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Yokohama Targeting SUV, 4×4 OE Business

Japanese brand Yokohama says that it is becoming more widely adopted as original equipment within the SUV and high performance 4×4 segments. The manufacturer’s flagship ADVAN Sport tyre is fitted to the VW Touareg and Porsche Cayenne models and has been added to the AMG-tuned version of the Mercedes ML63 AMG 4×4. The size 295/40×20 front and back has been fitted to that particular model; the ADVAN range is available in 19”, 20” and 21” options, sized 275/45×19, 275/40×20 and 295/35×21 respectively. The Touareg uses the 19” and 20” options, while the Cayenne adds the 21” alternative.

Another manufacturer to select the Yokohama ADVAN Sport for its large SUV/4×4 model is Audi. The German manufacturer has already adopted the Sport for its flagship A6 and A8 models and now, the Q7 SUV is fitted with ADVAN Sports from the factory. Sized either 265/50R19 or 275/45R20, the ADVAN Sports fitted to the Q7 are speed rated to 300kph to cope with one of the most powerful SUVs on the market today.

10th July 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Bridgestone Previews German Grand Prix

Bridgestone’s super soft tyre proved to be the fastest rubber on the Nurburgring circuit for the first day of the German Grand Prix. In variable weather conditions, Lewis Hamilton set the day’s fastest lap time, a 1min 32.149secs, in his Vodafone McLaren Mercedes during the afternoon practice session. Mark Webber (Red Bull Racing) was the fastest driver in the morning practice session, using the medium compound to set a time of 1min 33.082secs. Conditions were cold and there was some rain today meaning that Bridgestone’s intermediate and wet tyres were seen out on track.

Hirohide Hamashima, Bridgestone director of motorsport tyre development said that “maintaining tyre temperature was a challenge.” He also praised the circuit and suggested that the weekend could be dominated by tyre talk: “It’s an interesting circuit here and, as illustrated today, there is always the factor of the weather too. After the British Grand Prix there was a lot of talk of tyre temperatures and how the front running teams and drivers use their tyres. I would not be surprised if that is also a topic this weekend. If it stays cold like today then the super soft could even be the preferred race tyre. For the medium compound, getting temperature into the tyre is the challenge, for the super soft, minimising graining is the challenge.”

10th July 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Avon Tyres Supplies Tyres for Pikes Peak Hill Climb Record

Avon Tyres is aiming to be the first tyre manufacturer to beat the 10-minute barrier at the legendary Pikes Peak International Hill Climb event on 19 July. Essex-based team, Mach 2 Racing, is entering the famous race up the Pikes Peak mountain in Colorado Springs, USA, with a 1,150bhp Ford RS200 driven by double ex-British Rallycross Champion, Mark Rennison.

The 12-mile Pikes Peak course starts at 9,440 feet and ends at an altitude of 14,110 feet. Its 156 turns, mixture of asphalt and gravel surfaces and the sheer drops of up to 6,000 feet make it one of the toughest challenges in motorsport. However Rennison and car owner and pharmaceutical businessman Alan Greenwood believe they have the car, and the tyres, to complete the course in fewer than 10 minutes, a feat that has never been achieved.

7th July 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Dunlop Reports 20% Increase in Visits at Festival of Speed

Goodwood Festival of Speed saw 20 per cent more people view the Dunlop Motorsport presence than previously. Dunlop reportedly “pioneered” a new concept at this year’s event with a media stage. Dunlop’s communications manager James Bailey commented: “More than 13,000 people have been through the Dunlop Drivers Club Stable Yard today, watching and listening to their motor racing heroes and looking at some of their cars. This is an increase of around 20 per cent on last year. The public have the chance to get up-close and personal with the people and machines that have made history over the years and who are making history right now. This is the first time we have thrown our efforts fully behind a media stage, and judging by public reaction on day one, it’s a winner.”

6th July 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

MotoGP Update – Rossi on Pole for Dutch GP

Fiat Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi has secured pole for the Dutch Grand Prix on Assen’s qualifying TT circuit. His qualifying performance is Rossi’s best of the year, coming in the seventh meeting. Using a medium compound front Bridgestone slick and a soft compound rear he finished 0.085 seconds ahead of Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa and 0.368 seconds clear of teammate Jorge Lorenzo, both of whom also used medium compound front and soft compound rear Bridgestone slicks, making it the closest MotoGP qualifying session since Bridgestone became the series’ Official Tyre Supplier. At one point towards the end of the session, the top five were split by only 0.100 seconds, and a frantic final few minutes changed the order of the front two rows.

