Formula One
After eight years at Belgian wholesaler Deldo, former international sales and marketing manager Rutger Veerman has established Vimexa Automotive B.V., a sales and marketing organisation based in The Netherlands. Vimexa Automotive commenced operating in January 2014 and focuses on import and export solutions for the tyre, alloy wheel and battery segments.
Pirelli has released the first details of its Formula One tyre line-up for 2014 ahead of the first winter test in Jerez. The supplier will bring new tyres designed to operate with the wide range of regulations brought in for the 2014 season, which Pirelli describes as a “technical revolution”. Headlined by the presence of […]
Bridgestone has revealed its plan to increase the prominence of its Firestone brand in the UK passenger car tyre market during summer 2014. The manufacturer says its marketing drive will link the Firestone badge explicitly to its lengthy history in motorsport, and Bridgestone is hoping that this renewed effort will put its mid-range brand in a position to offer a compelling proposition to motorists and dealers alongside Bridgestone’s premium offering. In addition, the company will launch the new Firestone Destination 4×4 tyre in June to coincide with the concerted effort to increase awareness and sales through a variety of campaigns.
The FIA and Pirelli have renewed their Formula One tyre supply contract, confirming the Italian tyre manufacturer’s presence in the series for the next three seasons. The decision ends speculation about the immediate future of the tyre supplier in F1, and will provide some stability during a transition period for F1’s rules and regulations. However, Pirelli has also announced the decision to introduce two new mandatory rules, designed in conjunction with the FIA and F1 teams to prevent the recurrence of the tyre safety issues most prevalent at Silverstone’s British grand prix in 2013.
At this year’s North American International Motor Show, held in Detroit, Pirelli is showing off its latest products developed for the North American market. Meanwhile, some of the most desirable cars on show are wearing the Italian manufacturer’s P Zero tyres.
Around the end of December Pirelli rewarded its top performing Pirelli Performance Centres (PPCs) with a tour of the McLaren Technology Centre. Each of the top five performing depots in the 2013 retail standard audit won a pair of tickets.
At next week’s Autosport International, Pirelli will showcase its new range of FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) tyres ahead of the tyre maker’s return to world rallying. Pirelli will also bring four cars to the show including a McLaren MP4 12C, McLaren’s road-going car which exclusively uses Pirelli tyres as original equipment. Also on display will be a Pirelli-equipped McLaren GT3 to represent the Dutch Supercar Challenge, as well as a Ferrari 458 used in the Ferrari Open and GT Cup Championships – both of which use Pirelli as the championship control tyre supplier. Finally, a Pirelli-equipped Skoda Fabia S2000 that was used to win this year’s European Rally Championship will be on display to mark Pirelli’s return to WRC.
Exclusive tyre supplier to Formula One, Pirelli has issued a response to a deleted tweet by the Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg following a high-speed tyre failure in Bahrain. The manufacturer explained that there were “a number of prototypes, which were completely innovative in terms of structure and compounds” as part of its development plans for the 2014 tyre range.
Should Nico Rosberg speak of 3-ply, he may not be referring to tyre sidewall construction. During the testing of Pirelli’s 2014 F1 tyres at the Bahrain International Circuit, the German Mercedes AMG Petronas team driver experienced a tyre blowout on the straight at 320km/h. Despite a total absence of test information from Pirelli, Rosberg shared news of the mishap via a short-lived tweet.
Pirelli began testing its prototype 2014 F1 tyres at the Bahrain International Circuit yesterday, and while the official data gleaned from the 2013 cars run by the Red Bull, Ferrari, Mercedes and Torro Rosso teams is a closely-guarded secret, the tyres that took to the track in Sakhir are rumoured to make for slower lap times than those achieved during this year’s season.
Pirelli and Formula One teams will be allowed to hold a tyre test using 2013 cars next week after the FIA gave its consent in the form of a regulation change. At a meeting of the F1 Strategy Group and the Formula One Commission in Paris on 9 December, the FIA agreed that instead of […]
Following the 2011 and 2012 Formula One seasons, Pirelli published all the key figures pertinent to its tyre supply. Now at the conclusion of its initial supply agreement, the Italian tyre maker has presented figures from its entire tenure to date. “This year, we wanted to talk about all the numbers from the three-year period […]
This weekend’s F1 round at Brazil’s Interlagos circuit has been described by Pirelli motorsport director Paul Hembery and racing manager Mario Isola as the “end of an era”. The practice and race events for the Formula 1 Grande Prêmio Petrobras do Brasil 2013 at the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace will be the last hurrah for the normally-aspirated engine cars.
Following high profile controversies in major 2013 series, are the pressures placed on premium brand tyre manufacturers becoming too much to handle? Or are the pressures and the expensive compromises more than justified by the marketing and branding gains yielded from being the exclusive supplier of globally recognised motorsport?
Yokohama’s 2013 motorsport season included the novelty of supplying the control tyre for the inaugural BRDC Formula 4 series, which boasted full grids and close competition as a popular stepping stone in single seat racing for aspiring Formula One drivers.
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