MOTORSPORT
More manufacturers are selecting Yokohama’s flagship environmental BluEarth tyres for their model ranges, according to the company. Manufacturers such as Toyota, Lexus and Honda have all chosen the products as original equipment on some of the most recent additions to the range of hybrid and environmentally-friendly vehicles.
Maxxis International has launched a new website, which the company says is designed to showcase the many facets of the growing brand. www.Maxxis.co.uk offers new functionality, as well as opening the door to anyone looking to find out more about the fast-growing tyre brand.
Jorge Lorenzo’s victory at the Japanese Grand Prix at Motegi means the Yamaha Factory Racing rider has set up an intriguing final round in Valencia, where the championship leader, Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez will seek to fend off Lorenzo’s challenge. Marquez finished second in Japan, limiting the extent to which Lorenzo could close the gap at the top; a similar finish in the last of three rounds held in both riders’ home nation would present Marquez with the title. Shinichi Yamashita, general manager of MotoGP supplier Bridgestone’s Motorsport Tyre Development Department, said he was happy with the performance of the manufacturer’s softer allocation this year, despite the lack of time to practice due to rain.
Pirelli may have brought two slick compounds to India, but with the medium compound P Zero White performing far better than the soft P Zero Yellow, the Formula One tyre supplier was quick to suggest that getting the required stint on the latter briefly and early in the race was the quickest way to navigate the Buddh International Circuit. The race winner, Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel followed this advice and was duly crowned winner of both the grand prix and F1 Drivers’ Championship, making him the youngest ever four-time world champion.
When the Automobile Club de l’Ouest, creator and organiser of the ’24 Heures du Mans’ has invited Nissan to enter its ZEOD RC into next year’s 24 hour race, the Japanese vehicle maker has turned to Michelin to develop the tyres on which the electric race car will compete. The car that will take to the Circuit de la Sarthe in June 2014 was officially unveiled in October 2013 – and the director of Michelin’s 4 Wheels Racing division was on hand to talk about the tyre maker’s participation in the project.
Shinji Aoki, manager, Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development Department, explains that the “rear slick tyre allocation we supplied for the Australian Grand Prix experienced extreme temperatures which affected their durability.” The race was reduced from 27 laps to 19, including an enforced pit stop at half way after Bridgestone data from practice showed the hard rear slick should do a maximum stint of 14 laps. The tyre supplier of the supporting Moto2 race Dunlop encountered similar issues, with its race also run over a reduced distance.
Pirelli has crowned British Rally Championship 2 winner Daniel McKenna its UK Star Driver honour ahead of five other finalists. During the two-day shootout at the Sweet Lamb motorsport complex in Wales, McKenna impressed a panel of five judges the most, winning a full, seven-round British Rally Championship campaign courtesy of the series’ tyre supplier. McKenna, from County Monaghan, will compete in a Citroen DS3 R3 supplied by DGM Motorsport.
The German Busch twins won an emphatic one minute victory in 12 October’s VLN round on the Nürburgring’s Nordschleife. Their Audi R8 LMS Ultra carries the ‘Twin Busch’ livery of the brother’s successful garage equipment business and has been run on Kumho tyres throughout 2013, with increasingly rewarding results.
Avon Tyres witnessed a strong end to the 2013 Time Attack series at Brands Hatch, as two titles and an all-time Time Attack lap record were claimed on its tyres. Avon became an official tyre supplier to the increasingly popular Time Attack series at the start of 2013, supplying its acclaimed ZZR road-legal circuit tyres and full competition slicks to entrants.
Battling some of the trickiest conditions experienced so far in this season’s FIA World Rally Championship, Dmack has hailed a “successful” Rallye de France after one of its runners achieved a WRC2 Production Cup podium finish. The brand’s DMT-RC asphalt tyre came through the tough rally after delivering the grip and traction needed for its runners to safely make it to the finish of the treacherous event.
The proprietor of AJS Tyres and specialist AJS 4×4 in Lower Kingswood for over 35 years, Andy Sargeant was British Off Road Champion in 1989 and has competed in more off-road rallies than he cares to remember. He says the most important thing in any form of motorsport – or indeed in general driving – is to keep a full set of inflated tyres under your vehicle to have full control. So when he defeated the tough conditions of the recent Rallye des Cimes in his Defender 110 TD5 – the self-styled “Cimes Tractor” – the fact that he did it on the new General Tire Grabber MT made quite an impression. Sargeant says he will now pass on this experience to Land Rover owning customers.
Paul Hembery has given the strongest indication yet of a longer term future in Formula One for tyre supplier Pirelli. While there had been speculation that the manufacturer had secured the supply deal for 2014 only, the company’s Motorsport director told reporters at the Korean grand prix that the exclusive tyre supplier is “working on five years”, meaning Pirelli would be in the series until at least the end of the 2018 season.
Hankook says it is rejuvenating its line-up for the refitting/tuning market and in spring 2014 will introduce a new high performance wide tyre, the Ventus V12 evo². In addition to considerable improvements in all performance parameters over the prior-generation Ventus V12 evo, the manufacturer reports that environmental characteristics were also a key element for the development team when creating the V12 evo².
Donington Park hosts the finale of eth Avon Tyres British GT Championship on 5-6 October, and both the GT3 and GT4 titles are still to be decided. Only 21 points separate the top seven drivers in the GT3 standings. Tyre supplier and title sponsor Avon Tyres declared itself “very proud to have been involved and to continue to be involved with such a strong race championship.”
ŠKODA Motorsport driver Jan Kopecký says that becoming the 2013 FIA European Rally Champion is “a dream come true”, after he clinched the title with victory on Rally Croatia.
Kopecký and co-driver Pavel Dresler made a risk-free start in Croatia, before showing their class on the slippery asphalt roads along the Adriatic coast and moving into the lead in their factory ŠKODA Fabia S2000.
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