MOTORSPORT
In March 2013, Michelin was confirmed as tyre supplier for the first two seasons of the new FIA Formula E Championship. Race fans attending the IAA show in Frankfurt this week have been amongst the first to see this new tyre up close; the unnamed, new generation 18-inch tyre was displayed fitted to the Spark-Renault SRT_01 car that will be used by all teams during the first year of this city-centre electric racing championship.
While many motorsport series take a summer break in August, Yokohama says there was still plenty to keep its tyre engineers busy across Europe and the world last month. The Japanese brand supports more than 35 race series in the UK and Europe with more around the world, including the USA and Asia, including the FIA World Touring Car Championship, the FIA European Rally Championship and the UK BRDC Formula 4 series.
In addition to unveiling its new Zeon CS Sport, on Wednesday morning Cooper Tire Europe gave word that it has recruited David Coulthard as its UHP range brand ambassador. The ex-Formula One and DTM driver, who now fronts the BBC's F1 coverage, will represent the tyre maker until the end of 2016 at key events and also offer technical advice and feedback to the company's product development team, as he did for the Zeon CS Sport.
Sebastian Vettel won a 32nd career victory at the Italian Grand Prix in uncomplicated fashion, using only two sets of Pirelli’s tyres in the exclusive supplier’s home race. Fernando Alonso, with whom Vettel shares that career wins total, also used a one-stop strategy in his Ferrari to get second place, having started from fifth on the grid, meaning that he limited Vettel’s championship lead to 53 points – likely too much to make up already.
Goodyear is unveiling a new Eagle race tyre with roots in consumer tyre technology at this weekend’s NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series races at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. Reversing the usual development trend of racetrack-to-road, Goodyear’s newly designed right-side tyre marks the introduction of its Multi-Zone Tread Technology, combining two different rubber compounds in a single tread to face the conditions of one of NASCAR’s most demanding speedways.
Formula One chief Bernie Ecclestone has dismissed whispers that Michelin is readying a move to supply the series in 2014. While it seems that the French manufacturer has confirmed some level of contact with the FIA – thought to be about changes it would require to the series’ regulations to supply its tyres – Ecclestone said this was irrelevant, since Pirelli has a contract with F1’s teams (FOM). He also restated his opposition to competition between tyre manufacturers.
Leading French magazine Motorsport has published a tyre test comparing the sporting performance of 10 top manufacturers’ tyres, naming Yokohama’s recently released flagship Advan Sport V105 its winner. Ranking the tyres in terms of braking, lap times, wear and subjective performance, Motorsport’s August/September issue found the V105 strong across the board, while Michelin’s Pilot Sport 3 and Goodyear’s Eagle F1 Asymmetric rounded out a generally strong-performing top three.
Hosetechnik, the performance braking division of Forge Motorsport, has released a new range of stainless steel brake bleed nipples. The firm has engineered the product from aerospace grade material, after an overwhelming number of requests from its dealers and end-users to create a ‘fit and forget’ solution that could be used to replace the OEM parts on most modern brake calipers.
Autosport 2013 generated an estimated £1.07 billion worth of new business within the motorsport and performance engineering industries. According to the show’s organisers what they call Europe’s largest dedicated motorsport trade show was this year also the most valuable.
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Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel seems to be moving inexorably towards the 2013 Formula One Drivers’ Championship, taking his 31st career victory at the Belgian Grand Prix using a two-stop strategy. Vettel’s Red Bull set the fastest lap of the race on the hard tyre, claiming the lead from second on the grid and extending his championship advantage to 46 points over Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso. His win means that he draws level with Nigel Mansell in terms of overall victories.
World Rally Championship tyre supplier Dmack pronounced itself pleased by the performance of its new S3 version of the DMT-RC asphalt race tyre, introduced on the challenging Rallye Deutschland. The German round of the FIA championship has three distinct asphalt surfaces, which allowed Dmack to supply the DMT-RC for the first time since the mixed winter conditions at Rallye Monte Carlo in January. Dick Cormack, Dmack motorsport director, said: “It’s important that we constantly progress.”
20 year old Tatiana Calderón from Columbia has set herself the goal of competing in Formula One having entered into professional karting at eight. Now tyre supplier Hankook is supporting her development as part of its role as tyre supplier to the FIA Formula 3 European Championship, in which she is now competing.
Former Formula One racer Jean Alesi has emphasised the importance of tyre management at the Belgian grand prix. Held at one of the quickest circuits of the season in Spa-Francorchamps, Pirelli’s brand ambassador said that the number of fast corners, combined with the length of the track and variable weather could mean that the tyres cool during the latter stages of the lap, making achieving even performance throughout the lap difficult. The exclusive tyre supplier is bringing the P Zero Orange hard and P Zero White medium tyres, the two hardest compounds in the range, to Spa – an allocation that Pirelli says is “perfectly suited” to the high-energy demands of the circuit. Inclement weather could bring the Cinturato Green intermediate and Cinturato Blue wet tyres into play too.
The Lotus Festival will be staged at Brands Hatch later this month, and following its signing of an exclusive three-year deal with the Lotus on Track Racing Drivers’ Club (LoTRDC) last year Avon Tyres will supply its track-oriented, road legal ZZR to a host of Lotus competitors. As part of the deal Avon is supplying ZZRs to competitors across its burgeoning race championships, including the Lotus Elise Trophy and Lotus Cup Europe, as well as the Lotus Cup UK.
Previewing the coming German round of the FIA World Rally Championship, tyre supplier Dmack has revealed the ways in which it views the all-asphalt event as another tough challenge. The first full asphalt event of the season attracts fans from across Europe, Dmack is looking forward to testing its tyres on Germany’s demanding special stages as it aims to follow WRC2 victory at Rally Finland. Dick Cormack, Dmack motorsport director, said: “We are hoping to follow the success in Finland on gravel with another solid result on asphalt.
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