According to an article published in the Italian magazine Motosprint, Michelin’s Jean-Philippe Weber could not readily comprehend the logic behind the decision made by MotoGP rider Valentino Rossi to switch to Bridgestone for 2008. The director of motorcycle racing commented that “this decision of his is difficult to understand, but that’s what he’s decided. It could be a good or a bad choice, we’ll see in a while.”
As part of its practice of contributing to the communities in which it is represented, Michelin has entered into a three-year tyre sponsorship deal with a group from Dundee University who have unveiled plans to build a car inspired by Formula One technology. The Dundee University Race Innovation and Vehicle Engineering (DRIVE) team, comprised of students from the university’s engineering and mechatronics faculties, has entered into the national Formula Student competition to build a performance car. Next July the team, along with other entrants, must present their vehicle at the Silverstone race circuit and put it through a series of performance and reliability tests.
For many 18 year olds, the burning questions next weekend will be which pub to visit, whether to watch football on TV and what’s for Sunday lunch. But for Elfyn Evans, his attention on the weekend and the days of November 29 to December 2 will be focused upon which Hankook tyres will work best in South Wales and how fast he can drive his Ford Fiesta in the forest without crashing. Elfyn is one of the youngest competitors taking part in Wales Rally GB – Britain’s round of the World Rally Championship – a three day high speed test of car and crew around the forests of South Wales – and one of the sport’s toughest challenges.
And for Elfyn, the prospect of competing on the world stage is something he is relishing, especially as the race brings him into competition against his dad Gwyndaf – a former British Rally Champion and Wales Rally legend. “It’s tremendous to be given the opportunity to compete this year and although Dad is much higher up the field and in a more powerful, four wheel drive Mitsubishi, it will be great to compete on such a high profile event together,” said Elfyn. “I remember dad taking part when I was really young and never thought I would have the opportunity to compete this year.”
In what Continental is calling a “high-tech triumph”, the “Boss”, a self-driving Chevrolet Tahoe equipped with Continental technology, won the DARPA Urban Challenge 2007. With the help of a dozen sensors and the Conti know-how in the domain of sensor data fusion, the vehicle’s computer was fed optimally prepared data on its surroundings. As a reward for its efforts the “Boss” development team came away with the top prize – two million dollars.
Pirelli, the official tyre supplier to the 2007 Tesco 99 Octane MSA British Rally Championship (BRC), has offered Pirelli Star Driver Award for the first time in 2007. This incentive is offered to all competitors in the BRC to put that extra effort into their own class battles throughout the year. With everyone using Pirelli tyres until 2009 and both Higgins brothers withdrawing themselves from possible selection, the playing field has been levelled for anyone to shine.
The BRC approaches its final round, Wales Rally GB with an exciting climax in prospect. Any one of the top six drivers is still in with a chance of the title, as the final gruelling event has two opportunities for scoring points. When the flag eventually drops on the championship after Rally GB, six Pirelli Star Driver finalists will go head to head in a televised shootout, to find out who will take the Pirelli funded drive in the 2008 Tesco 99 Octane MSA British Rally Championship.
Two executives from Trelleborg Industrie S.A.S in France have pleaded guilty to participating in a marine hose price fixing conspiracy. On November 6 a one-count felony charge was filed in the US District Court in Fort Lauderdale, Florida against Christian Caleca, president of Trelleborg’s Industrial Fluid Systems business unit, and Jacques Cognard, the company’s product area manager for oil and marine products.
Plea agreements have been worked out for both men, subject to court approval, and under the terms of these each will serve 14 months in prison – and will provide their full cooperation in the US Department of Justice’s ongoing investigation. Additionally, Caleca has agreed to pay a US$75,000 fine and Cognard a $100,000 fine.
Reports say that Yamaha has confirmed that its two main riders in the 2008 MotoGP competition will be racing on different brands of rubber. Valentino Rossi, five-time world champion, is set to switch to Bridgestone tyres from his current Michelin. However, the recently-signed Jorge Lorenzo, who has won the 250cc World Championship twice, will race on Michelins. To avoid any potential problems and to ensure total confidentiality, the two riders will have separate pits, managers and technicians.
Tanner Foust, driver of the Toyo Proxes R1R shod AEM/Memphis Car Audio/Toyo Tires Nissan 350Z, was crowned the 2007 Formula Drift champion this past weekend during the Formula Drift Championship Finals at Irwindale Speedway in California. Foust entered the final event leading the championship by 23 points, which meant he only needed to finish in third place or better to secure the championship, however he ended the season on a high note by taking first place on the day.
Irwindale Speedway is known to fans as “The House of Drift” and draws capacity crowds for the annual drifting finals. Foust climbed the championship ladder during the final rounds by first defeating Tony Brakahopia in the Top 16. During the Top 8, Foust defeated Ryuji Miki, and then moved on to the Top 4 to defeat Kenji Yamanaka. In the Final, Foust defeated number two ranked Chris Forsberg for both the event win and the 2007 championship.
Jorge Lorenzo’s podium finish in the 250cc Race at the Malaysian GP on October 20 not only sealed his second consecutive World Championship title, but also brought Dunlop their 15th consecutive title in the 250cc category, whilst Hiroshi Aoyama’s win for KTM extended their unbroken sequence of 250cc GP wins to 186. Ten riders (Harada, Biaggi, Capirossi, Rossi, Jacque, Kato, Melandri, Poggiali, Pedrosa and Lorenzo) have contributed to this sequence of World Championship titles, whilst 30 different riders have stood worn their Dunlop winners caps on the top step of the podium since Max Biaggi started this unbroken chain of race wins at Suzuka in April 1996.
