Motorsport Archives - Page 69 of 129 - Tyrepress

MOTORSPORT

Posts

Red Bull Dominates Bridgestone’s “Final Home F1 GP”

Red Bull Racing’s Sebastian Vettel won his third Grand Prix of the season after using a soft-hard Bridgestone Potenza tyre strategy in a fast-paced, close and exciting Japanese Grand Prix. Pole-man Vettel led team-mate Mark Webber across the line by less than a second for Red Bull Racing’s third 1-2 of the season. Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro’s Fernando Alonso finished third. Shoshi Arakawa, Bridgestone chairman of the Board, CEO and president delivered a parting message to Formula One: “For Bridgestone it was our final home Grand Prix. I am proud that we have supported the pinnacle of motorsport for the last 14 years. I would like to thank all the teams, drivers, fans and everyone involved in Formula One. I wish Formula One a prosperous future. We look forward to supporting all teams and drivers for the remaining three races.”

11th October 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Red Bull Sets Practice Pace in Japan

Bridgestone’s soft tyre took Red Bull Racing’s Sebastian Vettel to the fastest lap of the sinuous Suzuka Circuit on the first day of the Japanese Grand Prix today. The German set a 1:31.465 lap time in the afternoon session after earlier setting the fastest time with the hard tyre in the morning. Bridgestone director of Motorsport Tyre Development, Hirohide Hamashima said that both compounds for the race were looking “strong”, but that wet tyres would also come into play at some point over the weekend.

8th October 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Dunlop-shod BMW Crowned American Le Mans Champion

The BMW Rahal Letterman Racing Team has clinched the 2010 American Le Mans Series (ALMS) GT Manufacturer and Team Championships, a feat that was helped by Dunlop, which provided the grip for its BMW M3 GT2. The team’s fourth place finish at the final round last week was enough to score the points needed to stay ahead of Ferrari and Porsche in the Manufacturers Championship by a point. Most racing observers considered the GT segment to be the most competitive class in the ALMS during 2010, with teams from BMW, Ferrari, Porsche and Corvette battling it out, and each winning a race this year.

8th October 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Avon Tyres British GT titles claimed at Brands Hatch

David Ashburn claimed the 2010 Avon Tyres British GT Championship title at the penultimate round of the series at Brands Hatch in Kent last weekend. The 63-year-old and his Trackspeed Porsche teammate, Glynn Geddie, collected a win and a fifth place in the weekend’s pair of hour-long races and enough points to put the overall title beyond the reach of anyone but Ashburn.

8th October 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Wet Testing Gives Pirelli “Clearer Idea” for Further F1 tyre Development

The latest phase in Pirelli’s Formula One tyre pre-season test programme has taken driver Pedro de la Rosa back to his homeland and the Valencia circuit in order to engage in wet conditions testing. The days spent evaluating the F1 PZero tyres in eastern Spain were the first in which de la Rosa drove for Pirelli, and during a two-day period he covered just over 650 kilometres in the Toyota TF109 test vehicle.

8th October 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Heidfeld Omitted from Sauber 2011 Plans

It is only some three weeks since Nick Heidfeld ended his role as test driver for Pirelli in order to race with Sauber Motorsport, yet the German driver’s planned return to Formula One racing may already not be working out the way he anticipated. Heidfeld signed up with Sauber to drive in the final five rounds of the current season along with Japanese driver Kamui Kobayashi. Yet when Sauber Motorsport announced the signing of a new driver to line up alongside Kobayashi for the 2011 season, Heidfeld’s name was nowhere to be found. Instead of granting Nick Heidfeld a place on the grid next year, Sauber has signed a contract with 20-year old Mexican driver Sergio Perez.

5th October 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Kumho Tires’ CEO speaks with Tyres & Accessories

This 50th anniversary year provides an ideal opportunity to look back on half a century of Kumho Tires and its business up to the present day. In an interview with Tyres & Accessories the South Korean manufacturer’s chief executive officer, Jong-Ho Kim, shares how the company has developed, what plans it has for the near future and the importance of football sponsorship.

30th September 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Dmack Completes WRC Gravel Tyre Evaluation

Dmack Tyres reports that it recently completed its first major evaluation of its WRC specification gravel tyre during a two-day test session in Latvia last week. The test was conducted by Dmack’s official driver (three-time British Rally Champion Mark Higgins) to assess the tyres in terms of high and low speed handling, compound consistency and durability before deciding on the exact final specification.

