David Ashburn claimed the 2010 Avon Tyres British GT Championship title at the penultimate round of the series at Brands Hatch in Kent last weekend. The 63-year-old and his Trackspeed Porsche teammate, Glynn Geddie, collected a win and a fifth place in the weekend’s pair of hour-long races and enough points to put the overall title beyond the reach of anyone but Ashburn.
Avon Tyres has named Ipswich resident Stacey Biltcliffe as the winner of its competition, with the first prize a TVR Tamora, a powerful British sportscar considered a modern day classic among enthusiasts. The British tyre brand, which originally supplied OE fitment tyres for the TVR Tamora, gave away the 330bhp, 3.6-litre car in its competition open to any customer purchasing a set of four Avon tyres. The brand supported the promotion in dealers with point of sale materials including posters and leaflets, and via a promotional website.
Leading British GT outfit Trackspeed Racing has confirmed it will fit Avon Tyres to their Porsche 911 GT3 RSR in the GT2 class of this year’s Spa 24 Hour race on 31 July – 1 August. The announcement follows the company’s tyre performance in the Spa round of the Avon Tyres British GT Championship in June, when the British competitors raced alongside the Belcar series (which runs to GT3 specifications using another manufacturer’s rubber). There, Peter Kox set the outright fastest lap in an Avon-shod Lamborghini Gallardo, with all Avon runners “putting in consistently fast times,” says the manufacturer.
The Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series heads to Rockingham alongside The Avon Tyres British GT Championship this weekend (17-18 July) with the former introducing pit stops and the latter entering the second half of a closely fought season. Teams and drivers from F3 have reportedly welcomed the introduction of pit stops as an exciting addition to the format of the innovative junior single-seater championship. Mandatory pit stops along the lines of those employed in Formula One will be tried for the first time in the second of the weekend’s trio of Rockingham races. The aim, according to Cooper, is to give drivers experience of the race strategy element that takes place in F1, even though tyres will not be changed. Meanwhile Avon’s British GT Championship heads to Rockingham following a six-week break, and things in this year’s title race are looking close. At the sharp end of the grid, the GT3 class the battle looks likely to continue until the final round, with only 16 points separating the top five teams in the championship.
Avon Tyres has announced details of its latest promotion, in which one customer will drive away a classic TVR sportscar. In addition, the brand is offering dealers an incentive to promote the prize draw – for the Avon retail outlet that secures the highest number of customer qualifying entries, Avon is also offering the opportunity to enjoy a TVR Tamora for an entire weekend – 13-16 August, 2010. Avon is giving away four branded watches to each of the three runner-up retail outlets, while the ten runners-up in the consumer draw will each receive a TomTom XL IQ satellite navigation system.
Avon is looking forward to another season of motorsport, opening on Easter weekend as the title sponsor of the British GT Championship. The brand is the title sponsor and sole tyre supplier of the prestigious Championship for the fifth consecutive season, with cars built by manufacturers such as Aston Martin, Ferrari, Lotus and Porsche set to line up on the grid this year.
Following a year on the world’s racetracks in which more than 120 champions were crowned using its motorsport products, Avon Tyres Motorsport of Melksham, Wiltshire in the UK is to participate in a variety of competitive motorsport championships in categories as diverse as rallycross, hillclimb, sprints and historic racing in 2010. Perhaps most prominently, the division of Cooper Tire will continue its title sponsorship of the British GT Championship.
National Tyre’s staff members Ted Midgley and Dan Taylor have been named as the winners of Avon Tyres’ Best of British promotional campaign. Dealers from across the UK were encouraged to display posters featuring the Aston Martin DBRS9 racing car from the Avon Tyres British GT Championship, and invited to enter a draw for the prizes. National Tyres’ Harrogate branch got the nod, and Midgley and Taylor presented with exclusive watches.
