Trelleborg and OK Tire Store participated in the World Plowing Contest held 19 – 20 July 2013 in Alberta, Canada. During the two day championship, 60 competitors from over 30 countries took part in conventional and reversible ploughing classes on both stubble and grass plots.
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On 28 September 2013, the directors of The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company declared a quarterly dividend of 73.44 cents per share of mandatory convertible preferred stock. The US-based tyre manufacturer reports that the dividend is payable 1 October 2013, to shareholders of record on 13 September 2013. The payout represents an annual rate of $2.9375 per share.
Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel seems to be moving inexorably towards the 2013 Formula One Drivers’ Championship, taking his 31st career victory at the Belgian Grand Prix using a two-stop strategy. Vettel’s Red Bull set the fastest lap of the race on the hard tyre, claiming the lead from second on the grid and extending his championship advantage to 46 points over Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso. His win means that he draws level with Nigel Mansell in terms of overall victories.
Steek cord supplier Bekaert has revealed details of its succession plans for boths its chairman and CEO. Baron Buysse, chairman of the board of directors of Bekaert, will retire in May 2014 after 14 years in the chair of the company’s board.
Bert De Graeve, CEO of Bekaert since 2006, will become chairman of the board in succession of Baron Buysse as of May 2014.
Upon reporting its first quarter 2013 financials on 19 August, China’s Keyuan Petrochemicals Inc. also shared that it intends to add to the company’s Solution Polymerised Styrene Butadiene Rubber. “The increasing market demand in tyre and auto parts has resulted in increasing market demand for styrene, ABS and SSBR,” The company added that “rather than focusing on optimising the current utilisation rates for its different facilities,” it has decided upon expanding capacity through a number of projects, including a new SSBR plant.
Between 6 and 13 October, the World Solar Challenge 2013 will take place in Australia, and Bridgestone has signed up as title sponsor. This will be the 12th time the competition has taken place since 1987, and the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge 2013 will see a record 45 teams from 26 countries compete in a 3000-kilometre cross-country race using only solar energy to power the vehicles. The event will feature three separate classes – Adventure Class, which will showcase cars built for previous events; Cruiser Class, which will be judged by design practicality, and Challenger Class, which will compete for the title of the world's most efficient solar car.
US retreading association the Tire Retread & Repair Information Bureau is partnering with the Retread Manufacturers Association to offer a ‘Retread Workshop Practice’ course in the UK, commencing in September 2013. The correspondence based course includes two ‘mock’ exams to monitor progress during the periods of study, extending from September 2013 to May 2014, and a final exam, which can be taken at a local university or technical college.
In July Dominique Aegerter broke the Moto2 lap record for the Mireval circuit by nine-tenths of second. According to the company, Dunlop carried out extensive analysis on data from the tyre test and continued work on the Moto2 range including work on tyre stress and a new rear tyre specification for 2014, or possibly during the remaining races in 2013, with Aegerter from Moto2 riding in addition to the Dunlop test team with Stefan Nebel and two riders from the IDM championship. The tyre has previously been tested by Rabat and Terol in Argentina.
Extending its relationship with Porsche once again, Michelin has announced the release of a new Pilot Super Sport tyre for the Carrera GT. The manufacturer claims that the new version of the tyre “noticeably enhances the handling of the 1,270 versions of the super sports car built between 2003 and 2006.” The tyre has been brought in to replace the current Pilot Sport PS2 fitment, updating the specific fitment provided to the model by the French manufacturer. Michelin has been developing new specifications of the Pilot Super Sport for the luxury car market since its introduction in late 2010.
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has told Autosport.com he’s proud the team “had the balls” to stand by the criticisms it leveled against the performance of Pirelli’s 2013 Formula One tyres. The negative feedback from Red Bull Racing and company chief Dietrich Mateschitz regarding the tyres’ rapid degradation earlier in the season was dismissed by some competitors as complaints prompted by the team’s own struggles with the tyres – but Horner thinks other teams felt as Red Bull did, only they chose to be less forthright.
The Lotus Festival will be staged at Brands Hatch later this month, and following its signing of an exclusive three-year deal with the Lotus on Track Racing Drivers’ Club (LoTRDC) last year Avon Tyres will supply its track-oriented, road legal ZZR to a host of Lotus competitors. As part of the deal Avon is supplying ZZRs to competitors across its burgeoning race championships, including the Lotus Elise Trophy and Lotus Cup Europe, as well as the Lotus Cup UK.
Few calendars command media attention like Pirelli’s, and next year marks the 50th anniversary of the first edition. Preview photos taken during production of the 2014 calendar are now doing the rounds, and this peek at next year’s ‘Cal’ suggests Pirelli has decided to continue the more conservative approach photographer Steve McCurry adopted for the 2013 Calendar.
Additional greenfield land has been made available adjacent to Michelin’s Waterville plant in Canada, reports a local media source. The Kings County Advertiser & Register writes that the Municipality of the County of the Kings in Nova Scotia has formally committed to divesting its municipal airport property in Waterville to make a factory expansion possible.
The first production road car to be developed by Volvo’s Polestar Racing team went on sale in June 2013; Volvo chose the Australian market for a pilot launch of its four wheel drive S60 Polestar, and future introduction in other markets depends on how it is received in Australia. The Swedish manufacturer selected Bridgestone’s Potenza as original equipment, and the tyre will be fitted to the S60 Polestar in size 235/40 R19 96Y.
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