MOTORSPORT
Following achievements in Motorsport activity throughout 2004 and 2005, Italian tyre manufacturer, Marangoni, is now targeting further successes in 2006 with participation in three European championships. Firstly there is the Italian Hillclimb Championship.
Bridgestone has continued to spread safety messages to UK motorists, and raise money for charity, by exhibiting its Think Before You Drive roadshow at the world’s largest military air tattoo. Thousands of people visited the Bridgestone stand at the recent Fairford Air Tattoo, where they not only received potentially life-saving road safety information but also had the opportunity to have their photos taken with a stunning replica of Michael Schumacher’s World Championship-winning Ferrari Formula One car in return for charity donations.
Marangoni Tyre now has a greater online presence following the launch of a brand new UK website – specifically targeting end users. www.marangonityre.co.uk provides consumers with real time information about the brand and the range of tyres available. A main feature of the new site is an integrated dealer locator that allows consumers to locate their nearest Marangoni ‘Intelligence Centre’ with the click of a mouse.
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Maywood Equipment Group has supplied the Honda Formula One team, based in Brackley, Northamptonshire, with a floor-to-floor platform lift (The Move 30) for the team’s wind tunnel complex. The Move 30 is a high-rise elevator type vehicle lift with a travel range of 1.8 to 12 metres and a capacity of three tonnes. In addition to taking cars from one floor to another it is also ideal for basement or roof parking. At Honda the lift takes vehicles from the ground level to the wind tunnel on the first floor and then up to the museum on the second floor.
Hankook has continued to have a strong UK motorsport season with the latest successes in the Jim Clark Rally – the second round of the Tesco 99 Octane British Rally Championship. The SJR Hankook team set a string of fastest times with driver Gwyndaf Evans and increased its points haul with an impressive finish by team-mate Stuart Jones.
Pirelli is to step down from being a World Rally Championship tyre supplier at the end of the season, according to motorsport director Paul Hembrey. The decision is based on “marketing reasons” Hembery said in an interview with Autosport magazine.
Bridgestone has been named as the sole tyre supplier for the Formula One world championship starting in 2008. In a widely anticipated move, the World Motor Sport Council named the Japanese manufacturer as control tyre supplier at a meeting on 5 July. Bridgestone was also designated the sole tyre supplier for the sport in 2007 due to the withdrawal of Michelin at the end of the current season. Michelin has consistently refused to supply a single-supplier F1, saying it would be counter-productive.
Sometimes an exhibition can be like a meat market – every company is showing off what it has to offer. This is also true, in a positive way, for Hankook Tire. This year the Korean manufacturer not only presented its brand new stand in hall three – the most important hall – but also allowed visitors to get an impression of all the segments the company operates in. “With our presence in Essen we want to display our product competences,” says Benedikt Preussner from Hankook’s German distribution company. By this token not only Hankook’s attractive exhibition hostesses were eye-catchers but also the considerable product portfolio on display.
Fernando Alonso’s (Renault F1 Team – Michelin) victory in Montreal has given Michelin its 100th win in Formula One racing. This latest success, Michelin’s seventh of the season, is the company’s 41st since returning to the sport in 2001. Around the same time Michelin made it clear that it would not tender for a single-supplier series. After an exciting race, the remaining podium places were filled the Bridgestone-equipped Ferrari of Michael Schumacher (2nd) and the Michelin-shod McLaren of Kimi Raikonnen.
Viking International is pleased to announce the winners of its recent Millennium competition. The Ultra High Performance Millennium tyre range, launched at the beginning of the year, was introduced alongside a competition for trade customers with the chance to win an all expenses paid motorsport day courtesy of Viking International.
Frank Biela, Emanuele Pirro and Marco Werner scored a victory in the 2006 Le Mans 24 Hours in front of 235,000 spectators. Audi has effectively succeeded in its bold bid to win the world’s most demanding endurance race with diesel technology. And Michelin rose to the challenge to join its partner on the top of the podium, its ninth consecutive victory at Le Mans. The French tyre firm was also successful in the LMGT1 category with Chevrolet Corvette and in LMP2 with the RML-run Lola.
Pirelli also came away with honours after the LNT British team, Panoz Esperante, won the LMGT2 category. Pirelli took the LMGT2 title with Yokohama-equipped teams following in second and fifth places in the same category.
The biggest news from Cooper’s Reifen Essen stand was the US-based company’s decision to launch run-flat technology into the European market. At the same time Cooper’s large open-plan stand showed that the company is continuing to invest in raising its profile by modernising its brand image. Tyres & Accessories met with Cooper president, chairman and CEO, Tom Dattilo and found out more about how the brand re-launch is going and what the strategy behind the company’s run-flat launch is.
The BARC/Dunlop Sport Maxx Cup for production specification cars has taken a major step closer to taking a prime slot on the 2007 UK racing calendar.
Dunlop Tyres and the British Automobile Racing Club (BARC) announced the launch of the BARC/Dunlop Sport Maxx Cup in January this year. Since then the BARC has been inundated with enquiries, illustrating the demand for a genuine stepping stone to the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship.
Autosport International, Europe’s largest motorsport exhibition, which also comprises The Aftermarket Show, has been shortlisted for three categories in the Association of Exhibition Organisers (AEO) Excellence Awards. The awards, which will be announced at the end of June, will see the event contest the Trade Show of the Year, Consumer Show of the Year and Most Original Stand for its F1 Feature.
Kumho Tires has appointed Roger Jenkins as managing director of its Kumho Europe Technical Centre (KETC). He joins the Birmingham-based R&D facility from Goodyear Dunlop where he was manager of the Dunlop Technical Division based at Fort Dunlop.
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