Goodyear Dunlop reports achieving a milestone within its health and safety management. The company has been externally audited by BSI and can officially confirm it has achieved certification to OHSAS (Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series) 18001 – one of the key Health and Safety Management Systems in the industry.
Dunlop is urging followers of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship to the Festival of Speed at Goodwood this coming weekend, where the company’s Live arena in the Goodwood Stable Yard will host some of the UK’s top touring car stars in a ‘Meet the Fans’ question and answer session. Croft winner Andrew Jordan, 2010 pacesetter Tom Chilton, multiple champion Matt Neal and race winner Mat Jackson are among the drivers who will talk about their experiences in the series.
For everyone in HiQ’s head office in Birmingham, the prospect of England beating Germany on Sunday afternoon is too mouth watering to contemplate. Almost everyone, that is. HiQ’s German retail director Juergen Titz is so confident that his countrymen will beat England on Sunday that he has promised to buy full English breakfasts for all of his employees if they lose. The 15 members of the HiQ team expected at the Goodyear Dunlop headquarters in Tyre Fort, Erdington are reportedly finalising their breakfast orders for Monday morning. One representative of the retail chain said the bet could hit Juergen just where it hurts most – his pocket.
Goodyear has been publicising its OTR successes, including an excellent performance in the World Ploughing Championship, the growth of its AGRI Club and the introduction of a new crane tyre. Andrew Mitchell Jnr, hailing from Forfar, Scotland, came second in the World Ploughing Championships in New Zealand earlier in the year, using Goodyear Optitrac DT806 tyres on his machine. Mitchell declared himself thrilled to have come in second and Goodyear says it was proud to have assisted this with their DT806 tyres fitted to his Ford tractor. Overall, there were ploughmen and women from over 30 countries competing at the 57th world championships.
Tyre makers whose products performed well in the 24 Hours of Le Mans have expressed delight with the results obtained. First amongst this group, naturally, is Michelin, following a one-two-three Audi finish. Following the successive eliminations of its four main Peugeot rivals, the Michelin shod Audi team was able to secure a fourth hat-trick at Le Mans. In addition to monopolising the top three places in the overall standings, Michelin runners took the top prize in each of the four classes for the third straight year.
Ruia Group company Falcon Tyres is to establish a new factory in Uttaranchal state, in Northern India, a move accompanied by an increase in production in the company’s Mysore factory. Group chairman told reporters after the company’s 83rd Annual General Meeting on June 15 that “following the establishment of the new plant about 30 km from Haridwar in Uttaranchal, and upgrading the capacity of [the] Falcon Tyres Mysore plant, the total production for two-three wheeler tyres would go up from the present 150,000 units a month to over 230,000 pieces.”
While Ian Hutchinson took the plaudits for an unprecedented five wins on the Isle of Man, Pirelli says Conor Cummins was denied victory by a mechanical fault, which wiped out a 23 second lead in the Superbike TT. Riding on Pirelli tyres, Manxman Conor logged a fastest ever lap in the Superbike race with a devastating 131.511mph average speed, attained unusually on his opening out lap. Fellow Pirelli pilot Guy Martin fell foul of a new pit lane speed limit when lying third, while last year’s 131mph practice man Cameron Donald signalled his return from injury with a battling podium.
The Isle of Man’s low emissions TT Zero race – for electric motorbikes – saw the majority of riders choose to use Pirelli’s Diablo Superbike ‘slick’ race tyres, with machines shod with the Italian manufacturer’s rubber taking all three podium places. The MotoCzysz machine swept to a dominant win over the testing 37-mile Mountain course at the hands of pilot Mark Miller, travelling at an average speed of 96.82mph. The machine hit 135mph at the Sulby Speed Trap and finished the race in 23 minutes 22 seconds. Pirelli says the Diablo tyre’s low rolling resistance was “essential in this power sapping electric race”.
The Isle of Man TT saw a first this weekend as Ian Hutchinson completed the first clean sweep of five out of five wins at the festival in its hundred-plus year history. The Senior TT saw Hutchinson take the lead after a gruelling few hours during a stopped race, claiming victory with Ryan Farquhar in second place, both of whom used Dunlop’s D211GP tyres.
The new generation of mixed service tyres from Goodyear Dunlop Europe has been launched, and these products – the Omitrac MSS II steer tyre and MSD II drive tyre – enter the market along with the manufacturer’s claim that they will help operators save money in several ways. Amongst other qualities, Goodyear states the MSD II offers a 17 per cent greater mileage potential while both tyres offer good rolling resistance levels.
Dunlop tyres have supported Ian Hutchinson in completing his fourth victory at the Isle of Man TT, winning the Supersport Race 2. With this win, Hutchinson equals Phillip McCallen’s 1996 record of four wins in a week, with one race still to take place. Michael Dunlop claimed second place and Keith Amor in third, making Dunlop the tyre brand of choice for all three podium places in the race. Dunlop (the rider) also set a new lap record for the Supersport at 127.836mph.
Having begun on Saturday, the 2010 Isle of Man TT’s first three races have been won on Dunlop tyres, with six of the nine available podium places taken by riders using the manufacturer’s rubber. Saturday saw the first of the two Superbike races, with Iain Hutchinson finishing first and company namesake Michael Dunlop finishing in second on Dunlop’s Ntec slick tyres. This was followed on Monday by the first of the two Supersport races, won by Hutchinson and Dunlop coming in third. The Superstock 1000cc race saw Hutchinson complete a hat-trick of wins with Ryan Farquhar taking a close second, both riding on Dunlop D211GP’s.
Cheshire’s Oulton Park was the latest venue for the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship, hosting around 35,000 racing fans. Among those fans were more than 25 of the North West region’s top tyre experts, attending the Dunlop BTCC Masterclass; an exclusive course for technicians run by the same Senior Engineers that service the Dunlop tyres for BTCC stars such as Jason Plato and Matt Neal.
At this year’s Le Mans 24 hour race Dunlop will be using a new wet tyre designed to “improve grip and driver feedback.” The latest Dunlop tyre will be used in the top class of the event, the LMP1 Le Mans Prototype category, and features Dunlop’s both a new compound technology and a new tread pattern that the company reports has been successfully tested in recent events.
According to the company, this new tread pattern (which will be used on all Dunlop Le Mans wet weather tyres) features design technology that has also inspired Dunlop’s latest high performance road tyres. Like the recently launched Dunlop SP QuattroMaxx road tyre, the new Dunlop TF23 wet race tyre features different zones in the tread pattern to maximise the grip and driver feedback in changeable conditions and under different loads.
Goodyear Dunlop will exhibit its off the road range to the industry at Vertikal Days and Hillhead during June for the first time in over three years. Vertikal Days on 16 and 17 June will provide the platform to highlight the new Dunlop SP ER50 tyre to the crane industry. Meanwhile Hillhead will provide the perfect arena to introduce the industry to the full Goodyear Dunlop OTR tyre range, states the company.
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