Motorsport Archives - Page 58 of 129

Stoner fastest on harder slicks in France MotoGP practice

Casey Stoner finished the first day of practice for the French Grand Prix fastest overall, lapping under the existing lap record by nearly half a second. His fastest lap came on the harder option front and rear Bridgestone slicks, though he also lapped under the lap record and set provisional fastest using the new soft asymmetric rear tyre. Masao Azuma, chief field engineer at Bridgestone Motorsport: “I am pleased with the performance of both our slick tyre options today as we can see from the laptimes that both worked well.

13th May 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Falken Motorsport driver anticipates quick Nürburgring 24-Hr with new Porsche

Motorsport

Back in January, the Falken Motorsport Team announced that it would return to the Nürburgring 24 Hour race on 25-26 June running a GT3 R specification Porsche 911, in a break from its tradition of Japanese sports cars. Peter Dumbreck, will be racing the car in this year’s 24 Hours, also breaking from Japanese manufactured cars, exemplified by his Nissan GTR drive in this year’s GT1 World Championship, though he notes that he has “driven a few Porsches earlier in my career including the Alzen 996 Turbo and 996 and 997 Cup cars in the Carrera Cup six or seven years ago. I’ve also driven an older RSR at the Nurburging in 2005”. Previewing the event for Falken, Dumbreck talked about the differences between driving Porsche models, such as the 997, and Nissan’s GTR, including his impressions of the Falken tyre specifications for the former, on which they have been tested.

13th May 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

70th Anniversary an opportunity for Hankook to concentrate on growth

News

As Tyres & Accessories reported on May 9, Hankook has reached its 70th anniversary. The tyre maker says it has decided against celebrating with “pomp and ceremony” and instead wishes to mark 70 years in the business by concentrating on its sustained growth. In this jubilee year, the South Korean company says it will also renew its promise to customers that in the coming decades it will “still tackle all challenges with passion and commitment and continue regional investment.”

12th May 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Cost-effective Zircotec coating provides Euro VI options

News

A new low-cost ‘fit and forget’ ceramic coating offering surface temperature reductions of 125°C has been developed by coatings specialist Zircotec for diesel engine applications. The coating features a new ceramic formulation and this, together with changes to the manufacturing process, has enabled the company to reduce costs for the new Performance Diesel product – the first Zircotec application specifically developed for commercial vehicle manufacturers – by fifty per cent. Zircotec believes the coating will prove an attractive option for truck and bus manufacturers challenged by the higher temperatures experienced with new Euro VI emissions regulations and testing methods set to be introduced in late 2013.

11th May 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Pirelli announces upcoming F1 tyre choices

News

After almost half a season of sitting on the sidelines, Pirelli’s medium Formula One tyre will finally take to the track at Valencia at the end of June. Its supersoft counterpart has a much shorter wait before seeing action for the first time, however – the Italian tyre maker reports the supersoft will debut at the Monaco Grand Prix on May 26; at this, the seventh event of the 2011 championship, the supersoft tyre will be used as option and the soft as the prime tyre. This combination will also be repeated two weeks later in Montréal. July’s Silverstone-hosted British Grand Prix will see a return to the use of the hard tyre as prime and the soft as an option – just as was the case during the first five Grands Prix of the season.

10th May 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Vettel takes third F1 win in lively Turkish GP

News

After crashing on Friday and missing the entirety of the second free practice session, Sebastian Vettel took his third grand prix win of the year, using a four-stop strategy to convert his pole position in Turkey to victory. The top five finishers used a four-stop strategy for the first time this year. Jenson Button was obliged to concede two places in the closing stages of the race, finishing sixth for McLaren, after a three-stop strategy forced him to run on PZero Silver tyres that were seven laps older than those of his team mate. Virgin’s Jerome d’Ambrosio drove a two-stop strategy, while Sauber driver Kamui Kobayashi used a three-stop strategy to help propel him from last on the grid to a point-scoring 10th place finish.

9th May 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Avon signed as sole Brit F1 Sidecar tyre supplier

Motorsport

Avon Tyres has announced that it will be the sole tyre supplier to the 2011 Eastern Airways British F1 Sidecar championship following the first two rounds of the 2011 season, in which teams will be allowed to use up remaining stock. The eight-round series started on the Easter Bank Holiday weekend and will conclude on 1 October, with four of the eight races alongside the UK’s premier two-wheeled series – the MCE Insurance-backed British Superbike Championship – shown live on Eurosport and ITV 4. The Avon series will also feature in an hour-long highlights show of all eight rounds during a prime-time slot on Eurosport.

