Fraipont appointed Dunlop motorsport and motorcycle managing director
Goodyear Dunlop Tires Europe has appointed of Xavier Fraipont to the position of managing director, motorsport and motorcycle EMEA. Fraipont, formerly director, consumer tyre technology EMEA, replaces Sanjay Khanna, who has been appointed consumer sales and marketing director for emerging markets.
Continue Reading
Veteran Pirelli motorsport engineer switches to Dmack as motorsport technical director
British tyre brand and World Rally Championship authorised tyre supplier Dmack has recruited the Pirelli veteran, Fiorenzo Brivio, who has been appointed to the newly created position of motorsport technical director. The brand, manufactured by China’s Yongtai, hopes to benefit from the technical expertise of Brivio, who they call “one of the world’s leading motorsport tyre engineers.”
Continue Reading
Michelin-fitted Porsche Team’s ‘perfect tyre strategy’ aids Nürburgring victory
The Porsche Team followed up Le Mans 24 Hours victory with a one-two finish at the 2015 6 Hours of Nürburgring. While the N°17 Porsche 919 Hybrid was driven to victory by Timo Bernhard, Marc Webber, Brendon Hartley, their N°18 teammates overcame three Stop & Go penalties (of five, 30 and 60 seconds), for excessive fuel consumption, to steal second place from Audi Sport thanks, in part, to the tyre strategy that was adopted for Switzerland’s Neel Jani on Lap 143. Michelin supplied a total of 2,400 tyres to its 23 partners at the event, with bespoke products designed to suit the particular needs of Audi Sport, Porsche Motorsport and Toyota Racing teams’ vehicles.
Continue Reading
Twisty left-hand track awaits Hankook in Moscow DTM
With its many corners, the 3.931km Moscow Raceway is one of the slower tracks on the DTM calendar. The fastest passage is the almost 900 metre home straight, where race cars reach a top speed of just on 250km/h. On the counter-clockwise track, Hankook’s race tyres come under a heavy load on the cars’ right side, but this has no impact on the performance of the tyre. “The team engineers correct this, for instance, by making different adjustments to the air pressure on the left and right sides depending on the load. The highest tyre wear occurs on the right front, but our Ventus Race withstood this impressively over the last years,” explains Hankook’s DTM race engineer Thomas Baltes.
Continue Reading
RML Group awarded new BTCC contract
British Touring Car Championship organiser TOCA has awarded a technical partner contract to the RML Group for the supply of the specified chassis, suspension and associated components. The Wellingborough-based RML Group is widely regarded as one of the world’s leading touring car design and engineering companies.
Continue Reading
7Twenty launches eye-catching new alloy wheels aimed at JDM, Drift tuners
New products from 2014 launched wheel brand 7Twenty are now with customers across Europe, as it aims to “overhaul cars across the drift [and] JDM scenes”. The range features a selection of designs evolved from traditional styles made popular by the JDM and Drift scene in extreme widths, low offsets and eye catching finishes.
Continue Reading
Dunlop ready for Silverstone Moto2, Moto3
Dunlop is preparing for the 12th race of the year in the Moto2 and Moto3 World Championships on 30 August, as the series move to Silverstone. The eleven races have produced seven different winners in Moto2 and six different winners in Moto3 with seven races remaining. In 2014 both series only had six winners each over the full season showing that the intensity of the competition is getting stronger and with closer racing.
Continue Reading
Dunlop back in endurance racing action at the Nürburgring
Following an 11 week gap since the Le Mans 24 Hours in June, Dunlop’s FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) will be in action again as round four of the series takes place on 30 August at the Nürburgring Grand Prix track. Despite the Nürburgring making its first appearance on the modern-day WEC calendar, Dunlop teams had the opportunity to test at the track in July where Strakka Racing topped the times on their first outing with their new Gibson car. From the 2015 LMP2 range, Dunlop has nominated the Soft and Medium options for the Nürburgring WEC event.
Continue Reading
Vettel criticises tyres after Belgian GP incident; Pirelli blames a lack of rules
Paul Hembery may have recalled the 2013 British Grand Prix debacle as he watched the spectacular tyre failure that robbed Sebastian Vettel of a podium finish in yesterday’s race at Spa. Vettel certainly did after the event, and he didn’t shy away from sharing his thoughts on the Pirelli rubber. This negative publicity couldn’t come at a worse time for the tyre maker, as the tender process to decide between Pirelli and Michelin supply from 2017 is currently under way.
Continue Reading
Video: Toyo sets sights on ‘surprising the world’ with drifting team
Toyo has unveiled a new YouTube video highlighting its UHP Proxes brand. Featuring two Audi R8 supercars equipped with Toyo’s flagship brand tyres driven by Team Toyo Tires Drift drivers Masato Kawabata and Akinori Utsumi in a variety of close team-drifting manoeuvres, the manufacturer titles the video, ‘Surprising the World’, saying it will “exceed the expectations of any car enthusiast.”
Continue Reading
Avon Tyres British GT reaches penultimate round at Snetterton
The Avon Tyres British GT Championship returns this weekend, 22-23 August, for its penultimate round at one of the calendar’s fastest circuits, the Snetterton 300. The Norfolk track is the second of seven in the 2015 calendar to feature two one-hour races, giving the drivers ample opportunity to gain points over the weekend.
Continue Reading
BTCC supports road safety initiative ahead of Forth Road Bridge crossing
Four Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship drivers have supported Road Safety Scotland’s ‘Race on the Track, Stay Safe on the Road’ initiative, crossing the Forth Road Bridge ahead of this weekend’s event at Knockhill.
Continue Reading
Pirelli to supply soft, medium compounds at Spa for Belgian grand prix
Pirelli has nominated the most versatile tyres in its range, the P Zero White medium and P Zero Yellow soft, to combat the Belgian grand prix’s fast Spa circuit. Supplying the same tyre nomination for Spa as it did for the Hungaroring, despite the differences in the two tracks, shows the range provided by Pirelli’s middle two Formula One P Zero compounds. Motorsport director Paul Hembery comments that the “two circuits present a very marked contrast.
Continue Reading
New Donington Park record at Formula E pre-season testing
Lucas di Grassi became the first driver to record a time in the 1:29s on day four of pre-season testing at Donington Park. The Abt Schaeffler driver used the 200kw qualifying mode to post a lap of 1:29.920 to break the new lap record his team-mate Daniel Abt set yesterday. The Brazilian was well clear of his rivals, who were headed by Renault e.dams’ driver Sebastien Buemi.
Continue Reading
