Bridgestone Motorsport has announced that it has entered into a multi-year agreement with the Super Aguri F1 Team for the supply of Bridgestone Potenza Formula One tyres. The agreement will commence immediately and the team is expected to run for the first time on Bridgestone F1 tyres at a shakedown test in February.
(Akron/Tire Review) Groupe Michelin Managing General Partner Edouard Michelin, on a visit to the US, said the company will pursue cost reduction gains by replacing only a portion of workers who will retire in the next few years. This includes Michelin operations in the U.S. and Europe. AFX News reported that Michelin, who visited his company’s North American operations, said: “There is no magic formula” for the reductions, and that decisions on whether to replace certain retiring workers would be made on a case-by-case basis.
Bernie Ecclestone and German bank BayernLB have sold their controlling stake in Formula One to CVC Capital Partners for an undisclosed sum. The sale gives the investment company 75 per cent control of F1. However Ecclestone will hold onto the chief executive post at Formula One Group as well as retaining a stake in the business.
Formula 1 has gained an 11th team, although it is not certain they will compete in 2006. Former Grand Prix driver, Aguri Suzuki, made an application to compete next year in a car powered by Honda engines and running on Bridgestone tyres. However the fact that the team have to build their own chassis means the Super Aguri Formula One is facing an uphill battle to be ready in time for the beginning of next season.
The team will be based in Tokyo with race operations situated at the former TWR headquarters in Leafield, Oxfordshire, the Telegraph reported. Takuma Sato, BAR test drivers Anthony Davidson and Adam Carroll, and Super Aguri IRL driver Kosuke Matsuura are all said to be under consideration for the drivers’ jobs.
Goodyear is reportedly considering returning to the Formula One motorsport series. F1total.com reports that the American manufacturer is considering getting involved in the sport as a way of responding to the improved market performance that Michelin and Bridgestone have achieved through their involvement. The F1 website speculates that Goodyear could apply for the FIA contract as soon as the series reverts to using a single tyre supplier. Goodyear could also be competing with Kumho for a future F1 contract, the website states.
Pneumatic impact wrenches such as those typically used for commercial wheel bolting could prove to be a health hazard if used for more than a few minutes a day, says a new assessment.
Michelin has criticised the FIA’s new Formula 1 rules, hitting out against the association’s “hidden motives.” In an official statement the French tyre manufacturer said it is “perplexed by the step backwards of the FIA’s F1 regulation for 2006” which it says are “incoherent with the FIA’s proclaimed policy to reduce costs.”
The FIA World Motorsport Council has officially approved new Formula 1 rules, which will see the series re-introduce a control tyre and bring back tyre changes. The new rules also mean larger wheels and slick tyres will be used. The new rules state: “Each driver will be permitted to use seven sets of dry-weather tyres for each event. All tyres used for qualifying and race must be of the same specification. Tyre changes will be permitted at any time during the race.”
While the reintroduction of pit-stop tyre changes and the use of more than one set of tyres will begin next season, the control tyre concept, larger wheel sizes and slick tyres were originally slated for 2008. However, the FIA has allowed for this collection of rules to be brought forward to 2007 if an 80 per cent majority of the Formula One Technical Working Group agree to do so before the end of December 2005.
A meeting of the Formula 1 commission has voted to re-introduce tyre changes into the racing series. The Daily Telegraph described F1’s decision to reintroduce tyre changes as “far from unanimous”. In addition the series will adopt a new qualifying system for next season as well as a radical alterations to vehicle aerodynamics and appearance.
Bridgestone has called in some of its celebrity connections to help motivate workers in advance of next weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix. Michael Schumacher, Rubens Barichello, and Ferrari F1 team managing director Jean Todt recently visited Bridgestone’s worldwide headquarters in Tokyo at the invitation of Bridgestone Corporation president, CEO and chairman, Shigeo Watanabe.
Jenson Button, David Coulthard, and Ralph Schumacher have all recently complained about tyre performance at the Brazilian and other Grand Prix. Before that there was the whole US Grand Prix debacle. Most observers and industry insiders put this down to FIA’s ‘one tyre for a race weekend rule.’ Could these and other problems all be solved with a control tyre? click here. to state your views. Don’t forget to leave some contact details so we can publish your views at a later date.
Six First Stop dealers joined forces with celebrities from the worlds of television and music recently to raise money for charity. Coronation Street stars Bill Ward and Tina O’Brien, who play Charlie Stubbs and Sarah-Louise Platt in the show, joined Girls Aloud singer Sarah Harding and the dealers on the Bridgestone stand at the Truckfest North West show at Haydock Park Racecourse, Merseyside.
The final three contestants of the Dunlop Race Academy 2 will go head to head at Silverstone on 24th August for the chance to compete in the Dunlop Driver’s Cup; the final round in the highly competitive Ginetta Championship where they will share the track with experienced racers.
Alec Berry from County Durham, Simon Shaw from Warrington and Luke Debono-Wilson from Essex, who will represent the North East, North West and South East were chosen from over 8,000 entrants. Seven regional winners competed at Donington race track to make this final three and were scored by the Dunlop Race Academy judges as they completed a full day of driver coaching and evaluation, fitness and media tests on the Donington Grand Prix circuit.
The next International Tyre Club event will be held at the ultra-modern Warsaw Inter Continental Hotel between 29 – 31 March 2006. Recent ITC events have been held in Prague, Budapest and most recently, in Lisbon.
Hutchison, a company that also owns the UK’s 3 mobile phone network, is reported to be preparing to buy Formula One for about $1 billion (£575 million). Bernie Ecclestone, Formula One tycoon, confirmed on Sunday that he had been approached by the Hong Kong firm.
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