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Dunlop Direzza Benchmark in Autocar Test

This year Autocar chose the Dunlop Direzza DZ02 a benchmark tyre for its detailed tyre test. According to Dunlop the tyre was chosen of its position as a leading road legal track tyre – and because it holds the lap record for road legal tyres at the infamous Nuerburgring Nordschliefe.

The Direzza was fitted to a Ford Mondeo TDCi to prove what kind of advantage a bespoke road legal track tyre could offer in the dry. The test team, led by Autocar’s Keith Howard claimed: “In the dry the Dunlop Direzza was much quicker through corners than any of the other tyres, in many cases needing a higher gear. Through the two fast S-Bends the difference was about 7mph. It was equally impressive under braking, stopping on average 2.6 metres shorter than the best conventional road tyre.”

11th October 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Dunlop Reach 50,000 Tyre Milestone at Bathurst 1000

Dunlop proudly supplied its 50,000th tyre to the V8 Supercar Championship Series at the most prestigious race on the Australian motorsport calendar. Dunlop reached their 50,000th tyre milestone after beating rival manufacturers to win its third consecutive contract to supply its highly-acclaimed control tyre to teams participating in the Australian V8 Supercar Championship Series. Since 2002, Dunlop has been the sole tyre supplier to the Championship, providing and servicing more than 9,000 tyres per year.

10th October 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

ING Renault F1 Switches Support Fleet to Bridgestone

ING Renault F1 Team, 2005 and 2006 world champions, have converted their entire fleet to Bridgestone tyres. This means the Warwickshire-based tyre giants will now supply tyres for not only the team’s Formula 1 cars but also all the team’s support vehicles. Last season, Bridgestone supplied a number of F1 teams with tyres but this year saw the remaining teams also transfer to Bridgestone. As a result many team support vehicles are now following suit, converting to Bridgestone tyres from other leading brands.

Truck Point dealer Tructyre fitted over 300 new tyres to the Renault F1 Team fleet mainly utilising Bridgestone’s latest generation of highway tyres encompassing the R249 steer-axle, M749 drive-axle and R168 trailer-axle. Tructyre was recently awarded Expert Level recognition by Bridgestone UK for their high levels of customer service and administration to fleets.

10th October 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Bridgestone Heads onto the Field as Official NFL Tyre

Tyre sponsorship of motorsport events is nothing new but ‘official tyres’ are generally less common in sporting codes that don’t actually involve the use of cars. However the absence of vehicles has proven no handicap to the National Football League (NFL) in the US, who has signed Bridgestone up as its first “Official Tire of the National Football League.”

The multi-year marketing and promotional agreement between the NFL and Bridgestone Firestone North America will see the Bridgestone brand involved in a number of promotional opportunities including title sponsorship of the first regular season NFL game to be played outside of North America.

Under the agreement, BFNT and the Bridgestone brand will join with the powerful NFL brand through numerous exclusive promotional opportunities, including title sponsorship of the first-ever regular season NFL game to be played outside North America. The game, known as the Bridgestone International Series, will be played on October 28 between the New York Giants and the Miami Dolphins at Wembley Stadium.

5th October 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Senior Management Changes at Bridgestone

On September 28 Bridgestone announced that its board of directors has approved the following proposals of the changes in member of the board and in corporate officers.

1. Changes in position and responsibilities of members of the board (effective October 16, 2007)
– Tatsuya Okajima
New position and responsibilities: Senior vice president, advisor to the president
Current position and responsibilities: senior vice president, chief compliance officer, responsible for original equipment tyre sales and quality management; concurrently chief risk-management officer

– Masaharu Oku
New position and responsibilities: Vice president & senior officer, advisor to the president. Oku has been seconded to Bridgestone Cycle Co., Ltd where he will serve as chairman.
Current position and responsibilities: vice president & senior officer, responsible for production technology

3rd October 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Dunlop Announces latest Addition to Sportmax Range

Prominent motorcycle tyre manufacturer Dunlop has launched the Sportmax Roadsmart, designed for sport touring motorcycles. This is a tyre that Dunlop is confident delivers outstanding performance on wet roads and matchless all around sport touring performance, qualities that are the fruit of more than two years global research effort.

The new tyre, which is reported to out-perform its predecessor, the Sportmax D220ST, in all areas, shows strong performance improvement on wet surfaces. This result was obtained whilst improving the conflicting demand of mileage performance, which was already recognised as one of the major strengths of the Sportmax D220ST.

“These improvements result from the combination of our latest Dunlop Sportmax hypersport tyres’ attributes with new compounding and construction technologies for an optimised performance in all riding, road and weather conditions,” said Sanjay Khanna, managing director Dunlop Motorcycle.

2nd October 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

BFGoodrich Victory Tour to Visit London in November

BFGoodrich tyres will be celebrating its motorsport success with a pan-European roadshow that is to visit London in November. This giant 1,600 square metre interactive display will feature BFGoodrich tyres and the rally vehicles that have delivered victories in the World Rally Championship, the Intercontinental Rally Challenge and the famous Dakar rally.

The BFGoodrich Victory Tour roadshow will be located at the Lakeside shopping complex, just to the east of London adjacent to the Dartford Crossing, offering easy access for motorsport enthusiasts from across the southern half of the UK. Good motorway links also mean that rally fans have a straightforward journey from further-afield.

