MOTORSPORT
Kumho Tyres Australia has renewed its support for the Australian Rally Championship. The company has been involved with the East Coast Bullbars Australian Rally Championship for the past four seasons and has now committed to being official tyre supplier up until at least 2016.
This weekend’s F1 round at Brazil’s Interlagos circuit has been described by Pirelli motorsport director Paul Hembery and racing manager Mario Isola as the “end of an era”. The practice and race events for the Formula 1 Grande Prêmio Petrobras do Brasil 2013 at the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace will be the last hurrah for the normally-aspirated engine cars.
With the sport still growing in the UK and trying to attract new talent, the attractiveness of the series to tyre suppliers is equally important. Title sponsor of the British Drift Championship and supplier to one of its major teams Japspeeed, Maxxis explains how it is helping the sport to thrive and grow as part of the UK motorsport calendar.
Following high profile controversies in major 2013 series, are the pressures placed on premium brand tyre manufacturers becoming too much to handle? Or are the pressures and the expensive compromises more than justified by the marketing and branding gains yielded from being the exclusive supplier of globally recognised motorsport?
Exclusive tyre supplier Bridgestone has congratulated Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez on becoming only the second ever rookie winner of the MotoGP World Championship, after his third place finish was enough to beat the other podium finishers Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa at Valencia Circuito Ricardo Tormo.
Toyo’s Proxes R888, the Japanese manufacturer’s road-legal competition tyre, has been involved in a wide variety of series this year, showing its versatility and targeting fitments suited to the brand’s strategic placement.
Yokohama’s 2013 motorsport season included the novelty of supplying the control tyre for the inaugural BRDC Formula 4 series, which boasted full grids and close competition as a popular stepping stone in single seat racing for aspiring Formula One drivers.
Dmack is hoping to help four Ford Fiesta R5 drivers challenge for WRC2 honours at the revived Wales Rally GB round of the FIA World Rally Championship. Jari Ketomaa used the DMG+2 gravel tyre at Rally Finland in August to drive to victory, and he will challenge again when the championship kicks off on Thursday in North Wales. Norwegian Eyvind Brynildsen will join him, driving a pair of Autotek-run Fiesta R5s in Dmack livery. Two local British drivers will also use Dmack in attempting to make home advantage count in the north and mid-Wales forests.
Premium brand tyre manufacturers have emphasised youth development as a keystone of their activities practically since John Boyd Dunlop’s famous fitment to his son’s tricycle, and Sumitomo’s Falken brand has focused its engagement with grassroots sport in this way during 2013. First it introduced a sponsorship and support scheme that enabled young drivers access to subsidised and free tyres in the Association of North Western Car Clubs (ANWCC) K11 Micra Challenge and the Under 17 Motor AutoSOLO Championship for standard cars. It followed that with support for 11-year old Catherine Harris in National Ministox. The championships used the ZIEX ZE912 while the younger sister of 2013 F1 stock car world champion Tom Harris used both the ZIEX ZE912 and Sincera tyres on her Mini.
Hankook has continued to increase its reputation as a motorsport tyre supplier in DTM this year. Looking back on the season following the final action at the Hockenheimring, Manfred Sandbichler, Hankook Motorsports director Europe, explained that the increased emphasis on tyres has been a pleasing element of 2013.
Dunlop’s motorsport heritage dates back as long as the brand itself, but even with such a history it is fair to say that its 125th year represented a strong showing. The manufacturer says entering races with open tyre supply is an important part of its drive to innovate and develop, although it continues to provide control tyres to a number of championships too. Dunlop emphasises particularly its endurance victories, which this year have included the Nürburgring 24H, VLN 6hrs, Le Mans 24h LMP2 and FIA World Endurance Championship and European Le Mans Series race victories too. Dunlop says it uses these championships to develop new technologies and concepts that then cascade into their standard motorsport tyre range and ultra high performance road car tyre range.
Cooper’s Avon brand celebrated 30 years of motorsport by adding a number of new championships to its portfolio, including the Time Attack Series, to which Avon became an official tyre supplier at the start of the year and the F1 Era Superbike Championship – a new series for 2013. Meanwhile, Cooper Tires became a principal partner to the burgeoning FIA European Rallycross Championship and sponsor to rising star Timmy Hansen in his maiden season. Both brands were once again the title sponsors of the Avon Tyres British GT Championship and the Cooper Tires British Formula 3 Series.
Yokohama Rubber’s contract with the Japanese Formula 3 Association has been extended for a further three years, which means All-Japan Formula 3 Championship races will run on Advan control tyres through to 2016. Furthermore, this year Yokohama will return to Formula 3 in Macau for the 31st time – the Japanese tyre maker will once again serve as exclusive tyre supplier to the Macau Grand Prix and provide its Advan tyres for the race.
North America’s greatest automotive products show gets underway today, and tyre makers are making sure the anticipated 60,000 plus visitors know about their latest developments.
Pirelli has signed an extension to its supply of the Mini Challenge. The tyre supplier, which has original equipment deals to supply its P Zero and Cinturato tyres to the road-going Mini Countryman and Mini Cooper S, will supply both the Cooper class and the turbo-charged John Cooper Works class throughout 2014, the series’ 13th year. The series organiser said it had agreed to place controls on tyre usage in conjunction with the tyre supplier, with the aim of keeping down the cost of competing.
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