9th May 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Goodyear throws its weight behind European truck racing

Motorsport

Some 80 million television viewers around the world are said to watch the FIA European Truck Racing Championship, and in 2011 Goodyear is continuing its commitment to the sport by supplying tyres to all 24 participating race trucks. In addition to supplying all teams with specially designed and built Truck Racing tyres, the company will also provide the FIA with technical support at all ten series races. The Goodyear tyres are supplied and serviced by TRO (Truck Racing Organisation), the sole tyre supplier. TRO represents the interests of all teams in the FIA European Truck Racing Championship and its trucks and trailers will attend all races, providing a tyre fitting area in the paddock at each venue. This year sees the introduction of RFID chips in the supplied tyres to enable their systematic electronic monitoring during race weekends.

9th May 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Maxxis delighted with opening round of revised drift championship

Motorsport

The Maxxis British Drift Championship recently got underway again following a six month break, and the title sponsor says the series continues to grow in popularity and is now bigger than ever. In order to give smaller teams and individual drivers the chance to maximise their resources the championship format has been tweaked and the 84 drivers competing this year have been split into three categories – Semi-Pro, Pro and Super-Pro – based on their driving skills and drift experience. Following the opening round of the 2011 series at Donington, Maxxis says it was delighted to see Mark Luney and SAT/Cosworth – one of its sponsored teams using the Maxxis MA-Z1 Drift tyre – take victory in the new Super-Pro class.

9th May 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Maxxis team enjoys ‘best ever’ BSB finish

Motorsport

Last weekend’s BSB round at Oulton Park provided a “best ever” moment for Maxxis-sponsored team MSS Colchester Kawasaki. The tyre maker reports that team rider Stuart Easton, having secured the new Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R’s first podium in the 2011 MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship with a third place in race one, followed up with an even better performance in the second race and led for the majority of laps before finishing second overall. This was, Maxxis states, the team’s best ever Superbike finish.

5th May 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Bogie prevails in Pirelli International Rally

Motorsport

Scottish driver David Bogie has extended his lead at the top of the Dulux Trade MSA British Rally Championship drivers’ standings with his second win out of three rounds on the Pirelli International Rally in Carlisle on the weekend of April 29 and 30. Now leading the pack by seven points, the 23-year-old from Dumfries has performed consistently well throughout this season, taking first on Rallye Sunseeker in February and second on the Bulldog International Rally North Wales last month.

5th May 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Hankook celebrates successful DTM debut

Motorsport

High praise for Hankook came after the company’s first DTM race as exclusive tyre supplier. Following the weekend’s touring car race at the Hockenheim circuit in Germany, viewed by some 58,000 spectators including Hankook Tire executive vice-president and Europe COO Jin-Wook Choi and global CSFO Hyun-Bum Cho, race winner Bruno Spengler declared the Hankook Ventus race tyres to be “very good,” adding that “even though we are running a lot over the kerbs here at Hockenheim, the tyres remained consistent. That is really very good.”

3rd May 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Dunlop joins Isle of Man TT Races commercial portfolio

Motorsport, Premium

Dunlop has announced it will be the “Official Tyre Partner” for the 2011 Isle of Man TT races. Allan Bell MHK, minister for economic development commented: “The TT Races commercial programme continues to grow and it is fitting that in the year of the centenary of the Mountain Course, one of the companies that has become synonymous with the event has become a commercial partner.” Eddy Geerdink, Dunlop marketing director, commented: “Dunlop is delighted to become the Official Tyre Partner of the TT Races. The Mountain Course is one of the world’s toughest circuits and our success in the event over the years has provided us with excellent recognition for the performance and technology of our tyres.”

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28th April 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Pirelli promotes two motorcycle tyres with cashback offer

News

Pirelli has announced a new cashback offer of £25 to UK riders purchasing sets of its Diablo Rosso Corsa or new Diablo Rosso II tyres. The hypersport segment Rosso Corsa, launched last year, is the Italian manufacturer’s “first tyre developed using technology and research gained as a direct result of Pirelli’s involvement in the World Superbike series,” it says, while the just-launched Rosso II – a sports tyre designed for road use – contains similar motorsport-derived technologies. The Diablo Rosso Corsa and Diablo Rosso II are available in the front size 120/70ZR17, with rear fitments: 160/60ZR17, 180/55ZR17, 190/50ZR17 and 190/55ZR17.

27th April 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Bridgestone to provide asymmetric rear slicks at Portugal MotoGP

News

The Portuguese Grand Prix represents the third round of the MotoGP season this year, with the event moved to 1 May from its usual October slot following heavy rain in 2010’s GP. With clear skies, Bridgetsone will be able to make use of its asymmetric rear slick tyres, which have been selected because of the imbalanced demands of the circuit. There are nine right-handed corners and only four lefts, and generally the right-handers are faster and generate higher loads, resulting in markedly higher tyre temperatures in the right shoulders of the tyres, especially the rears, as director of Motorsport Tyre Development Hirohide Hamashima explained.

26th April 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

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