After a successful race in the Canadian Grand Prix, Bridgestone’s Motorsport teams are set to compete in the FIA Formula One World Championship.
The teams have made their way to Indianapolis, USA for round nine of the championship this Sunday.
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.”
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.
Back in 1982, Avon Tyres Racing signed a three-year contract to supply control tyres to the Formula 3 championship. 22 years later, the company supplied tyres for its 400th F3 race, at Donington Park in early April. The single seat racers are capable of speeds up to 165 mph and F3 is widely regarded as a stepping stone to Formula 1 driving. Among those who have made the transition are Jenson Button, Mauricio Gugelmin, Mika Hakkinen, Johnny Herbert, Rubens Barrichello and the late Ayrton Senna.
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.
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.
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.”
The variety of motorsports is terrific; from the single seater Formula 1 and Formula 3 cars to events such as touring cars and rallying, where the cars – and tyres – at least look like the ones that we see on the roads. Then there is the two- (and three- if you count sidecar racing) wheel motorsports sector. Many tyre manufacturers are active in at least of these sectors, while some supply tyres across the motorsports spectrum. Their motive is usually publicity and brand exposure, although there may be technical spin-offs or commercial advantages through being allied with a winning team. Whatever the reasons, many tyre manufacturers are heavily involved in motorsports. We take a look at who, and why.
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.
The row over tyres used in Formula 1 escalated when Ferrari’s Technical Director Ross Brawn said that Ferrari was considering lodging protests over the results of several of this season’s races. A large number of Michelin teams “were running illegal tyres for a considerable amount of time” he said in an interview with Autosport magazine, dismissing suggestions that the row is damaging the sport. Michelin claims that its tyres are legal. As far as the average F1 fans are concerned, they would doubtless prefer the 2003 championship to be decided on the track by drivers, rather than in a courtroom by lawyers.
Cooper Tire & Rubber has announced a five-year agreement in the USA with Formula Motorsports Inc to create the Cooper Tire Championship Series, which will be the home of the Formula Ford 2000 Zetec racing programme. There will be three categories, all using Cooper Zeon racing radials. Cooper chairman, president and CEO Thomas A. Dattilo said that the group has a rich racing heritage in Europe with Avon tyres and it wants to expand this expertise more aggressively in other markets.
In an admission that surprised nobody, Ferrari admitted that it was the source of the complaint to the FIA about Michelins’ allegedly-illegal Formula 1 tyres. The complaint was made after the Hungarian Grand Prix, which saw the World Championship lead of Ferrari’s Michael Schumacher cut to just one point. Michelin, who denies that its tyres contravene FIA regulations, was talking about a boycott of the next F1 race (Monza, 14 September) but the company is believed to be working on getting re-designed tyres ready for the event.
Bridgestone Europe is best-known as a supplier of high performance tyres, thanks largely to its presence in Formula 1, but the company has reported that it is gaining OE business in all sectors of the car market, from micro cars to off-road vehicles. The latest OE successes for Bridgestone include the Peugeot 307 and Land Rover Freelander.
Michelin’s Motorsport Director, Pierre Dupasquier, has been reported in the British media saying that the tyre manufacturer developed new compounds and constructions for Formula 1 during the winter. Compared with 2002, the new tyres should be about one second quicker per lap and he hopes that the teams Michelin fits in 2003 can break the dominance of the Bridgestone/Ferrari package.
Back in 1989 the market researchers were telling the motor industry and the press that the boom in 4×4 vehicles had peaked. Anyone who wanted a 4×4 already had one and the market would stagnate before declining. How wrong they were. What they failed to recognise was the change in the demographics of the market and the complete change in the image of the 4×4, which, nowadays, we are driven to call a Sports Utility vehicle (SUV). The market is still growing and every vehicle manufacturer in the world has an SUV range, or is planning an SUV range. The growth in the market has been less about the development of the grass roots off road vehicle than the emergence of the SUV as a fashion and lifestyle statement. There are still those who use their 4×4 for the purpose for which it was designed, either work or leisure, but the phenomenal growth has been in the luxury end of the market where the vehicles may look as if they are designed to tackle the wild mountain tracks, but will be lucky if they clip the kerb in the supermarket car park. The dilemma for the tyre dealer was that the vast majority of tyres for 4×4 vehicles were originally designed for agricultural use and, though, moderately capable in the mud, were less than well suited to road use. As the market developed, the availability of increasingly road biased tyres increased. As the SUV market grew there also developed a growing demand for higher and higher performance road tyres. Today the advent of the BMW M5 and now the Porsche Cayenne and the continued road refinement of the Range Rover has set an unprecedented demand for high and ultra-high performance road tyres aimed at SUVs. Tread patterns, widths and profiles that wouldn’t look amiss on a sports car now adorn vehicles which have a heritage which harks back to the Willy’s Jeep.
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