According to Kumho, its prominent position in a ‘major hall’ at September’s Frankfurt Motor Show demonstrates the seriousness with which the Korean tyre maker takes its increasing role in the European motor industry.
The managing director of Northampton-based turbocharger specialist Turbo Technics has taken the overall championship title in this year's BARC SBD Speed Championship, as well as the class honours in the Richard Egger Insurance Hillclimb and Sprint Association 2009 Speed Championship. Geoff Kershaw formed Turbo Technics in 1981, and claimed the titles at the wheel of his famous twin turbocharged Ford Sierra in his first year back in competition after a three-year break. Kershaw began sprinting and hillclimbing in 1967 and has been a regular competitor ever since. He cites as his inspiration a fellow driver who continued to race well into his 80s. Kershaw, who is 65, has no intention of giving up in the foreseeable future.
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Schaeffler Group president and CEO Dr. Jürgen M. Geißinger has been elected president of the World Bearing Association (WBA) at the organization’s fourth annual meeting in Tokyo. The WBA represents the interests of the bearing industry where initiatives of individual companies have proved to be insufficient. Its objectives include the elimination of competition distorting trade restraints as well as the introduction of uniform environmental protection standards. Special focus is on the fight against product piracy.
“Counterfeiting earns large sums of money and causes immense economic damage,” explained Dr. Geißinger. “WBA will therefore further reinforce its initiatives – this means intensified information and clarification of facts for customers on one hand and uncompromising prosecution of offenders on the other,” said Dr. Geißinger.
WBA was established as an umbrella organization of the American Bearing Manufacturers’ Association (ABMA), the Japan Bearing Industrial Association (JBIA) and the European Bearing Manufacturers’ Association (FEBMA) in September 2006. It represents the leading global bearing companies with sales of approximately 20 billion euros, which equates to about 75 per cent of the rolling bearing market worldwide.
Dutch student Tim Biesbrouck has been selected overall winner of the 2009 Bridgestone e-reporter contest. Biesbrouck, aged 21, was one of eleven finalists this year. He was given the opportunity to show the world, and Bridgestone, his reportage skills at the Hungarian Grand Prix in late July, and his “natural flair for journalism” sufficiently impressed the media and motorsport representatives making up this year’s judging panel.
Honiton HiQ recently gave away a £500 car makeover to customer John Woodland to celebrate the re-launch of the centre. Woodland won a new set of tyres, a car service and full MOT from HiQ in King Street, after he was picked at random to win the competition. HiQ Honiton was re-launched in June following an extensive £20,000 refurbishment and all of its customers were entered into the car makeover competition to commemorate the new-look surroundings. The King Street centre is now being described as Honiton’s ‘flagship facility for motorists.’
A pleased John Woodland said: “This is only the second time I have ever won anything in my entire life, so I am over the moon. I’m not sure how much four new tyres cost in today’s market, but they will certainly be gratefully received, along with the MOT and service. It is a brilliant prize to win, and my Toyota Yaris will be all the better for it!”
Centre manager Julian Hellyer said: “We are looking forward to welcoming Mr Woodland to our forecourt. Our staff will fit his car with high performance, Goodyear EfficientGrip tyres, before giving the vehicle a thorough service and MOT. We are always looking for ways to engage with or customers and this competition was successful in helping us to achieve this. The uptake was great, and we are sure that Mr Woodland will really feel the benefit from the car makeover.”
National Tyre and Autocare (NTA), in association with Bridgestone Tyres, recently awarded Margaret Beattie of New Elgin with free fuel for a year after she won first prize in a national competition. Margaret entered the competition at her local NTA depot, in New Elgin. Margaret’s name was chosen at random from the hundreds of entries received.
Andy Dingley, advertising and promotion manager for Bridgestone, commented: “Motorists are being put under pressure as the costs of running a car increase with fuel duty rising by 2p next month, along with the environmental concerns of motoring and the sheer volume of traffic on the nation’s roads, so it is no surprise that driving has lost some of its joy. We wanted to give something back to drivers at a much needed time.”
