The Lotus Festival will be staged at Brands Hatch later this month, and following its signing of an exclusive three-year deal with the Lotus on Track Racing Drivers’ Club (LoTRDC) last year Avon Tyres will supply its track-oriented, road legal ZZR to a host of Lotus competitors. As part of the deal Avon is supplying ZZRs to competitors across its burgeoning race championships, including the Lotus Elise Trophy and Lotus Cup Europe, as well as the Lotus Cup UK.
Previewing the coming German round of the FIA World Rally Championship, tyre supplier Dmack has revealed the ways in which it views the all-asphalt event as another tough challenge. The first full asphalt event of the season attracts fans from across Europe, Dmack is looking forward to testing its tyres on Germany’s demanding special stages as it aims to follow WRC2 victory at Rally Finland. Dick Cormack, Dmack motorsport director, said: “We are hoping to follow the success in Finland on gravel with another solid result on asphalt.
When Maine Industrial Tire was integrated into Trelleborg Wheel Systems following its acquisition late last year, its Brawler brand was taken on by the Swedish manufacturer. It has now announced the addition and planned global roll out of a range of Brawler brand large OTR solid tyres.
July turned out to be gloriously warm and dry, yet some European farmers may still find themselves harvesting in the wet – especially in Northern Europe where the harvest is traditionally later. Whilst a few days of dry and windy weather can render the crop itself harvestable, the soil below remains wet and whereas the small combines of yesteryear could usually operate on wet terrain, modern, heavier machinery often becomes bogged down in the mud, reducing efficiency and causing potentially expensive delays in what could be a short window of opportunity for the year’s harvest.
The first production road car to be developed by Volvo’s Polestar Racing team went on sale in June 2013; Volvo chose the Australian market for a pilot launch of its four wheel drive S60 Polestar, and future introduction in other markets depends on how it is received in Australia. The Swedish manufacturer selected Bridgestone’s Potenza as original equipment, and the tyre will be fitted to the S60 Polestar in size 235/40 R19 96Y.
Dunlop has announced a new cooperation with the Red Bull-sponsored FMX4Ever freestyle motocross team, for whom the manufacturer will provide advanced off-road motorcycle tyres for the team. FMX, or Freestyle Motocross, focuses on aerial manoeuvres – or jumps and stunts – known as tricks. Dunlop’s hard terrain Geomax MX71, which will be provided to FMX4Ever, have directional front and rear patterns, optimising performance under braking and acceleration – exactly what is needed on ramps and on jump receptions. The FMX4Ever team will use the Geomax MX71 90/100-21 as front tyre and the MX71 110/90-19 at the rear.
Within Europe, Continental generally recommends fitting summer tyres in summer and winter tyres in winter, however the company has made an exception to this in the case of its latest scooter tyre, the ContiMove365. As the numerical designation suggest, this new product is an all-season tyre, and Continental says it has achieved “an astonishing balancing act between summer and winter tyres” with the ContiMove365 and has described the tyre’s tread design as “particularly innovative.”
Very high load capacity, an avoidance of downtime during harvesting and minimal soil compaction – these three qualities are priorities when agricultural operators purchase new tyres, and Firestone says its latest product for this market segment was launched to meet these criteria. Bridgestone Europe reports that this tyre, the new Firestone Maxi Traction Combine, is now available in several sizes for replacement market and original equipment fitment.
Irish haulier Tarrant International Transport has declared itself impressed with the longevity of Continental’s new HD Hybrid truck tyre. The drive axle tyre is designed for combined regional and long-haul use, and having achieved 280,000 km already Tarrant is confident that 300,000 km will be reached before the tyres require replacing. Donagh Tarrant, transport manager at the Cork based family-run firm said the performance was “exceptional and well beyond the mileage that we have been getting out of another premium brand.” In fact, he expects nearly to double the mileage achieved by previously fitted tyres.
While the European financial fug continues, brake suppliers are being required to show greater flexibility in their operations. The reactions of brands operating in the sector are shown in this feature to include a drive towards internationalisation – particularly with performance products generating improved revenues in the Americas and Asia Pacific – and a more varied product line-up to suit both OEM and end-user requirements. A new report published by Markets and Markets suggests that the global brake market will “grow to $28,532 million by 2018, as compared to $20,210 million in 2013, with a CAGR of 7.14% from 2013 to 2018. During this period of flux, the report suggests drum brakes will occupy the major share when compared to disc brakes systems, but that demand for discs will increase at a faster rate and slowly surpass the drum brakes market.
Continental shares that the 21-inch rim option of the Tesla Model S comes with its ExtremeContact tyre as original equipment. The ExtremeContact, which is not sold in Europe, is fitted to US and Canadian market versions of the electric saloon in size 245/35 R21. According to the tyre maker, the performance of ExtremeContact “matches up nicely” with the demands of the rear-wheel drive performance saloon that can travel from 0 to 60 mph in as little as 4.4 seconds.
The seat left vacant on Lanxess AG’s Supervisory Board by the recent death of Ulrich Middelmann has been filled by Claudia Nemat. Announcing Nemat’s appointment, which takes immediate effect, Board head Rolf Stomberg said “We welcome Claudia Nemat in her new role and look forward to working closely together with a well-renowned expert for the high-tech industry and corporate leadership.”
Falken Tyre Europe is sponsoring a ‘rally with a difference’ this month. Yesterday, cars competing in the Black Sea Circle rally headed off from Berlin, and Falken says this – Europe’s most eastern rally – is “about driving the way it used to be.” The rally route takes competitors around the Black Sea as far as Odessa, a total distance of 7,000 kilometres (4,350 miles).
Reporting its second quarter and first half results, Executive Board chairman Dr. Elmar Degenhart cautioned that the stronger development seen in the second quarter shouldn’t be viewed as a turnaround; rather, sales developed better due to seasonal and technical factors. The European market – where Continental makes 55 per cent of its sales – was described as unstable, and following what the company calls “modest development” in the region’s replacement tyre market in the first half of the year, Continental states its previous estimate for the segment “no longer seems possible.” It now anticipates an “increase of one per cent at best.” The company also said growth in the Asia and NAFTA regions is “also expected to diminish as the year progresses.” As a result, Continental has decreased its full-year forecast from growth of five per cent to four per cent, or “around €34 billion”.
Birla Tyres says it is ready to get its passenger car tyre factory project back on track, and the Indian tyre maker also intends to target export markets, including Europe, with its agricultural and other niche products.
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