Despite what the manufacturer sees as a lack of competition in this class from other tyre manufacturers in recent years, Dunlop has continued to push forward with tyre development. During the year new race lap records have been established at nearly every circuit where racing took place in dry conditions, as riders reaped the benefits of a new front profile, introduced at the beginning of 2007, whilst its multi-compound rear tyres – first introduced to 250 GP at the end of 2005 – have continuously been improved and are now available worldwide as part of Dunlop’s standard range. Dunlop usually offers riders on factory machines a choice of three front and three rear dry specifications at each race.
Italian tyre manufacturer Marangoni is celebrating an unprecedented fourth year of motorsport success after Simone Faggioli won the Italian Hillclimb Championship for a third time with his Zeta Linea Racing-shod, Facetti-tuned Honda-powered Osella PA21S. This adds to the Florentine driver’s incredible record of winning the 2004 and 2006 Italian Hillclimb Championship and a European 2005 title.
The hard-fought 2007 Championship saw some outstanding drives from Faggioli in his bid to retain his title. The longest Championship round, the 17 kilometre Trento Bondone hill, saw mechanical gremlins preventing overall honours at this event but a class win for Faggioli, from strong running team-mate Christian Merli (2nd), with fellow team members David Baldi (4th) and Guilo Regosa (6th). With each of these drivers running Marangoni tyres it was without a doubt a pleasing performance for the tyremaker.
Simone opted out of the Coppa Bruno Carotti climb to manage Team Faggioli, but returned to the cockpit for the 9th Cronscalata del Reventino to record an outright victory. The 46th Coppa Paolino Teodori saw an accident for the Osella and Faggioli slipping to second place in the standings. Heroic efforts by the team to rebuild the car were rewarded with a dominant performance in the 45th Cronoscalata Svolte di Popoli and further victories in the 25th Pedavena/Croce d’Aune and 53rd Coppa Nissena to clinch the Championship.
Falken recently invited 40 of its top performing dealers from around the country to spend the day at Palmer Sport at the Bedford Autodrome. The unique track day involved driving and racing cars ranging from Caterhams to single seater Formula cars and off-roading.
The day began with Renault Clio Cup Racers and Porsche 911. The pocket rocket Clio’s minimal weight and maximum power made for a hair raising way to start the day while the growling power of the 911 certainly woke some people up!
It appears that at least one motorcycle championship will definitely change to a single tyre supplier for 2008. The Motorcycle Circuit Racing Control Board of Great Britain (MCRCB) has been evaluating the feasibility of the competition with a single tyre supplier since September, and after much dialogue with riders and their teams, as well as with tyre companies, has elected to proceed with its plans for a switch to a single brand for both the Superbike and Supersport classes next year.
The two main contenders for the job are Dunlop and Pirelli, with the Italian manufacturer considered to have an edge on Dunlop in terms of experience in managing the type of logistics that would be involved. However Dunlop, who currently supplies the majority of the Superbike class teams and around half the Supersport teams with its products, is by no means in a weak position.
Crewe family firm Hopley Tyres enjoyed an exciting day of off-road driving at the Kankku 4×4 driving school recently, courtesy of Kings Road Tyres, and Kankku supplier, Cooper Tire. Dudley, Carl and Geoff Hopley travelled to the premier adventure driving centre in the beautiful Lake District countryside, with KRT branch manager, Mark Sneap, and purchasing and marketing manager, Tim Bader.
The Hopleys had won the trip in a competition run by Middlesex-based KRT and Cooper Tire at the Brityrex show at Manchester’s G-Mex Centre in May in order to showcase the Cooper Discoverer STT’s astounding capabilities off-road. Dudley Hopley said: “There were certain tracks we went up that I thought were impossible in any vehicle, but the Cooper STTs proved us all wrong.”
In the US Bekaert Steel has laid off 23 employees at its Rome, Georgia facility, a result of stronger competition from manufacturers in China. The factory, which produces steel cord used in tyre production, began laying off staff on October 1.
“We hope this is short lived,” plant manager Gary Downey told local newspaper the Rome News-Tribune. “The market is slow right now, but we fully anticipate that it is going to return.”
In late August the company also announced the closure of its joint venture steel cord facility in Geelong, Australia, quoting cheaper production costs in other regions as a factor in this decision.
Further inroads into the retail market are on the cards for North-Eastern Tyre and Exhausts (NETE), and the Middlesbrough based business plans to use growth in this sector as the base for increasing turnover by 50 per cent over the next two years.
The company, founded by Fred and Netta Darcy in 1971 and still family owned, will reportedly recruit about 300 new staff to facilitate this expansion, with many taking up positions in new or upgraded NETE retail outlets throughout the North-East and Yorkshire regions. The past couple of years have seen numerous improvements made to the firm’s existing outlets, including the addition of café facilities. The ninth NETE retail site, a £1.5 million development in Harrogate/Knaresborough, is due to open in January 2008.
NETE brought in revenues of £33m last year, and this figure is anticipated to rise to £40m during 2007 thanks largely to the company’s enhanced retail presence. Recently appointed managing director Gavin Marshall believes now is a “very exciting” time for NETE and sees great potential to gain further ground against the competition through further retail investment.
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