MOTORSPORT
The new partnership between Aston Martin and Pirelli got off to the best possible start in qualifying for the 54th annual Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, the opening round of the 2006 American Le Mans Series. In typical Floridian hot afternoon conditions, the two Astons scorched around the track to take first and second grid positions ahead of the two factory Corvettes. Pedro Lamy in car #009 set a new GT1 class qualifying lap record of 1.55.286.
Bridgestone Motorsport has launched a new Bridgestone Motorsport consumer website: www.bridgestonemotorsport.com aimed at bringing motorsport fans across the globe regular news and information about Bridgestone’s involvement in all of its major motor racing activities, namely the FIA Formula One World Championship, the GP2 Series, MotoGP, IRL, Champ Car World Series, Formula Nippon and SUPER GT.
A successful tyre and chassis test has given the SJR Hankook rally team a major boost ahead of a hectic fortnight for the team. Drivers Gwyndaf Evans and Stuart Jones put the team’s Mitsubishi Evos through their paces in Wales as final preparations get underway for a series of events.
On Sunday 19 March the team will be at Mallory Park in Leicestershire for BRC Live – the official launch of the Tesco 99 Octane MSA British Rally Championship. As soon as the event closes the team heads directly to Spain where young hot shot Stuart Jones and co-driver Craig Parry, will be competing in the Rallye Catalunya – the Spanish round of the World Rally Championship.
Dunlop Motorsport will welcome more than 70 of the top motorcycle riders from 14 countries to test their new 2006 race tyres on the Spanish circuits of Albacete and Valencia, over five days in March.
This is the third year that Dunlop has organised such a pre-season test: “We are strongly committed to winning the national championships in all major markets. In 2005 we supplied the winning tyres for the national champions in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, UK and USA“, said Steve Male, Dunlop’s European Motorcycle Motorsport Manager.
SpeedTV.com has reported that McLaren boss, Ron Dennis, has hinted that Michelin’s announced withdrawal from F1 might not be definitive. Dennis said that the French company might change its position and continue into 2007 for what is supposed to be the last season of tyre competition. “Bridgestone has opened discussions with the teams and us as well. But I think there’s also some indication that it may change. We are not at this stage focusing on next year’s tyre supply. At the moment we’re very comfortable that Michelin have done a very good job.
“Of course we’re looking at two Ferraris on the front row on Bridgestone, and it’s a little confusing to see the pace of the other teams on Bridgestone, so we don’t know where we are. But I think Michelin has done a very good job, and we’d love them to continue, and I don’t think that is beyond the realms of possibility,” Dennis is reported to have said.
Dunlop is working with young engineers to bring Formula racing car BMM02 into reality. The team consists of 20 postgraduate Automotive and Motorsport engineers from Brunel University West London, with the common goal of designing and manufacturing a formula-style racing car for the Formula Student Competition 2006.
Having been established for almost 45 years within various sectors of the automotive industry, Sussex based, Elite Garages has now opened a Motorsport Tyre division within the wholesale operation based in Mannings Heath, Horsham.
Managing director Richard Whittemore commented: “With the increased number of people taking their cars on track to explore their performance limits, we felt it necessary to open a specialist division to offer sales support and technical information for these customers”. At the beginning of 2005, this idea became a reality under the watchful eye of Dave Blackley, who has over 10 years experience in the tyre industry with Elite Garages.
Dekk Partner recently invited its Nordic suppliers and customers for a winter adventure at Gol Mountain in Norway. It was an intensive week with more than 400 visitors, all experiencing the best of the Norwegian mountains. Temperatures of -22 degrees in the morning (peaking at 6 degrees during the day) meant there was always enough snow-covered roads, but conditions were bearable.
Yokohama will supply tyres and sponsorship to the 2006 Rallycross Super Series, after signing an agreement with their promoters. Yokohama tyres are currently used as the control tyre in the Junior, Senior Minicross and Stock Hatch Rallycross categories and the company will make a series of new tyres for the Rallycross series.
Kumho Tyres has announced relocated to new offices in Sutton, Surrey. In a ceremony held on 10 February, H S Lee, president of Kumho Tire Europe GmbH, officially opened the new facility together with the managing director of Kumho Tyre (UK) Ltd, Steve Tidmarsh.
Group Tyre (UK) Ltd. has signed a deal with Taiwanese manufacturer Federal whereby the wholesaler will exclusively handle the distribution of Federal tyres in the UK. Commenting on the development, Group Tyre (UK) Ltd Chairman, John Church said: “The announcement of our exclusive distribution partnership with Federal in the UK tyre market further supports our goal to offer the market total support. The Federal brand is totally committed to developing a strong product range, with compounds and tread patterns for almost every driving application. Constant R&D has aided the development of this product offering, which has recently been strengthened with a number of race-bred motorsports tyres including the 595 Competition Series and Couragia Adventure Series.”
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.
The 2006 Autosport/Aftermarket Show confirmed its position as the largest dedicated motorsport exhibition in Europe with 94,000 visitors in total. According to the organisers, 27,000 of these were trade visitors, an 8 per cent increase on 2004.
Pirelli has stepped back from title sponsorship of the British Rally championship in 2006. However the company will continue to sponsor the first round of the Pirelli International Rally and other motorsports events.
“Having Pirelli involved in the BRC will continue to provide the stability we all rely on,” commented Championship manager Mark Taylor as the announcement was made. “Pirelli’s support has been a vital factor in rebuilding the BRC over the last four years and the relationships that have been forged during this challenging period will be a hugely important ingredient in UK Rally’s plans for the further development of the championship. With its high profile and experience in international motorsport, and the obvious relevance of its products, Pirelli remains the ideal partner for Britain’s premier rally series.”
The recent Autosport show saw Korean tyre manufacturer, Hankook, unveil a raft of motorsports plans, as it seeks to become a key player in the UK motorsports arena. Building on last year’s successful rallying programme, Hankook Motorsports has confirmed plans to run a two-car team in the British Rally Championship with former British champion Gwyndaf Evans and rising-star Stuart Jones driving Hankook shod Mitsubishi Lancers. On the racetrack Hankook announced that it is joining forces with the VW Racing Cup.
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