Goodyear “in advanced discussions” on Avon motorsport tyre asset sale
Following the news that Avon’s ex-motorsport head has formed the Nova Motorsport tyre brand, Goodyear has confirmed to Tyres & Accessories that its Cooper Europe operation is “in advanced discussions” relating to the sale of certain Avon motorsport tyre assets.
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Isenhouer Brothers Racing joins Team Yokohama roster on Geolandar tyres at King of the Hammers
Yokohama Tire has added Isenhouer Brothers Racing to its line-up for the annual King of the Hammers race. They will join veteran Team Yokohama members, including Wayne and Kristen Matlock, Levi Shirley, Apdaly Lopez, and Jonathan and Jordan Brenthel, competing on Yokohama Geolandar off-road tyres. The Isenhouer Brothers will compete in the Spec TT class, while Shirley heads up the 4400 class. Both will be on purpose-built Geolandar MT-R 40X13.50R18 tyres. “We are pumped to put these new 40-inch Geolandars to the test, not only on the racetrack but also get out there in the rocks and to do some 4x4 adventuring this year,” Isenhouer said.
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SPC Rubber forms new tyre brand Nova Motorsport, appoints ex-Avon motorsport head
UK compounder SPC Rubber Group has formed a new tyre brand targeting the global motorsport market. Nova Motorsport founder and SPC Rubber managing director Paul Hallas said the company will focus “solely on low-volume racing and specialist tyres,” looking forward to announcing its first products and international partnerships in 2024. With a website and social media channels already in place, Nova will take its public bow at Retromobile – The Classic Car Show in Paris (31 January to 4 February 2024, Hall 1, Stand M-002). Nova has also recruited strong segment experience in its leadership team, including former Avon Motorsport head Paul Coates. Nova launches shortly after Goodyear’s closure of the Cooper Tire manufacturing facility in Melksham, the historical home of Avon and its motorsport operations. Nova is headquartered in Wiltshire, the same UK county as Melksham. “Nova”, as will already be apparent to those in the tyre industry, is Avon in reverse, perhaps a nod to a UK brand with a long motorsport heritage, whose future is being reconfigured under its new owner.
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Continental, Extreme E extend partnership
Electric off-road racing championship Extreme E has renewed its partnership with official tyre supplier Continental. The two parties signed an extension agreement on 11 January, a gesture that Extreme E says “solidifies the commitment of both organisations as they continue to advance the world of sustainable motorsport and environmental awareness.”
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Kumho-shod TCR World Tour gains FIA status
Following a one-year hiatus, in 2024 world-level touring car racing returns to the FIA motorsport portfolio. The 2023-launched TCR World Tour gains FIA competition status in its second season and the championship, which exclusively runs on Kumho tyres, will be known as the Kumho FIA TCR World Tour for the next three years.
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Toyo Tires participates in Africa Eco Race
Toyo Tires is working with its distribution partner in Hungary, AKH to support László Bunkoczi who is participating in the 15th edition of the Africa Eco Race. Bunkoczi lined up in the Rally Raid category in Monaco on 30 December. After crossing to Morocco the following day, the Africa Eco race runs over 6000km through Morocco, Mauritania and Senegal before reaching its conclusion in the historic city of Dakar on 14 January.
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Toyo returns to Dakar Rally action
Toyo is supporting the Toyota Auto Body Team for the fourth consecutive year in the 2024 Dakar Rally. The manufacturer has supplied the Toyo Open Country MT/R in size LT285/70R17 116/113P for fitment on the team’s two Toyota Land Cruiser 300 GR. The team will compete over 5,000km of special stage and nearly 8,000km in total before the conclusion of the event in Yanbu on the shores of the Red Sea on 19 January.
