MOTORSPORT
When teams arrive at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas for the forthcoming US Grand Prix, they will be stepping onto a newly-built track that has never been raced on before. Tyre supplier Pirelli is bringing the P Zero Silver hard and P Zero White medium tyres: a reasonably conservative compound choice for a circuit where there are still a number of unknown factors when it comes to tyre performance.
Derek Johnston rounded off a memorable season in the GT Cup after clinching the overall championship crown at Donington Park. Peter Smallwood claimed championship glory in Group 2 and Chris Bentley was crowned the winner in Group 3. Following the conclusion of this year’s series, tyre supplier Pirelli anticipated increased grid numbers as the series organiser looks to broaden both participant numbers and sponsorship.
Pirelli will increase its British Superbike presence from 2013 when the manufacturer becomes the sole tyre supplier and title sponsor for National Superstock 1000 and 600 classes. The Triumph Triple Challenge series will also use Pirelli control tyres. The brand has been the single tyre supplier in the Superbike and Supersport categories since 2008. Pirelli will offer the Diablo Supercorsa tyres for all three championships.
Maxxis has extended its promotional calendar range to three distinct publications for 2013: a new car tyre calendar, a dedicated motorcycle tyre calendar and a separate Maxxis Babes calendar. Maxxis says it will highlight its car tyres and sports sponsorship together, featuring Maxxis-sponsored Team Japspeed drift drivers alongside action images from off-road truck racing, ATV sport and the Dakar Rally. For bike retailers, Maxxis has produced a calendar with off-road and on-track action from Maxxis-sponsored British Superbike teams Swan Yamaha and Maxxis Apico Suzuki as well as Maxxis Henderson LPE Kawasaki, the factory Kawasaki motocross outfit. The Maxxis Babes, popular with motorsport fanatics at the many events Maxxis attends, get a standalone calendar.
Maxxis International has aligned its brand with some of the UK’s biggest performance car shows and events in 2012, mostly in conjunction with the drifting team Team Japspeed, which it sponsors. “This season’s events have been some of the best yet, with amazing cars and bigger crowds than ever, and we are delighted with the response from what is, after all, a hugely knowledgeable and very demanding customer base,” said Maxxis International UK’s managing director Derek McMartin.
In Japan, a car shod with Yokohama Advan racing tyres finished first in the GT300 class in Round 8 (the final round) of the SUPER GT held on October 28 at Twin Ring Motegi, Tochigi Prefecture, reversing the series point standings to win the 2012 series championship. Vehicles equipped with Yokohama tyres have won the series championship in the GT300 class for the last four years.
Lotus driver and 2007 Drivers’ Champion, Kimi Raikkonen sealed the first victory of his Formula One comeback with Pirelli in Abu Dhabi; the 19th of his career. The Finn used a one-stop strategy, fast becoming the favoured method of negotiating a Grand Prix on Pirelli’s second season tyres, stopping on lap 31 to move from the P Zero Yellow soft to the P Zero White medium tyres. Having started fourth on the grid, he took the lead following the retirement of McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton on lap 19, holding it to the finish. Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso used an identical strategy to Raikkonen, stopping three laps earlier, reducing his gap to the lead of the Drivers’ Championship to 10 points with two races to go. He would have closed the gap even more had it not been for the current leader, Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel, who started from the pit lane after having his qualifying times disallowed.
Last weekend saw the Dunlop British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) come to a close with Gordon Shedden taking his maiden touring car trophy, with Dunlop once again the proud sponsor and the sole tyre supplier. Across the ten rounds of the season, Dunlop supplied 4,616 tyres to the championship, 656 of which were wet v-grooved tyres. Each round is attended by a 15 strong motorsport service team who ensure the teams are running the correct tyre set up for their vehicle.
Infinity Tyres used the occasion of Brityrex 2012 to meet with industry figures from the UK and beyond, and to discuss current business topics with many UK dealers. Its stand displayed, for the first time in the UK, the new Infinity Ecosis and Ecomax tyre ranges which will be available to purchase in the final months of 2012. The brand also made its presence felt at the entrance to the exhibition, where the Infinity-sponsored Acorn Motorsport 2013 season drift race car was on display.
Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel completed a perfect win to consolidate his lead in the Formula One Drivers’ Championship in India, using the low levels of degradation experienced with both of Pirelli’s P Zero compounds to finish at the head of a grid that mostly emulated his one-stop strategy. Vettel was fastest in every session to claim his fourth race victory in a row, achieving a similar feat to last year’s visit to the Buddh circuit – Pirelli points out that no other driver has ever led a lap there.
This year’s Malaysian Grand Prix was red-flagged after thirteen laps in an intense tropical downpour, with Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa claiming victory ahead of Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo in second place and teammate Casey Stoner, who finished third. With varied track conditions over the weekend, riders experienced every specification of tyre brought to Sepang by Bridgestone. All riders opted for the hard compound front wet tyre during the race, while rear tyre choice was equally divided across the grid with ten riders each selecting the soft and hard compound wet tyre. Masao Azuma, chief engineer in Bridgestone’s Motorsport Tyre Development Department speculated on why riders may have experienced less grip at Sepang, even before the rain came.
2012 saw champions crowned on Cooper Tires and Avon Tyres racing products in over 250 motor racing championships around the globe. In addition to the Cooper Tires British Formula 3 Series and the Avon Tyres British GT Championship (see Tyres & Accessories’ October issue for details), Cooper Avon added the Avon Tyres MSA British Hillclimb Championship to its roster of major motorsport activations. General Motorsport manager at Cooper Tire Europe, Paul Coates, reflected: “It’s been another phenomenal year for Cooper and Avon’s involvement in motorsport. Supplying tyres to an array of vehicles across the world, we’ve witnessed great racing and some extremely close-fought championship battles in 2012 and we’re already looking forward to another fruitful year in 2013.”
Pirelli took its World MX Championship tally to 58 titles as it won both MX1 and MX2 titles, whilst repeating the double in the British series. KTM factory riders Antonio Cairoli and Jeffrey Herlings powered to MX1 and MX2 FIM World MX Championships ahead of schedule at the penultimate round to give Pirelli their 57th and 58th World Titles. The Italian marque also recently won the notoriously difficult Weston Beach Race to make 2012 a gold medal winning year.
The final round of the Maxxis ACU British Motocross Championship at Little Silver, near Exeter turned out to be one of the most action packed season finales ever, as Elliot Banks Browne (HM Plant KTM UK) overturned a 16 point deficit to clinch victory in the MX2 class and a second place finish in the opening moto was enough to hand the MX1 title to Kevin Strijbos. Maxxis celebrates ten years as title sponsor of the series next season and was delighted to see it remains well-supported by a Veterans championship, the MXY2 youth series and the new MXY85 competition. British motocross also continues to broaden its appeal, reaching a bigger TV audience thanks to Sky Sports 3 and 4 coverage and exposure via Motorsport Mundial on Channel 5.
Today’s F1 drivers cut their teeth in one of several formulae, the newest of which, Auto GP, was established in 2010. The winner that year was Romain Grosjean, who now competes alongside former F1 Drivers Champion Kimi Räikkönen at Lotus Renault. The series’ original tyre supplier was Michelin, but the French giant was replaced by Kumho in time for this season’s 14-round championship, which took place at seven venues on three continents. Run in conjunction with the World Touring Car Championship, it has also enjoyed round-by-round coverage on Eurosport.
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