Bike builder Dave Cook has seen his Avon shod ‘Rambler’ crowned as this year’s World Champion machine. The 2009 AMD World Championship Of Bike Building took place recently in Sturgis, South Dakota, and it was Cook’s amazing machine – fitted with Avon’s Cobra tyres – which took top honours. Cook’s creation beat 82 other motorcycles to take top honours.
The factory Apollo Tyres is building in India’s Chennai state will most likely produce Vredestein branded passenger car tyres. According to the Hindu Business Line, production of premium Vredestein tyres at the soon to be completed Oragadam plant will be supplemented by Apollo branded UHP tyres. These will be marketed in Europe from next January onwards.
A metal commodities trader from Wakefield has been crowned the 2009 Avon Tyres British GT4 champion after clinching the title at Silverstone on August 16. Jody Firth, who races a 500bhp Ginetta G50 for Team WFR in the UK’s premier sportscar championship, now has an unassailable lead in the GT4 class, leading team-mate Nigel Moore by nine points with one round remaining. With the pair certain to share the car in the final round, Moore can only receive the same points as Firth and the gap between the two will thus remain the same.
Bosch reports the 81 per cent of passenger cars newly registered during 2008 in its home market of Germany are now equipped with its ESP electronic stability programme, two per cent more than last year. Europe-wide, 55 per cent of newly registered passenger cars were so equipped in 2008, five per cent more than in 2007. This figure is set to keep on growing as the enforcement date for EU legislation draws nearer – the EU requires all new vehicle models from November 2011 to be fitted with the safety system, while all newly registered vehicles must have ESP from November 2014. Similar legislation has also been passed in the US and Australia.
More than 54,000 drivers have taken part in BMW Driver Training programmes in Europe during the last three years and benefited from its specialised courses to improve individual driver skills, reactions and awareness. In August, Bridgestone announced the signing of a three-year contract to supply tyres to this business group within the German manufacturer’s “M” division. Through the agreement, Bridgestone becomes the exclusive tyre supplier for the BMW Driver Training fleet, which is made up of 1-Series, 3-Series, X5 and X6 vehicles, as well as the BMW M model range.
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Continental is building a new manufacturing facility for its Automotive, Chassis & Safety and Powertrain divisions in China. The 74,000 square metre plant is located in Shanghai’s Jiading Industrial Zone, site of its new Continental Asia Headquarters and dedicated Engineering Center. Production at the new facility will mainly be dedicated to supplying vehicle manufacturers in China, Japan, Korea and Europe, with the first deliveries expected to take place in the middle of next year.
Despite an increase in revenues during the first half of 2009, Delticom CFO Frank Schuhardt retains a cautious outlook towards the company’s full-year performance. "Consumers across Europe are going to feel the effects of the crisis over the coming months,” he commented. “This is bound to have an impact on the tyre trade. Consequently, we should not assume that Delticom will be as profitable in the second half of the year as it was in the first half."
Pan Autos, part of the First Stop network of tyre dealerships, has raised over £1,900 for a local charity at its annual charity golf day.
Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd., first quarter sales are down 22.7 per cent compared with the same period in the previous financial year. Yokohama's sales totalled 95.2 billion yen in the three months to 30 June 2009. The company's Tire Group sales slumped amid weak demand in Japan and in North America, western Europe, and “most other overseas markets,” according to the company. Although Yokohama posted tyre sales gains in the Russian and Chinese markets.
Engineering students at one German university are contributing to future tyre development through a programme with Continental. The manufacturer is cooperating with students from the University of Karlsruhe on research into passenger car tyre durability, and work so far has including the designing and construction of a test unit that was subsequently fitted and operated with different, realistic road surfaces.
This weekend a football extravaganza is being held in Germany to celebrate Audi’s 100th anniversary. On July 29 and 30 the Allianz Arena in Munich will host four of the world’s most highly regarded teams – FC Bayern München, AC Milan, Argentine champions and three-time Intercontinental Cup winners Boca Juniors, along with our very own Manchester United. Hankook Tire will also be present at this gathering of the football world’s elite, as one of the official sponsors.
“Naturally, it is a great honour for us as one of the original equipment suppliers to Audi to be able to get involved in this sporty highlight for Audi’s hundred-year anniversary,” commented Jin-Wook Choi, executive vice-president and COO of Hankook Tire in Europe.
The Japanese engineered motorcycle tyre brand FullboreUSA has developed a following stateside, and its popularity is said to be gaining within the racing fraternity, an acceptance that has been reflected by increasing North American sales figures in 2008 and 2009. Here on this side of the pond the FullboreUSA brand is brand new. The range is exclusively available through Delticom’s various national websites – at present FullboreUSA products can be purchased in Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Denmark, Poland, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Iceland and the Czech Republic.
Alcoa has launched a new 17.5 x 6.75 trailer wheel with 10 bolt holes on a 225 mm PCD. The wheel is comes in sizes 245/70 R 17.5 and 235/75 R 17.5 and will be available in Europe from mid-August. It is suitable for: low deck trailers for transport of heavy and oversized vehicles and loads; trailers and semi-trailers for volume transport; special trailers for transport of passenger cars.
The UK and Ireland are reportedly Europe’s worst offenders when it comes to driving with dangerous tyres. That’s the verdict of tyre manufacturer Michelin, which is embarking on its sixth year of running Fill Up With Air, a European tyre safety campaign. Based on checks of 50,000 cars across 27 countries, only Latvia, Greece, Lithuania and Estonia have a worse record with Austria and Germany being consistently the most safety conscious. Out of 5,000 UK cars surveyed by Michelin in 2007/08, more than 43 per cent were found to have “dangerously” under-inflated tyres, risking an accident. (For the purposes of this campaign dangerous means between 8 and 14 psi off recommend pressures).
Motoring journalist Vicki Butler-Henderson, who is promoting the campaign, said: “Tyres are the only contact a vehicle has with the road and it always amazes me how little care we take as a nation in terms of looking after them. We have to remember that cars are potential lethal weapons and it is our duty to ensure that we make them as safe as possible and minimise the risk of potentially lethal accidents.”
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