Austrian ploughmen, Werner Eder won the 56th World Ploughing Championship in Moravske Toplice, Slovenia, in early September. The 30 year old gained the title of world champion in the overall rankings in the “conventional ploughing” category, coming first in stubble ploughing and second on grassland. All this was done on Continental agricultural tyres.
Traditionally, the Austrian subsidiary of CGS Tyres provides the country's team with Continental agricultural tyres. "The ploughmen favour the ContiContract AC 85. Thanks to its gentle ground handling, this tyre is particularly well-suited to meet the ploughmen's demands," commented Josef Heigl, managing director, CGS Reifenvertrieb Österreich. "Tyres are highly important in this competition and the AC 85 helped to achieve optimum ploughing results."
While it seems odd to be talking about a company with such a rich racing heritage in these terms, Team Lotus is to become the fourth new Formula One team in 2010, according to recent reports by the BBC.
Michelin North America will host the US National School Bus Maintenance Competition. Co-sponsored by the National Association of Pupil Transport (NAPT) and the South Carolina Department of Education, the 23-25 September event will be held at MNA’s training center in Donaldson, South Carolina.
A BKT-equipped tractor and plough has won first prize in the 2009 World Ploughing Contest (WPC) reversible category. The 56th WPC, held in Moravske Toplice, Slovenia between 4 – 5 September saw Belgian Roel Cuyvers crowned as champion in the reversible category, driving a Massey Ferguson tractor fitted with BKT-Agrimax Tractor Radials. Third prize winners – Liam O’Driscoll from Ireland in the reversible and Hardy Andersen from Denmark in Conventional category, also ploughed on BKT Agrimax tyres tractors (fitted to Lamborghini & Massey Ferguson tractors respectively).
Bridgestone’s annual US Safety Scholars contest has a 2009 winner, in addition to two runners-up, all of whom will receive $5,000 towards their college studies and a set of Bridgestone or Firestone tyres. The competition highlighted a wealth of creative talent, as entrants took their cue from an eclectic range of inspirations including rap videos, emotional personal stories and important topical issues.
Emergency, rescue and police vehicles often participate in jobs where lives are at stake. Therefore they require a tyre that delivers top performance while offering durability and dependability. In the US, specialist magazine Police Fleet Manager rated a number of tyres for their suitability, and Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations (BATO) reports that its Firestone Firehawk GT Pursuit was shown to be "the best tyre for this demanding job." The Firehawk GT Pursuit was rated top overall tyre and secured top position in wet-oriented performance.
Federal Tyres will show off its new trade show booth at the upcoming 2009 Moscow International Motor Show (MIMS). The 13ths edition of the MIMS will be held at the Crocus Exhibition Centre on outskirts of Moscow from Aug 26-30. During the show, Federal will be featuring competition tyres FZ101 and FZ202, its gravel rally […]
Six pupils from schools across the country have beaten off stiff competition to win prizes in a national art competition to design the car of the future.
Donnington Park will host the tenth round of the MotoGP championship this weekend, with Bridgestone supplying riders with Soft and Medium slick compounds for front and rear. The manufacturer believes that last year’s predictably unpredictable weather will carry over to this year’s race, having a major impact on its outcome, even though the British round is held one month later this year as a result of a change-around in the MotoGP calendar.
Due to the cooler British climes and the smooth and flowing nature of the Donington Park circuit, Bridgestone has selected the softest tyre compound options for this weekend: the soft and the medium compound slicks. The soft compound wets will also be available, as used in Le Mans and Mugello. Donington is a medium-slow circuit with a low-grip surface that traditionally has been a tricky one for Bridgestone, despite the result of the wet but slowly drying 2007 race, when Casey Stoner and the Ducati Team brought Bridgestone’s first victory at Donington, and Rizla Suzuki’s Chris Vermeulen finished third.
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