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Boy Falls off Tyre, Mother Blames tReds Shoe Store

Shoe retailer tReds’ decision to employ tyres as seating in its 18 stores has come in for some stick from a customer whose two-year old son fell off the rubber when attempting to dismount. According to reports in the Hastings & St Leonards Observer, Rachel Jordan has called for the shoe chain to remove its recycled tyres: “Kids look at the tyres in the shop and think, oh great, something to play on. I understand accidents happen but it was one that could have been avoided.” She described the events that led to her son Zane visiting the hospital: “He got on to the tyre, then went to get off it, caught his foot and fell headfirst on to the floor.”

The managing director of tReds Steve Kavanagh has offered to send an email to staff at the company’s outlets asking staff to remind parents that the tyres were not for climbing on, but stopped short of ceding to Jordan’s request that they be removed. A spokeswoman for the company stated, “The seating arrangements are an integral part of our unique shop design and shopping experience. In view of these facts, the company will not be removing them from Eastbourne or any other store.”

29th May 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Bridgestone Fundraisers Cycle for Transaid in Zambia

Acting on the company’s nomination of Transaid for Bridgestone’s charity of 2009, two avid cyclists from the tyre manufacturer’s Midlands base are gearing up to cycle 420 kilometres across Zambia. Graham Hooper and Gary Grove are undertaking the Transaid Cycle Zambia Challenge, which will see them tackling all terrains – including off-roading through traditional Zambian villages – to help raise awareness and vital funds for the charity’s projects across the country.

The pair are hoping to raise £4,000 through donations from colleagues at Bridgestone, as well as family and friends, which will support Transaid’s work in Zambia, improving infrastructure and building local knowledge on the importance of road safety. In addition to the cycling challenge a number of other fundraising activities are to be organised by the firm throughout the year.

8th May 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Recession Spoils BEN’s Appetite for Annual Lunch

There’s no such thing as a free lunch, and for automotive industry charity BEN a dearth of funds in this period of recession has led to the cancellation of its 2009 lunch event. The BEN Annual Lunch, a thank you to supporters that have helped the charity over the previous year, is normally sponsored so as to not divert money from the main business of care and welfare. BEN reports, however, that the recession has affected its fundraising income, and that in these “difficult times” even its traditional supporters have needed to cut their costs.

30th April 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Goodyear Dunlop Overhauls Charity Target Early

Goodyear Dunlop has celebrated surpassing its charity fundraising target, having raised £52,000 to build a new playground at Birmingham Children’s Hospital eight months ahead of schedule. The money has been raised through employee fund raising, company match funding and public events. Birmingham Children’s Hospital corporate fundraising manager, Fidelis Hynam said, “We have been exceptionally impressed by the fund raising efforts and commitment of Goodyear Dunlop and its employees and it is no surprise they have smashed their target so early.

“For the CAMHS patients and their families this dedicated outdoor space is a dream come true. With the average stay of a CAMHS patient being six months it is very important to have their own space where they can let off steam and importantly have fun. We cannot thank Goodyear Dunlop enough.”

23rd April 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Carlisle Hosting Pirelli International Rally

The city of Carlisle will reverberate to the sound of throbbing motors and tyres traversing gravel on the weekend of April 17 to 19 when 150 cars compete in no fewer than five Pirelli International Rally events. Topping the bill is the second round of the MSA British Rally Championship, an event that is bringing an international field of competitors to Cumbria.

Ahead of the crews lies two days of action over the fast gravel tracks in the border forests where any slip can land a car in one of the many deep ditches, leading to instant retirement. But with vital championship points at stake, the drivers will be no doubt give every ounce of effort to wring every second out of their times.

17th April 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Bridgestone Previews the Australian Grand Prix

The 2009 season of Formula One looks set to usher in a new era for the sport, with rule changes aplenty, a newly-formed and perhaps, dare we say, competitive team for perennial underachiever Jensen Button and – most interestingly in this writer’s opinion – the return of slick tyres from Bridgestone’s Potenza brand for the first time in over eleven years. It is the tyres that are at least partially responsible for the radically overhauled cars this year, which are sure to catch the eye. The latest aerodynamic regulations, designed to reduce downforce, mean that the cars look very different from their counterparts of twelve months ago. Round one of the 2009 World Championship gets under way with the ING Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park on 29 March.

Since slick tyres require a new method of marking to designate between compounds, as the previous method of painting one of the grooves with a white line no longer applies, Bridgestone has used the opportunity of launching a new system to show its continued support for the FIA’s Make Cars Green campaign by marking the softer of the two dry compounds available for each race with green sidewall markings. The now renamed “wet” tyre (formerly “extreme” tyre) will also feature a green line in a central groove. As before, two compounds of tyre will be available for every grand prix, with the requirement that both are used in the race. In a change from the previous allocation philosophy employed for the past two seasons, Bridgestone will now bring non-consecutive allocations to most events. For the Australian Grand Prix the medium and super soft tyres have been selected from the range of hard, medium, soft and super soft.

20th March 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

B&J Rocket Cancels Autopromotec Participation

B&J Rocket states it will not attend this year’s Autopromotec 2009 trade fair. Com"Our investment focus is on product quality and service", as Andreas Müller, managing director of B&J Rocket Sales AG, emphasises. "The intensive dialogue with our customers worldwide, personal and via our online media, has long been established on an ongoing basis."menting on this decision, the Swiss company notes that the worldwide financial situation compels companies to thoroughly look into their expenses.

