Automotive industry charity, BEN will hold its inaugural BEN Blades Summer Ball on Thursday, 21 June 2012 at Sywell Aerodrome in Northamptonshire. The event, raising money for the charity, will include two aerobatics displays, with the opportunity for attendees to take a ride in one of several classic flying machines. This will be followed by a Champagne Reception and a three-course meal.
MotoGP’s final meeting of the season in Valencia was made a difficult affair for riders by inclement weather. Tohru Ubukata, general manager of Bridgestone’s Motorsport Tyre Development Department, said “all weekend the track conditions were neither one thing nor the other. When the track was wet, it wasn’t really fully wet and it dried through the session leaving the teams to chase setup, and when it was dry it was still very greasy. In the race spots of rain fell throughout, which made it very tricky for the riders to gauge the level of grip available, as it was often different from corner to corner, and in such a situation tyre performance is always a compromise.”
Wholesaler BITS can lay claim to the UK tyre industry’s keenest golfing prowess after its company representatives, Brian Jenkins, John Chappel, John Sipson and Steve Taylor, won the Team Prize – and Taylor the overall first place – in the Westlake-sponsored NTDA Golf Day 2011. John Tarbox, honorary captain of the NTDA Golf Society and ex chairman of the NTDA, labelled this year’s event, “one of the best Golf Days ever” in his prize-giving speech at dinner. The event was held on 15 September at the Oxfordshire Golf Club, with Westlake providing the trophies, including a new permanent prize specially flown in from Dubai for the overall winner – Taylor will also keep a copy.
Michelin has stepped in with new tyres for an electric milk float so it can complete a charity run from Leicester to Lands End. The classic milk float, that still works six days per week, normally runs on solid tyres but heat build up on long distance runs had become a safety concern.
Jorge Lorenzo resisted pressure from pole-sitter Casey Stoner in the early stages of to take a dominant victory and set a new lap record. Dani Pedrosa chased down Stoner and passed him on lap 23 to finish second, meaning that Stoner’s championship lead over Lorenzo is now down to 35 points leaving the title wide open for the remaining five races of the season.
Assistant to director at Bridgestone’s Motorsport Tyre Development Division, Hirohide Hamashima, has commented that the poor performance of the supplier’s harder rear option on the relayed, slippery Indianapolis track in practice was a reasonable trade-off for the durability it would give riders during the race. However, he also said that the company would analyse tyre performance carefully and reassess for next year’s tyre selection at the venue.
Casey Stoner and the Repsol Honda Team delivered a masterclass in consistency and tyre management in particularly tricky conditions to extend the Australian’s MotoGP championship lead to 44 points at the high temperature, newly resurfaced Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He was followed across the line by teammate Dani Pedrosa in second and Yamaha Racing’s Ben Spies who recovered excellently having dropped to ninth to climb onto the podium for the third time this season.
The UK’s automotive industry charity BEN is inviting industry workers and their families to cycle the “Tarka Trail” – some of the route completed by the world’s most famous fictional otter in Henry Williamson’s 1927 book Tarka the Otter. Unlike Tarka, participants won’t be covering the 180-plus miles covered by the intrepid aquatic mammal, rather starting in Meeth and heading 30 miles north up to Braunton in Devon, taking approximately 4 hours including a stop.
Casey Stoner clinched his sixth victory at Brno on Sunday following an early battle with teammate Dani Pedrosa and Jorge Lorenzo. Pedrosa crashed out of the lead on the third lap, leaving the remaining two steps of the podium to be fought over by Andrea Dovizioso, who finished second, and Marco Simoncelli who secured his first podium in the premier class. Every rider on the grid used the softer option rear tyre for the race, and almost all riders used the harder option front. The only riders who didn’t were Suzuki’s Álvaro Bautista, who was chasing down Valentino Rossi for sixth position when he crashed out, and Lorenzo, who led early on before crossing the finish line fourth ahead of his Yamaha teammate Ben Spies.
Staffordshire County Council has teamed up with Stoke-on-Trent City Council and Michelin Tyre Plc as part of the road safety initiative. Between them they have been handing out 10,000 cycle helmets – 7,000 to young people in Staffordshire and 3,000 to children in Stoke-on-Trent.
In addition 80 bikes have also been given away and pupils have been taking part in classroom based sessions and cycling activities to boost their confidence when they are out and about. Michelin is funding after a grant from the European Commission’s Road Safety for Young People in Europe.
Casey Stoner used the harder compound Bridgestone slicks to climb from third and take a decisive victory at Laguna Seca in MotoGP’s US Grand Prix. Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa’s early pace faded in the latter stages, and Stoner’s ascent to the lead in lap 27 of 32 proved decisive. Hirohide Hamashima, assistant to director of Bridgestone’s Motorsport Tyre Development Division said: “The harder option front and rear slicks were clearly the faster options today and, especially in the case of Casey, consistency was impressive. Whilst his fastest lap was a few tenths off the lap record, the total race time was 2.7 seconds faster than the previous record which is a very good indication of consistency and durability.
The Directors of Trade Garage Equipment Limited, the garage equipment specialists, recently hosted their 2011 Golf Day at the superbly appointed Lingdale Golf Club, near Loughborough. Joining The Trade Group in celebrating a successful year's business together were their key supply partners including Rotary Lift, Maha, Permex, SPX, Alentec Orion and Hofmann Megaplan, amongst many others.
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Ling Long Tyres has funded automotive industry charity BEN’s Henley Regatta celebration at the Lynwood Care Home, near Ascot. The event was attended by residents of the Home, the staff, and their families and friends, who, as Ray Diggins (BEN’s Head of Marketing) said: “always like to get involved”. Harjeev Kandhari, chief executive of the Al Dobowi Group and Jorge Crespo, European general manager of Eskay Tyres also attended the event.
Jorge Lorenzo won the latest Italian MotoGP round using Bridgestone’s hard front and rear slicks, overcoming Casey Stoner’s early lead of 2.3 seconds. He also set a new lap record at Mugello, while Championship leader Stoner also lost out to Andrea Dovizioso in the final six laps, allowing the Italian to achieve his best result of the season in front of a home crowd. Round seven’s winner Ben Spies got the better of Marco Simoncelli for fourth position, ahead of Valentino Rossi who finished sixth having climbed from 12th on the grid.
Slight residual dampness on the Assen track made the start of MotoGP’s round seven race vital, as several riders fell foul of conditions, but it was not enough to prevent Ben Spies taking his first MotoGP victory, controlling the race from the front to romp to an eventual 7.7-second lead over second-placed Casey Stoner and his Repsol Honda teammate Andrea Dovizioso. Bridgestone Motorsport manager Hiroshi Yamada congratulated Spies on becoming the tenth rider to claim a premier class MotoGP victory on the manufacturer’s tyres.
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