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A change of tyre is in the pipeline for the FIA World Touring Car Championship. Yokohama Rubber has announced it will supply its ‘ECO’ racing tyres as one-make tyres for the WTCC series for the 2010 to 2012 seasons. The ECO product follows on from Yokohama’s Advan A005 dry surface and Advan A006 wet weather tyres, supplied since 2006.
Avon Tyres is aiming to be the first tyre manufacturer to beat the 10-minute barrier at the legendary Pikes Peak International Hill Climb event on 19 July. Essex-based team, Mach 2 Racing, is entering the famous race up the Pikes Peak mountain in Colorado Springs, USA, with a 1,150bhp Ford RS200 driven by double ex-British Rallycross Champion, Mark Rennison.
The 12-mile Pikes Peak course starts at 9,440 feet and ends at an altitude of 14,110 feet. Its 156 turns, mixture of asphalt and gravel surfaces and the sheer drops of up to 6,000 feet make it one of the toughest challenges in motorsport. However Rennison and car owner and pharmaceutical businessman Alan Greenwood believe they have the car, and the tyres, to complete the course in fewer than 10 minutes, a feat that has never been achieved.
Duties of up to 55 per cent may be imposed upon Chinese tyres imported into the US in an attempt to reduce their effect on local manufacturers. On June 29 the US International Trade Commission ruled 4 to 2 in favour of imposing tariffs upon passenger car and light commercial vehicle tyres imported from China for a three-year period. Proposed duties for the first year have been set at 55 per cent of the tyre’s value, while in the second and third years the rate would drop to 45 and 35 per cent respectively. These tariffs would be charged on top of the current rate of duty.
Sapphire Energy Recovery is securing a reliable source of end of life tyres through the acquisition of a regular supplier. The company intends to purchase Surrey based Willow tyres following the announcement that founder and current owner Ray Bates plans to retire later this year.
“Willow has been a long trusted and reliable supplier of around 1.4 million tyres a year to Sapphire, and it was important to us that we could maintain that security of supply despite Ray’s retirement,” explained Clive Roberts, who is supply chain manager for Sapphire Energy Recovery.
Dunlop’s road race pairing of John McGuinness and Steve Plater scored top honours for Dunlop on the Isle of Man, finishing first and second in the TT Superbike race. The duo were the only two riders to break through the 130mph average lap speed – with McGuinness setting yet another lap record of 130.442mph (17mins 21.29 seconds) on his second of the six lap race, as well as breaking the race distance record with a time of 1:46.07.16. His Dunlop tyres were specifically designed and built in the Birmingham-based Fort Dunlop factory.
The Morecambe man also furthered his and legendary TT status, by claiming his 15th TT win, placing him second in the line-up of all time TT victories behind the great Joey Dunlop. Following the decision to postpone racing on Saturday due to poor weather conditions covering the 37.73 mile mountain course, both McGuinness and Plater were itching to take to the seats of their CBR1000RR Fireblades in Monday’s welcomed clear and warm racing conditions.
April’s Bike Tyre Safety Month saw the TyreSafe website receive the highest number of visits to its website to date, the safety organisation has reported. According to a statement, the tyre safety campaign saw tyresafe.org receive 26,700 visits during the month-long campaign, a 185 per cent increase from April 2008.
TyreSafe’s Bike Tyre Safety Month aimed to raise awareness of the importance of tyres in road safety. Top tips for bike tyre safety maintenance together with key tyre safety advice were shared with bikers via a dedicated page on the TyreSafe website, where visitors were also offered the opportunity to register for the organisation’s newsletter and receive a free tyre valve extension. The campaign received support from a wide range of organisations, such as the Motorcycle Industry Association, the Institute of Advanced Motorists and the British Motorcyclists Federation.
Michelin reports its Energy Saver and Primacy HP tyres recently walked away with a “highly recommendable” rating in testing by the German motorist’s association ADAC and its Austrian and Swiss counterparts. Both tyres, representing 85 per cent of the summer passenger car tyres produced by the Michelin Group, received this highest rating in a comparative evaluation of eighteen different 185/60 R 14 H tyres and nineteen 205/55 R 16 W tyres.
Bike Tyrestore, one of the UK’s leading motorcycle tyre wholesale operations, received a merit award in the British Dealer News 2009 reader survey. Bike Tyrestore was again nominated in the “Best Trade Service” category, having won the trophy outright last year. Bike Tyrestore MD, Peter Smith, commented: “It’s very unusual for any company to receive an award in the same business area two years running, so we’re very pleased that the BDN readership enjoy dealing with us so much that they rewarded us again in 2009.”