9th March 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Bridgestone Motorsport Announces F1 Tyre Specifications

Formula One tyre supplier Bridgestone has announced the compound allocations of its Potenza tyres for the first five rounds of the 2009 season. This year sees the return of slick tyres to Formula One after an eleven-season absence, and their comeback enables the implementation of softer rubber compounds – and this means more mechanical grip is available for competitors. This change, says Bridgestone, is significant for teams and drivers and is accompanied by considerable changes to the car aerodynamic packages, designed to reduce downforce and stimulate overtaking.

27th February 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Bridgestone F1 Tyres Go Green

Kermit the Frog sang that ‘it’s not easy being green’, however this year’s Formula One teams may beg to differ. And while we don’t wish to declaim the truth behind Kermit’s musical lament, all race teams must do to be green in 2009 is sit back and await the arrival of Bridgestone’s soft dry weather and extreme wet weather tyres.

On February 26 the Japanese tyre major announced it will supply ‘Make Cars Green’ tyres to every team at every Formula One race this season. Through this initiative, Bridgestone says it aims to further spread the message of the ‘Make Cars Green’ environmental campaign it has been promoting globally with the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile since last year.

26th February 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Goodyear Dunlop Nears £50,000 Charity Goal

While economic pressures can result in people rethinking their spending, they have not prevented Goodyear Dunlop’s friends and associates homing in on the company’s target of donating £50,000 in a year and a half to help build a playground for the Childhood and Adolescent Mental Health Service ward at Birmingham Children’s Hospital. Since April 2008 fundraisers have been working hard, with a range of activities taking place including a charity ball, dress down days, truck tyre rolls and a bicycle ride from the company’s head office in Birmingham to Paris. In total £48,000 has been donated to the charity, almost reaching the total in ten months.

12th February 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

The Greatest Drift of All

The relatively new motorsport known as drifting, whose championships have been reported on these web pages recently, is about to get its own track days thanks to Santa Pod Raceway in Northamptonshire. Emerging from its origins as an underground recreation, drifting is now described by the track’s administrators as “a mainstream art-form,” boasting its own championships, computer games and dedicated Scalextric set. Thanks to Santa Pod, becoming a drifting virtuoso, or at least being able to hold your car in a controlled slide, has become a much more attainable goal.

Learning to drift can be quite tricky and expensive, particularly when a learner gets it wrong. Santa Pod states, “Drift competitions require a pretty high standard before you can enter, most drift-schools add a considerable cost, and neither the local constabulary nor your local Tesco will appreciate you doing it on their turf.”

4th February 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Tires Plus, Bridgestone ‘Kickoff To Rebuild’ Tampa

On 30 January more than 1,000 volunteers, including NFL players and VIPs, will restore a historic neighborhood in West Tampa, Florida, located just two miles from the home of Super Bowl XLIII. Run by national nonprofit Rebuilding Together, the annual “Kickoff to Rebuild” is in its 14th year as one of the key sanctioned charity events of the NFL Super Bowl.

This year’s “Kickoff to Rebuild“ is sponsored in part by sister companies Morgan Tire & Auto, LLC, which operates under the name Tires Plus, and Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations. Together they will provide free restorations, renovations and energy efficient modifications to 20 homes within a five block radius, according to BATO. As part of the sponsorship, Tires Plus is providing more than 30 volunteers to participate in the event. As an added good-will bonus, BATO will be donating 20 sets of tyres, one for each homeowner. This is the first year that Tires Plus and BATO will be sponsoring this event. (Tire Review/Akron)

27th January 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Maxxis Provides 2009 Short Track UK Control Tyre

For its 2009 series Short Track UK has opted to make Maxxis the control tyre supplier. The series has chosen to follow the lead of other top motorcycle racing series like Moto GP and World Superbikes in choosing to run with a single tyre supplier. Maxxis believes that “the move to a control tyre will ensure no advantage is gained by riders using different tyres for different conditions, resulting in closer, more spectacular action.” The move will also lead to a reduced financial burden for the series to bear.

Maxxis tyre distributor Triple A Racing has agreed with the promoter of the British Short Track Championship that competitors in the main Short Track class will use the 19 inch Maxxis DTR-1 flat track tyre, which will be made available in both soft and medium compounds. The eight-round series opens in Kings Lynn on 3 May.

19th January 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Vogue Tyre Goes ‘Presidential’

The Illinois, US based Vogue Tyre and Rubber Company says it is proud to team up with the new Jaguar XF to mark the inauguration of the 44th President of the United States. The company has fitted the Jag, which will be used in Presidential inaugural events, with a set of newly released 20-inch white/gold tyres and wheels.

12th January 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Conti Revises US Web Site

Continental Tire North America launched a redesigned consumer Web site at www.continentaltire.com. CTNA said the revised site is easier to navigate, “and echoes the graphic scheme of the company’s upcoming new ‘Confidence’ ad campaign.”

The site includes links to the company’s latest news, promotions and events, as well as a dealer locator and links for consumers to select and register their tyres. In addition, there is an FAQ page and “Tech Docs” section to answer consumer questions and provide technical advice. (Tire Review/Akron)

6th January 2009/by Tyrepress Editors