DMACK’s world rally championship specification 205/65-R15 gravel tyre in G4 compound was used both days on the WRC and Group N rally cars supplied by its technical partner MML Sports. The test road on the first day reportedly had a soft surface with a mix of fast and slow corners while on the second day conditions were faster with a hard base and loose gravel surface. Performance and durability was found to be comparable with other motorsport brands.

30th September 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Charlie Shears Seals Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Championship

With a victory and a third place finish in Rounds 12 and 13 of the Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Championship at Mosport, Canada, Charlie Shears clinched both the Lites1 class overall championship and the Masters Class Championship with a race weekend to spare. The American tyre manufacturer-backed Championship features racing between two sports racer prototype classes, Lites 1 and Lites 2, presenting a dimension of competition as drivers must be aware of classes with distinctly different speeds, a similar challenge to that faced by the drivers of the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón.

28th September 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Pirelli Welcomes de la Rosa on Board

Official confirmation has been given of Pedro de la Rosa’s appointment as Nick Heidfeld’s replacement at Pirelli. The Italian tyre maker welcomed the Spanish F1 driver to its team at a press conference in Istanbul held to mark half a century of Pirelli’s presence in Turkey, the location where all Formula One, GP2 and GP3 tyres for the 2011 season will be produced.

28th September 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Best European Rallycross Drivers Use Avon Rubber

Avon Tyres has reported a very successful 2010 FIA European Rallycross Championship, with every competitor in the top 10 of all three divisions using Melksham-made rubber. In an open-choice formula where the demands on the tyre are great – competitors need a product that performs on both gravel and asphalt over the course of a race – Avon was delighted to be proved the tyre to be selected throughout the field and across all classes.

27th September 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

F1: Tyre Durability Helps Webber Stay Top as Alonso Claims Victory

While Fernando Alonso’s win for Ferrari makes the Spanish former-champion the man to watch in the last few races of the season, Mark Webber’s third place at the Singapore Grand Prix, which helped him open up an 11-point gap at the top of the Drivers Championship, was eye-catching for tyre-based reasons, as Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development director Hirohide Hamashima explained: “Mark showed the durability of the medium compound by completing almost all of the race distance on the same set of tyres. Not only did Mark’s tyres continue to deliver strong performance, but they also withstood the contact with Lewis [Hamilton]. In this contact the front right tyre sidewall was pushed out of alignment with the rim, yet it retained its inner pressure for the rest of the race. We can say that this tyre displayed true Japanese grit today.”

27th September 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Heidfeld, de la Rosa Swap F1 Chairs

It is possible that F1 driver Nick Heidfeld may develop a swagger after hearing his tyre testing role at Pirelli has been filled by not one, but two drivers. In mid-September Pirelli announced the hiring of former Renault F1 driver Romain Grosjean to carry out evaluation work on Pirelli’s Formula One tyres ahead of its 2011 debut as sole tyre supplier, and the Italian tyre maker has followed this up by adding Pedro de la Rosa – the driver whose berth Heidfeld has taken at Sauber Motorsport – to its testing programme.

24th September 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Pirelli Celebrates F1 Tyre Factory Inauguration

On September 23 Pirelli officially inaugurated what it calls the “Factory of Champions” at its plant in Izmit, Turkey, where the company will produce tyres for all Formula One teams during the 2011 to 2013 seasons. The inauguration served as a double celebration for Pirelli, as 2010 marks the 50th anniversary of the Izmit facility’s opening and the Italian tyre maker’s operations in Turkey.

24th September 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Driver Chooses Infinity Tyres for Dutch Drifting

Drifting driver Oliver Harrsch recently competed in a round of the Dutch Open Drift Championship held in Kalkar, Germany (held 11 – 12 September) equipped with Infinity tyres. Harrsch was supplied the tyres by Venlo-based Infinity distributor Euro-Tyre and according to the company, the small and technical course was suited to lower powered cars and the more skilled drivers.

On the first day, dry conditions allowed Harrsch to push the Infinity 050 UHP tyres to their limits and to experiment with tyre pressures. He commented: “Lots of grip and very smokey! Infinity are unbelievably good tyres!" In extremely wet conditions on the second day, Oliver took a very commendable fourth position.

23rd September 2010/by Tyrepress Editors