Bike Tyrestore received the merit award on the opening day of the Motorcycle Trade Expo at the NEC in January, where the company had a centrally positioned stand. The wholesaler’s booth focused on Enhanced “B2B” services, which already account for roughly a third of the company’s sales, iconic” bikes and “freebies” galore.
Europa Tyres has announced that as of 1 January, 2009 that it has become the UK’s (except NI) Official Master Distributor for the OTR brand of tyres.
OTR was set up in 1987 by Fred Taylor in Rome Georgia, where it began to manufacture and distribute wheels and tyres to the Southeast of America. In 1995, the organisation set up another new company called Blackstone, which specialised in the aerial lift industry. Since then, it has expanded with nine new facilities opening worldwide. The manufacturer hopes to become fully world integrated over the next few years, with a programme of investment continuing.
Garry Bunn, a competitor in the Westfield Sports Car Club Speed Series, recorded fastest time of the day (FTD) at a sprint at Thoresby Park in Nottingham in September using the road legal Toyo Proxes R888 (soft compound). To achieve FTD means his time was quicker than all the others cars, irrespective of class, vehicle make or power output competing on the day, some of which were running on full racing slicks.
Despite the country’s tendency towards cold weather, motorists in the Ukraine have been advised by a Russian politician that one way of averting financial catastrophe is to not replace worn winter tyres. Irina Khakamada, quoted by the Unian news agency, gave this advice when talking about measures citizens can take to the country’s current economic crisis, measures that also include not buying currency or transferring money into cash.
The Silvio Tronchetti Provera Foundation and the University of Shandong in Jinan (China) have signed a research agreement that will see the two parties cooperate on research into “the new generation of ecological tyres.” University researchers will work together with Pirelli Group’s R&D department in China with a view to producing advanced low rolling resistance tyres. Pirelli Group has been involved low rolling resistance research for some culminating in the production of “eco-compatible” products such as the new “Cinturato”, presented in Europe at the beginning of 2008.
The Italian-Chinese agreement also includes two joint research initiatives, which aim respectively at realizing more consistent compound mixtures and the study of low-temperature tyre vulcanization.
Amongst the 30 products Kumho displayed at the Reifen Essen show was the company’s new eco-friendly tyre, the Solus KH19. This flagship environmental product is based on proprietary technologies including KADAS (tyre structure simulation technology), ESCOT (tyre contour optimisation technology) and TTIA (tyre-terrain interaction analysis). The Solus KH19 boasts a 35 per cent improvement in rolling resistance and a six per cent decrease in CO2 emissions. Its construction is of eco-friendly materials, including low PAHs (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) oils and non-petroleum fillers, and a tread pattern that Kumho refers to as ‘nature based’. This pattern, says the South Korean manufacturer, is not only intended only to reinforce the tyre’s green image; it also provides a smoother ride. The Solus KH19 will be available from this autumn.
“This is a milestone year for Kumho as we strengthen our focus on making ‘greener’ products,” said Sae-chul Oh, CEO and president of Kumho Tires. “These new tyres improve fuel efficiency, lower CO2 emissions and run more quietly. We have also re-engineered our manufacturing process to make it more environmentally friendly. Kumho has taken this leading role in environmental issues because it allows us to provide tangible benefits to our customers, while simultaneously helping the planet.”
Toyo Tyres (UK) Ltd has announced that MD Tatsuo Mitsuhata will move to Toyo’s European Head Office in Germany to become vice president of Toyo Tire Europe GmbH, Toyo UK’s parent company. The move takes effect at the end of May. As a result of the promotion, Koji Toyoda has been appointed as managing director in the UK, following authorisation at a board meeting at Toyo Tire Europe on 30 April 2008.
Shelby SuperCars’ Ultimate Aero, fitted with Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 tyres, has set a new record of 256.18mph. This, according to Michelin, meant the “Ultimate Aero” is set to be officially recognised as the world’s fastest production car. The SSC Ultimate Aero was clocked at 15mph quicker than the previous titleholder, the Koenigsegg CCR and quicker than the Bugatti Veyron’s unofficial speed claim of 252.55mph. This is the first time that an American manufacturer has held this world title since the iconic Ford GT40 way back in 1967.
Michelin has been the tyre technical partner of Shelby SuperCars since the project was founded by Jerod Shelby seven years ago and has contributed technical advice on suspension design and set up for the Ultimate Aero. The Pilot Sport PS2 tyres fitted for the trial had to withstand speeds up to 257mph on the closed undulating country roads used for the test in Washington State – apparently with little to no wear.
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