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Michelin “Surprised” At FIA Recommendations

Referring to the recent FIA recommendation to have only one tyre supplier for Formula One, Michelin says that the company has yet to be officially consulted on the subject. “I am surprised by this course of action,” said Michelin Group Chairman and CEO, Edouard Michelin, “as, when we entered Formula One in 2001, it was following strong lobbying by certain teams that wanted to benefit from the positive effects of our technology on the performance of their cars. What’s more, their requests were supported by the Formula One organisers to heighten the sporting interest.”

7th May 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

Team Bosses Agree F1 Changes

The proposed radical rule changes for Formula One (this site 23.04.2004) have been agreed by team bosses at a meeting in Monaco, where FIA President Max Mosley outlined the proposals, designed to make racing cheaper and more exciting. The meeting agreed that there should be one tyre supplier only and Mosley said that having a control tyre would be safer and less expensive – if everybody had the same, levels of grip and thus cornering speed could be controlled. It was possible, he added, that, with one supplier only, slick tyres could make a come-back in place of the current grooved tyres.

5th May 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

F1 Cars Too Quick For Their Own Good?

A report in the Financial Times suggests that, if Formula One cars continue to develop as they are, within three years they may be too fast for many F1 circuits. As an example, Michael Schumacher’s qualifying time for the Malaysian GP was four seconds faster than last year’s pole position time. The tyre rivalry between Bridgestone and Michelin is responsible for an improvement of over a second per lap, says the article, and it warns that, if development continues, steps may have to be taken to reduce the cars’ performances.

23rd April 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

One Tyre Supplier For F1 In Future?

Following on from the story “F1 Cars Too Quick For Their Own Good?”, The Times claims to have seen a document, written by the FIA, the governing body of Formula One, outlining changes to the sport’s rules in order to reduce costs and improve competitiveness. These include no power steering, no traction control and a manual gearbox with clutch instead of an automatic gearbox. Suggestions concerning tyres include narrower front wheels and tyres and increased rear tyres to give greater drag for overtaking, no tyre changes allowed during a race and only one tyre supplier, providing a control tyre. The proposals will be debated by the teams over two days in Monaco next week – a meeting which promises to be interesting, to say the least.

23rd April 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

Bridgestone extends motorsport involvement

Bridgestone Corporation has announced plans to supply tyres to competitors in a sweeping range of motorsport events in 2004. “Bridgestone technology has helped the world’s best racing teams win in Formula One and in other motorsport series, and we are determined to help them keep winning,” declared the company’s CEO, Shigeo Watanabe.

Winning ways continued for Bridgestone in Formula One in 2003. The company’s Potenza tyres carried Michael Schumacher and Ferrari to the drivers’ and constructors’ season championships. Bridgestone tyres have now been first across the finish line in a total of 79 F1 races.

In the 2004 F1 season, Bridgestone will again supply tyres to world champions Ferrari and to three other teams. That means that eight machines will be racing on Bridgestone Potenza tyres. The 2004 season got under way on March 7 with the Australian Grand Prix. This year’s F1 calendar features 18 races, culminating in the Brazilian Grand Prix on October 24.

IndyCar control tyre

Bridgestone’s Firestone brand will again be the sole tyre brand in the IndyCar Series, formerly known as the Indy Racing League. That racing series will include the Bridgestone Indy Japan 300 Mile at Japan’s Twin Link Motegi circuit on April 17. Altogether, the 2004 IndyCar Series will comprise of 16 races.

Domestic series too

Japan’s premier open-wheel racing series, Formula Nippon, will be another showcase for Bridgestone tyres in 2004. This year’s Formula Nippon series will consist of nine events, including a race at Malaysia’s Sepang Circuit.

Teams race on tyres from multiple manufacturers in the Japan GT Championship. But competitors equipped with Bridgestone tyres won seven of the eight races in the GT500 class of that series in 2003. The 2004 Japan GT Championship series will comprise of seven races. Bridgestone will also supply tyres for other Japanese auto racing series, including the Japan Gymkhana Championship, the All Japan Dirt Trial Championship, and the All Japan Rally Championship.

And on two wheels

Motorcycle racing also remains an important emphasis in Bridgestone’s motorsports program. At the pinnacle of motorcycle racing is the MotoGP series, and Bridgestone began supplying tyres to competitors in that series in 2002. The company will concentrate its support for grand prix motorcycle racing exclusively on MotoGP competition in 2004. A Bridgestone-equipped rider mounted a MotoGP victory podium for the first time in 2003. That was when Makoto Tamada achieved a third-place finish in the 12th race of the season.

After supplying tyres on just one MotoGP works team in 2003, Bridgestone will provide tyres to three works teams in the 2004 season. Those teams will be racing a total of five machines. In motorcycle racing besides grand prix events, Bridgestone will furnish tyres for the All Japan Road Race Championship, the All Japan Motocross Championship, and the AMA Supercross/National Series.

8th April 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

Corvette Racing switches to Michelin

For the second time in two weeks, Michelin has announced that a major racing team will switch to its tyres. The announcement that three-time GTS class-winning Corvette Racing will switch from Goodyear to Michelin racing slicks in the American Le Mans Series follows the confirmation that Formula One team BAR-Honda will run on Michelin rubber in 2004. The No. 3 and No. 4 Chevrolet Corvette C5-Rs will begin Michelin tire tests this week in preparation for the nine-race ALMS schedule and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Michelin-shod teams took the top ten positions and won all four classes at the world-famous endurance race in 2003, which also marked the company’s sixth consecutive overall win.