Bridgestone says that it has come to be expected this season that most riders set their fastest qualifying times using the harder option front tyre and the softer rear slick. This combination, says the supplier, gives the advantage of improved front stability, especially under braking, and added rear traction which is important for drive out of turn five and the last chicane in particular. Rossi’s pole lap was 0.7 seconds faster than the fastest race lap set around Assen on a MotoGP machine, a 1m 36.738 recorded by Ducati Team’s Casey Stoner on Bridgestone tyres last year.

26th June 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

HiQ Kettering Show ‘Slick’ Response Times

HiQ Kettering, based in Telford Way Industrial Estate, recently stepped into the fast lane by offering their services in response to a plea Honda Team Dynamics’ plea to fit 28 sets of tyres for a driving day with some of the nation’s biggest names in motorsport, at Rockingham race circuit. HiQ, which was recently purchased by Easy Tyre & Autocentres Ltd, was contacted by Team Dynamics, who were in need of a specialist team to fit the slick race tyres this week. HiQ immediately sent for mobile technician Russell Hickford, who drove the short distance to Rockingham and got in the pit lane for some fast fit action.

Team Dynamics marketing manager Richard Tate-Harris said: “We had organised a number of laps around Rockingham with racing slicks, which meant we had to find a team of fast fitters at extremely short notice to replace and fit them. I immediately went to HiQ, as they sponsor the British Touring Car Championship and have specialist motorsport experience. It is fair to say that they saved the day and, without them, we would have been looking at a postponement of activity.”

24th June 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

“There Will Be No Split”: Mosley Claims F1 Agreement Reached

Max Mosley, the president of the FIA, has claimed that the disagreement between Formula One’s administrative body and FOTA – an association of teams most notably including Ferrari – is over. Eight of the ten F1 teams had threatened to form a breakaway series in 2010 if rules restricting their budgets had been introduced.

It seems that Mosley has been forced to back down from his argument that F1 teams would have to reduce spending significantly next year; now, he told journalists at a press conference today (24 June, 2009), “There will be one F1 championship but the objective is to get back to the spending levels of the early 90s within two years.”

24th June 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Avon Tyres Wishes Customers ‘Best of British’

Avon Tyres is celebrating all that is ‘Best of British’ on two and four wheels, with a competition and poster campaign. All you have to do to is log on to www.avon-tyres.co.uk. Bikers can win a trackday at Castle Combe on Avon VP2 tyres, while visitors to the car site can win VIP hospitality tickets to the season finale of the Avon Tyres British GT Championship at Brands Hatch on 20 September. Runners-up from each competition will be given the chance to win exclusive limited-edition Avon watches.

Cooper Tire Europe (Avon’s parent company) managing director, Julian Baldwin, said: “We are extremely proud of Avon Tyres’ British heritage, both as a manufacturer and a prime mover in the world of motorsport. Two years ago, our parent company’s faith in the quality of our British engineering skills was illustrated by the siting of the firm’s entire European design and technical centre in Melksham.”

23rd June 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Bottas Wins Kumho-Shod Masters of Formula 3

Victory in the 19th Masters of Formula 3 race, fought out over the weekend of June 13 and 14, went to Finnish driver Valtteri Bottas. But the race, which returned to its ‘ancestral home’ of Zandvoort in the Netherlands after two years at Zolder, was also a victory of sorts for Kumho Tyres: The manufacturer supplied each and every tyre utilised in the meeting – about one thousand in total – continuing a support of the series that dates back to 2002.

23rd June 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Formula One 2009, Round Eight: Brawn, Button Beaten in Britain

Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber ensured that Red Bull Racing scored its first one-two of the Formula One season at a Silverstone Grand Prix somewhat overshadowed by an ongoing spat between the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) and the Formula One Teams Association (FOTA). Rubens Barrichello, championship leader Jenson Button’s Brawn GP teammate took third spot on the podium, while 2009’s leading contender was able to grab only three points at his home race in P6. Drivers’ Championship holder Lewis Hamilton continued a miserable third season following the highs of his first two years in sixteenth.

