup in Osaka, Japan fit Dunlop Geomax tyres with Team HRC winning ahead of Robbie Maddison Racing thanks to second-place finishes in the male and female classifications. Jorge Zaragoza of Robbie Maddison Racing topped the male standings, while Sandra Gomez of Inde Racing finished top on the female side of the event. The tyre was developed alongside top MXGP riders, as Wim Van Achter, motorsport manager at Dunlop Motorcycle Europe explains: “Dunlop’s vast range of enduro, trials and motocross tyres meant our teams could really tune the tyre choice to suit their innovative electric race bikes.
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Team De Rooy demonstrates solid performance at Dakar 2024 with Goodyear tires and TPMS
There was no win for Team De Rooy, equipped with Goodyear Offroad tyres and the tyre supplier’s TPMS, after 14 demanding days across Saudi Arabia in the Dakar 2024 Rally, but the team celebrated a solid performance, showing resilience, skill, and determination. All three Team De Rooy trucks completed all the stages of the challenging course, assisted by the Goodyear Offroad tyres’ traction and durability on challenging terrains. The integration of Goodyear TPMS played an important role in monitoring tyre pressure and temperature in real time, allowing the team to make dynamic adjustments and respond swiftly to evolving road conditions.
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Pirelli ready for long, ‘demanding and exciting’ GT racing season
Pirelli will commence its GT racing season with the Bathurst 12-hour race in Australia, the first in a season of 400-plus races in 70 championships on five continents ending in December with the six-hour event in Jeddah. Pirelli will cover these events with a team of more than 200 fitters, engineers and others. The Bathurst opener (16-18 February) is also the opening round of the Intercontinental GT Challenge, one Pirelli ranks among the toughest in a year including GT World Championship events in Europe, America, Asia, and Australia; the Macau GP, national and international GT4 series, European GT2, the Ferrari Challenge, the McLaren Trophy and TransAm.
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