Having signed an extension to the tyre supply deal that begun in 2003 at the end of last season, Dunlop has kicked off its 2014 motorsport season by exhibiting in conjunction with the MSA British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) at the Autosport International Show in Birmingham. The multi-year contract means that Dunlop will continue to […]
Public prosecutor for the French commune of Amiens, Bernard Farret, reports that management at Goodyear Dunlop Tires France have filed an ‘arbitrary detention and abduction’ complaint following the enforced detainment of two senior managers at its Amiens Nord factory earlier this week. Production manager Michel Dheilly and human resources director Bernard Glaser were held for almost 30 hours and only freed at around 3:30pm Tuesday after police entered the building.
Commenting on the enforced confinement of two Goodyear managers at the company’s Amiens Nord plant in France, Titan International’s Maurice Taylor has made it clear that he considers the action a serious crime. The Titan boss, whose company recently reappeared as a potential buyer for the Amiens Nord agricultural tyre business, added that he views the French government’s lack of response to this ‘boss-napping’ as crazy.
While it is clear that each side is effectively blaming the other for the collapse of the deal, the actual cost of the defunct courtship ritual is somewhat more opaque. We know that Cooper’s lawyers will be defending the firm against claims for the $50 million it agreed in the business equivalent of a pre-nuptial agreement, but several newspapers report that Apollo has to fight off claims for a significantly bigger $112 million break-up fee. And of course none of this puts a price on the large sums of money spent out on corporate lawyers or even more importantly on lost time. So what’s next for the two companies?
The UK’s biggest selling superbike magazine has awarded the Dunlop D212 GP Pro its ‘Tyre of the Year’ honour in the 2013 Fast Bikes Awards. The supersport tyre, launched in 2013, received the accolade in the magazine’s round up of 2013’s leading motorcycles, accessories and events.
DAF has become the first truck manufacturer to offer Goodyear Kmax and Fuelmax tyres as standard original equipment. The new tyres will be supplied on the company’s brand new CF and LF models as well as its flagship XF range as of December 2013. The Goodyear Kmax and Fuelmax ranges were introduced in September. Kmax, as the name implies, has been developed for high mileage performance, while not compromising on other important criteria such as fuel efficiency and traction. Likewise the Goodyear Fuelmax range is for the operator who wants optimised fuel efficiency combined with good mileage.
Dunlop says it is delighted to announce the sponsorship of Dantec Husqvarna UK for the 2014 motocross season. The former Evotech Stevens KTM team is the official Husqvarna MX1 and MX2 team for the UK with a three rider line-up; the team has retained Steven Lenoir to compete in the MX2 class and has announced the signing of 19 year-old Nathan Watson for MX1, as well as 17 year-old MXY2 rider Tony Saunders to complete the squad. All three will ride on Dunlop’s latest Geomax MX32 and MX52 tyres.
Passenger car tyre production at Goodyear Dunlop’s Wittlich plant in Germany will decrease by at least 30 per cent next year. In local media source volksfreund.de, Wittlich works council chairman Joachim Weberskirch confirms rumours that PCR production “will be reduced from round 4,000 a day to 2,500 to 2,800 a day next year.” Weberskirch says this lowering of production is a response to declining sales of passenger car tyres throughout Europe.
A full grid of 32 entries will compete for the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship again in 2014, the headline sponsor and tyre supplier has confirmed. All 32 available TOCA BTCC Licences (TBLs) were allocated during the pre-registration process, which closed on 30 November. TOCA, the series organiser, has introduced TBLs for next year with the goal of providing teams with longer-term stability and security.
Dunlop has helped Oak Racing to claim the 2013 LMP2 World Endurance Championship (WEC), and G-Drive Racing to a race victory at the 6 Hours of Bahrain, the final round of the 2013 series. Dunlop Engineer, Matt Rees congratulated Oak Racing “for the championship win and having the #24 car in second place in the series. They have had a good season and deserve the title.”
At the same time as making its initial public appearance at the Tokyo Motor Show, the Dunlop Enasave 100 – the world’s first tyre entirely made from fossil-free materials – has gone on sale in Japan. Sumitomo Rubber Industries shares that the Enasave 100 came onto the market on 22 November; it is initially available in size 195/65R15 91H at a listed retail price of ¥21,105 (£126.50).
ADAC Nordrhein has announced the scheduling of a Qualifying Race for the 24h Nürburgring on 5-6 April 2014. Walter Hornung, race director of the ADAC Zurich 24h Race and head of motorsports at ADAC Nordrhein, explained that the idea was to offer teams an “optimum testing opportunity… without the pressure of a championship.”
Vintage Tyres has announced the launch of the Dunlop 145SR10 SP44 Weathermaster. According to the company, the firm had to go “right back to the drawing board and create a brand new mould to the original specification” in order to give the new product its current lease of life. The SP44 is described as the classic rally tyre for the Mini Cooper and with its rugged design was also widely used on the famous Mini Moke.
Premium brand tyre manufacturers have emphasised youth development as a keystone of their activities practically since John Boyd Dunlop’s famous fitment to his son’s tricycle, and Sumitomo’s Falken brand has focused its engagement with grassroots sport in this way during 2013. First it introduced a sponsorship and support scheme that enabled young drivers access to subsidised and free tyres in the Association of North Western Car Clubs (ANWCC) K11 Micra Challenge and the Under 17 Motor AutoSOLO Championship for standard cars. It followed that with support for 11-year old Catherine Harris in National Ministox. The championships used the ZIEX ZE912 while the younger sister of 2013 F1 stock car world champion Tom Harris used both the ZIEX ZE912 and Sincera tyres on her Mini.
Dunlop’s motorsport heritage dates back as long as the brand itself, but even with such a history it is fair to say that its 125th year represented a strong showing. The manufacturer says entering races with open tyre supply is an important part of its drive to innovate and develop, although it continues to provide control tyres to a number of championships too. Dunlop emphasises particularly its endurance victories, which this year have included the Nürburgring 24H, VLN 6hrs, Le Mans 24h LMP2 and FIA World Endurance Championship and European Le Mans Series race victories too. Dunlop says it uses these championships to develop new technologies and concepts that then cascade into their standard motorsport tyre range and ultra high performance road car tyre range.
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