A number of senior management changes are scheduled to take effect at Bridgestone Europe on October 1. Yuji Takeuchi, chairman and former senior vice president of Sales & Marketing, and Yasuhiko Tanokashira will both return to positions in Japan. Mitsuhira (Mike) Shimazaki will join the Bridgestone Europe management group as senior vice president Business Operations. This latest posting will be Shimazaki’s third assignment to Europe.
When Bridgestone packs up its gear following the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in November, a 14-year chapter in the company’s history will come to a close. Accompanying Bridgestone during its entire Formula One journey has been Bridgestone Motorsport’s director of motorsport tyre development, Hirohide Hamashima. From the very first F1 tyres developed in secret during the late 1980s right through to today, Hamashima has been a central figure in Bridgestone Motorsport’s team. Yet the role he has played in the high profile motorsport championship is one that earlier would have been hard to imagine.
With the Formula One Drivers and Constructors Championships still very much in the balance and competition at a premium, a margin such as the tyre compounds available could be a factor in deciding the eventual winner. Bridgestone has announced its last four allocations before it hands sole tyre supply over to Pirelli in 2011, from the Japanese Grand Prix on 10 October to the season-closer at Abu Dhabi on 14 November. A gap of one step between compounds features for each of the Grands Prix. The first-ever Korean Grand Prix will feature the hard and soft compound Bridgestone Potenza tyres.
Dani Pedrosa continued to chip away at the lead built earlier in the season by Jorge Lorenzo with his second win in two weeks at the Misano Circuit in Japan, though the Grand Prix was overshadowed by the tragic death of Moto2 rider Shoya Tomizawa following an accident. Pedrosa dominated proceedings all weekend and led from the green light, setting a new lap record. Valentino Rossi kept Andrea Dovizioso at bay to finish third. Whilst rain was forecast for Sunday’s race, it failed to materialise and conditions were dry and warm all weekend, allowing all riders to used the softer compound rear tyre and the harder compound front, apart from Alvaro Bautista who used the softer front to good effect, finishing eighth with the sixth fastest lap time.
Bridgestone Corporation is to expand its electronic paper operations with the installation of a new production line in its Iwata Plant (Iwata City, Shizuoka Prefecture). According to the company, the new line will entail an investment of approximately ¥1.0 billion ($11.8 million), and will triple the company's production capacity of electronic paper to 15,000 A3 sheets per month, compared to the current capacity of 5,000 A3 sheets per month. Production at the Iwata line will begin this month.
You’re only showing your age if images of vagrants or dossers spring to mind upon hearing the word ‘drifter’. These days, as any fule kno, a drifter is far more likely to be a tyre maker and dealer’s favourite customer. Drifting has long since left its home in Japan and set out to conquer the globe, and the top drifters in our part of the world compete in the Pirelli European Drift Championship. And with just one round to go, this year’s championship title is Mark Luney’s to lose. He needs just three points at Snetterton to assure him of overall victory.
Bridgestone will remain the “Official Tire of the National Football League” in the US following a five-year extension of the marketing sponsorship deal between Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations (BATO) and the National Football League (NFL) was agreed upon on July 15. Under the agreement, a continuation of a three-year deal that commenced in 2007, BATO will continue to work with the NFL brand through numerous exclusive promotional opportunities, including the title sponsorship of the Super Bowl halftime shows for Super Bowls XLV – XLIX.
Federal Tires is the sole tyre sponsor of the 2010 D1 Street Legal Drifting Series, the platform from which drivers can progress to the D1 Grand Prix International Championship. Although the series is geared towards novice drifters, the level of professionalism is high as it attracts recognized D1GP celebrities and former regulars.
Fourteen races across four categories that include East, West, Inter Series, and with the Ladies Series will take place at nine circuits across Japan, following a championship event in a special drifting track on the Tsukuba Circuit. Being a national street legal series, there are tighter restrictions on how a car can be modified, which means every car has to prove its road-worthiness by retaining the engine with which it was originally supplied. Also, a competitor wishing to be a part of the race event is required to obtain the D1SL licence.
Scottish Coal has specified Bridgestone tyres for its 10 new Caterpillar 785D trucks as a part of its fleet modernisation programme. The trucks cost in excess of £1.25 million each and will operate at the company’s Broken Cross open cast coal mine in Ayrshire. No details of how much Scottish Coal are paying for the latest tyre supply deal have been release, but when Scottish Coal last extended its contract with Bridgestone, the firm told Tyres & Accessories that it had was seeking get every penny of value of the tyres that cost around £7000 each. Scottish Coal’s annual tyre bill is estimated to be total around £3 million.
Toyo Tire Holdings of Americas Inc. has announced the death of its chairman, Carlos (Shozo) Kibata on June 26, 2010, following a brief illness. Kibata, aged 64, had been with the Toyo Tires organisation for more than 41 years and in addition to being chairman was until recently an executive corporate officer of Toyo Tire & Rubber Co., LTD. in Japan.
Yokohama Tire Corporation has provided further details of the tyre Team Yokohama will use in its conquest of Pikes Peak in an electric vehicle on June 27. The lithium-ion battery powered vehicle will be fitted with Advan ENV-R2 orange oil infused race tyres, a product that Yokohama says cuts petroleum use in the manufacturing process by 20 per cent by utilising sustainable resources such as orange oil and natural rubber.
The new Ma5da MX5 Cup started on 24 April at Snetterton and continues at Rockingham, Brands Hatch and Croft during the season, with a “Winter Championship to take place at Donnington and Brands Hatch in October and November – and Taiwanese manufacturer Federal has announced that it will supply its 595 RS-R sport competition line as the official tyre of the new series throughout the year.
India’s Monotona Tyres Ltd has become a subsidiary of fellow Ruia Group company Falcon Tyres Ltd. This arrangement allows Monotona to take advantage of the technical assistance agreement Falcon has operated with Japan’s Sumitomo Rubber Industries since 2007 and will lead to its products being marketed in the Indian replacement market under the Dunlop brand name.
According to data released by Pirelli & C. SpA, Europe’s passenger car and light commercial vehicle replacement tyre market grew 14 per cent year-on-year during April 2010, below the 20 per cent improvement observed in March yet a three point improvement on the market’s 10.5 per cent year-to-date improvement. Original equipment sales of all tyre brands in Europe improved one per cent year-on-year during April, considerably lower than the 19.25 per cent improvement seen in the year-to-date. Replacement market truck tyre sales showed a 20 per cent year-on-year improvement during the month, down on the year-to-date increase of 32.75 per cent. The original equipment truck tyre market in Europe shot up 60 per cent in April, by far the largest monthly year-to-date growth so far this year. Year-to-date, growth in this sector have improved by 16 per cent over last year.
The short-lived dip in raw material costs the industry experienced in 2009 helped Yokohama Rubber towards a better bottom line result in the recently concluded financial year. The company has announced net earnings of 11.5 billion yen (₤83.5 million) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2010. This gain compares with a net loss of 5.7 billion yen in the previous fiscal year and reflects a surge in operating profitability. Operating income rose 67.5 per cent, to 21.5 billion yen (£156.1), on a 9.8 per cent decline in net sales, to 466.4 billion yen (₤3.4 billion). Underlying Yokohama’s surge in operating income were the abovementioned reversal of the upward trend in raw material costs and the company’s progress in reducing selling expenses and other costs. Net profitability benefited additionally, meanwhile, from a sharp reduction in losses on currency translation adjustments.
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