Alongside the launch of the Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2 at Goodyear's brand event in Seville was the introduction of the eighth generation of Goodyear's UlraGrip cold weather tyre range. “The confusion surrounding winter tyres must be resolved,” says Gerrit Huysmans of Belgium’s Association of Tyre Manufacturers, FederAuto, a statement that Jean-Pierre Jeusette, Goodyear’s director of tyre technology for consumer tyres in EMEA, agrees: “What the consumer often doesn’t know is that winter tyres are developed using very specific rubber compounds that perform much better at lower temperatures… Add to that the fact that the tread pattern of winter tyres is also optimised for maximum grip as well as water and slush evacuation, and you begin to understand why there is a very real difference in performance.” A search for “winter tyres” on tyrepress.com would suggest that the fierce European winters of the last two years have increased knowledge of speciality cold weather considerably; the latest figures suggest the market volume has risen 20 per cent in that time, with a marked increase in the UK – often considered to have more growth room than any comparable country.