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Formula E: Hankook predicts faster lap times in second season
Hankook enters its second season supporting Formula E, and the tenth of the all-electric single-seater series, with the season opener at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City on 12-13 January. The grid of 22 drivers will all compete using the Hankook iON Race tyre. Manfred Sandbichler, Hankook director motorsport, promised the tyre supplier was prepared for faster lap times as teams push the iON Race harder in its second season.
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Lengauer’s Skoda Fabia wins European rally season opener on Pirelli tyres
Pirelli’s rally tyres were used to winning effect at the European season opener, the Jännerrallye in Austria. Michael Lengauers Skoda Fabia took the podium’s top step, leading the top eight positions in the overall standings occupied drivers who used Pirelli tyres for all or part of the race. Lengauer ran the P Zero RA on the Friday in wet asphalt conditions, the Sottozero STZ-B mixed asphalt and snow tyres on the Saturday, and the Sottozero Ice in deeper snow on the Sunday.
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Goodyear supports Team De Rooy with tyres, TPMS in Dakar 2024 rally
Goodyear is supporting Team De Rooy at the Dakar 2024 rally, which begins today, the latest instalment in the ongoing partnership between the companies. Goodyear is the official tyre supplier of the Dutch team, fitting Goodyear Offroad high-performance tyres and supplying its tyre management solutions in every stage of the competition. Team De Rooy will monitor its three entries’ tyre temperature and pressure levels in real time with Goodyears TPMS to respond to challenges and minimise downtime on the rally. Goodyear said that its support “underscores the companys enduring commitment to truck motorsport;” it is also the title sponsor of the Goodyear FIA European Truck Racing Championship (ETRC). Goodyear says it uses the challenges it faces in truck racing as a testing ground for advancing tyre technologies and product development.
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MAHA UK supported David Drinkwater wins 5th 750 Motor Club title
David Drinkwater won his fifth consecutive 750 Motor Club Hot Hatch championship title. Drinkwater asserted his dominance on the series by winning nine wins out of the 14 races entered, overcoming the challenge of carrying 45kg of ballast throughout the season. Drinkwater is supported by MAHA UK, whose dynamometer expert, Louis Tunmore, was the architect behind the championship-winning car, and TWG Automotive owner and BMW specialist, Will Gibson.
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Maxxis exclusive tyre supplier for FIA karting championships
The Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) has appointed Maxxis exclusive tyre supplier for the FIA Karting European and World Championships in the OK and OKJ categories, as well as for the OK-N World Cup and Academy Trophy in 2024-2026. Maxxis will supply its CIK-FIA homologated ‘Option’ and ‘Prime’ slicks for dry- and CIK-FIA homologated ‘MW’ tyre for wet conditions.
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Eight laps around the world with Pirelli’s F1 tyres
In total, Pirelli’s Formula 1 tyres drove nearly eight times around Earth’s circumference throughout the 22 Grands Prix that made up the 2023 season. Specifically, 191,336.2 miles (307,925.8 kilometres) were travelled over 60,473 laps by the 6,847 sets of tyres that were driven for at least one lap by drivers from the 10 teams that made up this year’s Formula 1 World Championship.
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Giti Tire celebrates top-three BTRC finish
Giti Tire Motorsport and Team Oliver Racing enjoyed another successful season in the British Truck Racing Championship (BTRC) with Stuart Oliver securing a top three finish in the standings. The manufacturer also maintained its role as Official Partner and Exclusive Tyre Supplier for 2023, with all trucks racing on the Giti Race-Tuned v1 competition truck tyres in size 315/70R22.5.
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Bridgestone ‘delighted’ with upcoming Formula E tyre supply
Elaborating upon the FIA announcement that Bridgestone will take over from Hankook as the sole tyre supplier of the Formula E World Championship from the 2026-2027 season, Bridgestone emphasises that the all-electric race series will become “a cornerstone of the company’s sustainable global motorsports strategy.” Furthermore, it intends to use supply arrangements such as this to “continue to develop and refine sustainable technology” and to “accelerate innovation” that delivers value throughout the entire tyre lifecycle.
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