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Osella BMW PA20/S driver, Joerg Weidinger has clinched the German Hillclimb title for the 2009 season on Avon tyres, finishing third at the final race of the season in Mickausen. Weidinger said, “I am delighted to win the title and I want to thank Avon Tyres and all who have been involved in the 2009 season. The tyres were brilliant and thank you for developing such great tyres for my race. It has been of great satisfaction to myself and my team.” Avon Tyres are the chosen racing tyre of 250 motorsport champions across Europe every year, in categories as diverse as the British GT Championship, FIA European Rallycross Championship, Formula Ford and historic racing.
The 2009 Avon Tyres British GT Championship was decided by a single point in a title fight that went down to the very last lap of the 14-race season. Identical twin brothers David and Godfrey Jones clinched the honours, sharing the driving of an Ascari KZ1R in the series they first entered nine years ago.
A metal commodities trader from Wakefield has been crowned the 2009 Avon Tyres British GT4 champion after clinching the title at Silverstone on August 16. Jody Firth, who races a 500bhp Ginetta G50 for Team WFR in the UK’s premier sportscar championship, now has an unassailable lead in the GT4 class, leading team-mate Nigel Moore by nine points with one round remaining. With the pair certain to share the car in the final round, Moore can only receive the same points as Firth and the gap between the two will thus remain the same.
Cooper and Avon have shown particular strength in the field of motorsport, with more than 200 worldwide motorsport champions crowned on either tyre brand in 2008. One of the more impressive aspects of this record is the sheer variety of competitive motorsport championships and range of markets in which the manufacturer has enjoyed success.
In the US, Cooper continued its title sponsorship of the Cooper Tires Atlantic Championship powered by Mazda, where Finland’s Markus Niemela won the title in his rookie season. He held off challenges from second and third placed, Jonathan Bomarito and Jonathan Summerton, plus Greg and Leo Mansell, sons of 1992 F1 World Champion Nigel. From next year in Europe, Cooper Tire will also be the title sponsor for the UK’s premier single-seater championship, the British Formula 3 International Series.
Tyre supply and title sponsorship for the British Formula 3 International Series, the domain of Avon Tyres since 1982, will be handed over to parent company Cooper Tire as of next year.
“Through our many years in British F3 with the Avon brand, we know that it is a genuine stepping stone of great drivers on the way to F1, and therefore requires the very best components in every area,” said Cooper Europe managing director Julian Baldwin. “Avon Tyres is very well established in British and European motor racing and, as Cooper Tire grows as a brand in Europe, we want it to stand for the same standard of quality. Cooper’s racing tyres deserve to be allied with a high-profile championship in Europe and you don’t get much bigger than British F3.”
Tyre supply and title sponsorship for the British Formula 3 International Series, the domain of Avon Tyres since 1982, will be handed over to parent company Cooper Tire as of next year, event organiser SRO has confirmed.
“Through our many years in British F3 with the Avon brand, we know that it is a genuine stepping stone of great drivers on the way to F1, and therefore requires the very best components in every area,” said Cooper Europe managing director Julian Baldwin. “Avon Tyres is very well established in British and European motor racing and, as Cooper Tire grows as a brand in Europe, we want it to stand for the same standard of quality. Cooper’s racing tyres deserve to be allied with a high-profile championship in Europe and you don’t get much bigger than British F3.”
Avon Tyres has formalised a deal with British GT Championship organisers SRO to continue its title sponsorship of the UK sportscar series for an additional three years, until the end of 2011. The brand completes its existing three-year tenure as supplier and title sponsor of the championship at Donington Park on the weekend of October 11 and 12.
Tyre supply for the British GT has been in Avon Tyres’ hands since 2006, and in that time thousands of GT tyres have been raced for more than 120,000 miles. “We have enjoyed the first three years of working with the British GT Championship,” said Cooper Europe managing director, Julian Baldwin. “The mix of cars and their very different handling characteristics really tests our expertise, but so far our crew has risen to the challenge, and they will relish another three seasons of doing so with a field of such high-powered machinery.”
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