27th September 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Cooper Heads into Third A1GP season

The 2007 sporting season has been the year for World Cups, and Cooper Tire is about to embark on its third season with the World Cup of Motorsport, A1GP. Zandvoort, in The Netherlands, will host the opening race event of A1GP’s third season, on September 29/30. Cooper Tire has been the official tyre partner of the championship since its inception in 2005, and was reportedly chosen as the sole tyre supplier for its rich motorsport heritage and expertise.

27th September 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Yokohama’s New WTCC Rain Tyres Make a Splash

The new rain tyres selected for the use in the next two seasons of the FIA World Touring Car Championship were recently given the opportunity to kick up some spray at the Snetterton Circuit in Norfolk. Chevrolet and BMW took part in the tests on the artificially watered track, with each company fielding a car fitted with Yokohama Advan tyres.

“We have compared our current rain tyres with the one we have developed for the next two years,” commented Yokohama Europe Motorsport manager Matthijs Mathlener. “The drivers have completed a number of tests, including short and long runs, with both the 2007 and the new tyres and on both a completely wet and a drying track.”

Following an invitation to tender, Yokohama was in early July appointed by FIA World Motor Sport Council to supply the control tyre for the 2008 and 2009 FIA WTCC.

20th September 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Michelin Committed to MotoGP

Michelin’s participation in the 2008 MotoGP championship looks assured following reports of Yamaha’s decision to not change the brand of rubber used by Valentino Rossi. The move confirms what Michelin motorsport director, Frédéric Henry-Biabaud, told Tyres & Accessories during an exclusive interview at the weekend.

When asked whether Michelin was planning to walk away from MotoGP, Henry-Biabaud flatly denied reports of this nature. On the contrary, he explained, Michelin is committed to providing a top quality service to its teams in this series, and has actually gone as far as diverting resources from its former Formula One budget into making the very best two-wheel competition tyres.

19th September 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Toyo Names Nick Manning as UK Marketing Manager

Toyo Tyre UK Ltd has announced that (as of 3 September) Nick Manning has been appointed as Marketing Manager for the UK. Manning joined Toyo from respected wholesaler Group Tyre. Prior to serving there as director of purchasing for two years, he was General Sales Manager at Continental Car Dealer Business Unit. In fact, Manning progressed through a series of positions at Continental over an impressive 18 years including pricing, strategy and marketing before leaving for Group.

14th September 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Walkinshaw Junior Gets To Grips With Westfield

The Walkinshaw name will need little introduction to any motorsport fan. Tom Walkinshaw has had a glittering career in saloon, touring and sports car racing as both a driver and constructor. Now it’s the turn of son, Fergus Walkinshaw to take the motorsport limelight. The 16 year old is already enjoying a competitive season in the Ginetta Junior racing series, but as part of his driver training recently spent a day with stunt legend Terry Grant learning the art of car-control in a Toyo T-1R equipped Westfield.

13th September 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

The All-New Botticelli Wheel from OZ

OZ has used its unrivalled knowledge of the track to produce another alloy, which it hopes will be a winner. Engineers have spent years combating the physical effects of a wheel turning on an axis. The so-called gyroscopic effect of “unsprung weight” can impact on steering, acceleration, handling and braking. So technicians have honed the Botticelli to improve driving dynamics, finish and durability.

Three-piece modular wheel technology allows for extreme sizes and a high degree of lip depth on the inner and outer rims. The forged flange offers superior mechanics, lightweight and versatility of form otherwise impossible to achieve in wheels sized 19, 20 and 22 inches.

12th September 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Yokohama HPT Clinches Another Championship

The UK distributor for Yokohama tyres, Yokohama HPT, has helped clinch another motorsport championship this year. Tristan Pye has won the Group N class of the BTRDA Rally Championship with two rounds to go, in his Yokohama-shod Subaru Impreza N11 rally car. The series is currently in its 54th year and comprises three awards split across a range of classes. This season is Tristan’s second using Yokohama tyres. So far he has taken class wins on five of the seven events he has competed in and is now uncatchable in the Group N category of the series.

Pye cites the Yokohama tyres as a major factor in his success this year. “I’ve been running Yokohama tyres this year as well as last year and find they work very well. I have tried other tyres but to be honest, even if I wasn’t supported in my efforts by Yokohama, I’d pay to use their tyres!

“It’s not only the tyres themselves which impress though; the back-up I get from Yokohama HPT is second to none. The pre-event work, as well as the input from the specialists who go to every event is invaluable to us on the stages. They always seem to know which tyres will work best.”

11th September 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

New marketing director at Bridgestone UK

Bridgestone UK has made a new addition to its Warwick-based team after appointing Sam Enya as marketing director. Mr. Enya, 39, has been with Bridgestone since 1993, when he joined the company’s head office in Japan straight from college.

After spending 12 years working for the tyre major in its home country, progressing into a role looking after sales for the motorsport and aircraft tyre divisions, Enya transferred to the UK. Most recently, he has worked as a manager at Bridgestone Motorsport in Slough, handling the Formula One operation, but has now moved to Bridgestone UK’s Tachbrook Park head office to oversee the firm’s marketing strategy.

“Having worked for Bridgestone for 14 years, I’m looking forward to a new challenge within the company,” he said. “My aim is to ensure that Bridgestone continues to strengthen its position within the UK market.”

21st August 2007/by Tyrepress Editors