Meanwhile the row between the eight teams threatening to create an offshoot championship and the FIA continues, following the announcement of a budget cap system to be introduced in 2010. On its website, the FIA argues in a statement dated 16 June 2009 that the sport “cannot sustain” both “technical freedom” and “the freedom to spend without limit”, calling the ability of major car companies to do the latter “insane in the current climate”.

22nd June 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Falken Dealers Visit Germany

Three dozen Falken customers from all over Europe recently visited the world famous Nurburgring race track in Germany. The Falken customers from the UK were hosted by Micheldever Tyres, Falken’s sole supplier in the UK, at one of the continent’s most prestigious motorsport events, the annual 24 hour ADAC endurance race. Falken tyres were one of the main sponsors of this year’s event with the company’s branding prominently positioned around the 13 kilometre race track, on every car and on in-car television coverage.

The Falken car, a Nissan 350Z eventually finished in 11th place and was the first non-German produced car to complete this arduous event. The customers themselves were treated to five-star hospitality and entertainment throughout the duration of the four-day trip, culminating in a ride with the European Drift car Champions.

19th June 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

McGuinness Break world record at TT on Dunlop Tyres

Dunlop’s road race pairing of John McGuinness and Steve Plater scored top honours for Dunlop on the Isle of Man, finishing first and second in the TT Superbike race. The duo were the only two riders to break through the 130mph average lap speed – with McGuinness setting yet another lap record of 130.442mph (17mins 21.29 seconds) on his second of the six lap race, as well as breaking the race distance record with a time of 1:46.07.16. His Dunlop tyres were specifically designed and built in the Birmingham-based Fort Dunlop factory.

The Morecambe man also furthered his and legendary TT status, by claiming his 15th TT win, placing him second in the line-up of all time TT victories behind the great Joey Dunlop. Following the decision to postpone racing on Saturday due to poor weather conditions covering the 37.73 mile mountain course, both McGuinness and Plater were itching to take to the seats of their CBR1000RR Fireblades in Monday’s welcomed clear and warm racing conditions.

9th June 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Yokohama Tyres on Top in Sidecar Manx TT

Riders choosing the Japanese tyre brand Yokohama have dominated timed practice for this year’s sidecar class of the world-famous Isle of Man TT races. Fastest in evening practice was last year’s double winner Nick Crowe, posting a time of 19min30sec to give an average lap speed of 116.03mph, just shy of the lap record. This year, 34 of the 47 runners and riders have chosen to use Yokohama tyres, which have experienced an unbroken run of 15 victories. Eight of the top ten riders are using Yokohama as well as customer service from dealer Express Tyres.

5th June 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Yokohama HPT to Support RX Racing in Portugal

The UK distributor for Yokohama tyres, Yokohama HPT, will be heading south to Portugal next month, as it supports RX Racing when the buggies form part of the first regional final towards this year’s Race of Champions. With the 2009 Race of Champions moving to the Bird’s Nest Stadium in Beijing, home of last year’s Olympics, the organisers of the event have responded to demand from numerous countries to join the Nation’s Cup by creating the first regional final. The event, to be held in the Estadio do Dragao in Porto, the home of FC Porto, will see teams from Portugal, Spain, Italy and Monaco fight for a place in the ROC.

The format for the first final will follow a similar one to the ROC, with teams of drivers from every discipline of motorsport competing on a tarmac course laid out in the stadium. Saturday will see Portuguese drivers going head-to-head for a place alongside local Production car World Rally Championship leader Armindo Araujo to form the four-strong team for Sunday’s competition.

3rd June 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Autoglym Aids Record Attempt

The British team behind ‘Inspiration’ – the vehicle that will next month make an assault on the world land speed record for a steam-powered car – recently called on the skills of car care experts Autoglym as part of final preparations before the car is shipped to the USA for its record attempt. The Autoglym team was tasked with reducing surface drag and enhancing the appearance of the already stunning-looking car with a coat of its super-durable High Definition Wax.

At Edwards Air Force in the Mojave Desert, California, the team will attempt to break the 145mph US national record (set in 1985) and the FIA record of 127mph which has stood for 103 years. The Inspiration team hopes to hit 170mph, and every effort has been made to optimise aerodynamic performance and reduce drag. Autoglym’s High Definition Wax was applied to Inspiration’s metallic British Racing Green paintwork to provide a smooth, ultra-glossy surface that will help the car to cut through the air with minimal resistance.

22nd May 2009/by Tyrepress Editors