10th December 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

Homologation for the Pirelli P 7 on the Volvo V50

The Volvo V50 making its world debut at the Bologna Motor Show is the most recent testimonial to the fourth generation of the high performance Pirelli P7 range. This latest version of the tyre is designed to provide luxury saloons and station wagons with a perfect blend of performance and driving comfort.

5th December 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

Bridgestone loses BAR Honda contract

Bridgestone Motorsport has confirmed that it will not supply the Lucky Strike BAR Honda team with tyres for the forthcoming 2004 FIA Formula One World Championship. Bridgestone and BAR have amicably agreed to cease the current supply contract with immediate effect. Commented Director of Bridgestone Motorsport, Hiroshi Yasukawa: “Whilst Bridgestone is naturally disappointed not to continue its working relationship with the BAR formula one team, we wish them the best of luck in their future endeavours.” BAR Team Principal, David Richards, commented: “We would like to thank Bridgestone for the excellent technical partnership we have enjoyed with them over the past five years. We wish them well for the 2004 Championship and beyond.”

25th November 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

BAR-Honda 2004 On Michelin Or Bridgestone Tyres?

May BAR-Honda switch from Bridgestone to Michelin tyres in 2004 or not? F1 driver Jenson Button doesn’t “know anything about that at the moment,“ he told “As far as I know they’ve just talked about it.“ Bridgestone and BAR have a contract for another Formula One season.

12th November 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

Michelin Agricultural Developments

In the summer of 2002 Michelin launched the Kleber KAPS promotional campaign. This was a points-based incentive scheme for the agricultural sector. Dealers received points based on the number of Kleber tyres purchased. These points could be traded as they were accumulated, for a range of services and products. The points could gain dealer overalls, training sessions, or tickets for Formula One, as they desired.

KAPS is one of several similar projects across Europe and the success with which these incentive programmes have met has led to a development of the programme to be launched in 2004.

Dave Crinson, head of agricultural tyres at Michelin’s UK office, told T&A that dealers had responded positively to the scheme and the uptake on training sessions was particularly strong along with the alignment equipment and overalls. “This is an excellent outcome especially if we can get more dealers on-board with our training schemes,” he added.

Stephane Bonnard, head of marketing for agricultural tyres, pointed out that although the KAPS programme was continuing to run and had been successful to a degree, like any of these projects it was open to restructuring. “One of the areas where we believe dealers will be interested in is if we broaden the range of products covered by the scheme. This is something reflected in other European markets too. From the outset Michelin in France had been watching the KAPS scheme very closely and they have now taken it on board and whilst we will continue to run KAPS and offer the benefits, the scheme will be relaunched in 2004 with coverage to include the three key brands. Michelin of course will be the premium brand, with Kleber as the premium/value brand and BFGoodrich as the value brand. All three brands will be offered through our direct sales team to end users and dealers. Taurus and Kormoran will continue to be sold as a value and budget brand through wholesalers and will not be included in the new scheme.

4th September 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

Bridgestone back at the IAA

Bridgestone will return to the Frankfurt IAA in 2003, after a 12-year absence, with an innovative display of its latest tyre technology and achievements. The 310 m2 booth will be located in Hall 8, nr. A18. The famous red Formula One Ferrari catches the eye, but there’s more to the stand than motorsport glitter. “We wanted to show that Bridgestone develops world-class tyre technology”, says Mr Günter Unterhauser, Managing Director of Bridgestone Germany. “The IAA is one of the most prestigious motor shows in the world and certainly the top show in Germany. It is not only for end users. It gives us the chance to invite loyal dealers and our First Stop partners, to convey the message that we are a high tech company and to show them the new range.”

2nd September 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

F1 Tyre Ruling Causes Controversy

The ruling body of Formula One, the FIA, has made a ruling that could effectively brand Michelin’s tyres as illegal. This follows a complaint, believed to have been made by Ferrari and Bridgestone, although both have denied it, that Michelin’s tread is wider than the 270 mm permitted by F1 regulations. If Michelin has to scrap its current tyres, the company cannot possibly modify the design before the Italian Grand Prix on September 14th and Michelin’s Pierre Dupasquier has suggested that the five teams running on Michelins might boycott the Monza GP. He says: “Our partners would have to spend a lot of money without any guarantee that they would not be disqualified. It is up to them to decide.”

1st September 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

Arrows Fired From Formula One

The Arrows F1 racing team has been excluded from next year’s series of races, following a season during which the team did not appear in five races and also suffered financial difficulties. F1 is facing falling TV audiences and there are moves afoot to change the technical regulations in order to make the races more interesting.

3rd December 2002/by Tyrepress Editors

Pirelli Teams Up With Maserati In US Race Series

Pirelli is to be sole supplier of tyres and tyre technology to Maserati, the Ferrari-owned sports car maker. Next year Pirelli P Zero tyres will be fitted to Maserati cars competing in the Maserati trophy and, the following year, to Maserati cars competing on the GT race circuit. Maserati’s Spider and Coupe sell for around $100,000 and the brand was named as a “must-have” for affluent Americans in two lifestyle magazines. Maserati is concentrating on the US market and by 2006, hopes to sell 45 per cent of its global total of 10,000 vehicles in North America.

18th November 2002/by Tyrepress Editors

Slick Tyres To Return To Formula One?

Formula One’s Technical Working Group is said to be considering allowing slick tyres to make a comeback in the race series. Grooved tyres were introduced in an attempt to slow cars down, but lap records continue to be broken and, it is argued, the net effect was to make overtaking harder, as drivers felt they had less stability and grip. Formula One has seen a fall in TV viewing figures and the Technical Working Group is exploring ways of making the races more exciting.

15th November 2002/by Tyrepress Editors