MOTORSPORT
Michelin will provide Renault Sport with a new 18-inch Pilot Sport S9L tyre for new Renault Sport RS 01 as part of its association with the World Series by Renault (WSR). Based on Michelin’s so-called ‘customer competition’ range, the tyre will also be available for all GT3 competitors from 2015.
A month from now, 40 electric racing cars will line up on the grid at the inaugural Formula E Championship race in Beijing. Each of the tyres that take to the track on 13 September will be fitted with identical tyres that were specifically developed for the competition. In a Michelin-hosted Q&A session, the company’s motorsport director Pascal Couasnon explains that the decision that all cars should run on Pilot Sport EV tyres was not simply a strategic option in technology terms; he says it was also an obvious choice.
After extending its partnership with NASCAR Group company the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA), Continental Tire the Americas will continue as official tyre of the Tudor United SportsCar Championship and exclusive tyre supplier and sponsor to several event classes. The company will also remain entitlement sponsor and exclusive tyre supplier to the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge. All up, Continental says it will continue as the ‘official tyre of IMSA’ through to 2018.
Give an inch, and Pirelli will make its F1 tyres even larger. In the video it released to introduce the 18-inch size it later tested at Silverstone, Pirelli stated that “the new 18-inch tyre represents a starting point for future evolution. This technology could lead to even bigger sizes in years to come.” Crash.net suggests that we may not have too many years to wait for even larger F1 tyres, and says words to this effect come from no less an authority than Paul Hembery.
The Nankang Tyre Drift Team claimed first place at the British Drifting Championship Team Constructors event at the season’s third round, which was held in Teeside on 20 July 2014 in what turned out to be a very mixed bag of weather throughout the weekend.
As if going to Hell and back wasn’t enough for David Coulthard, Cooper Tire & Rubber Company Europe reports that he’s now caught a fever. The tyre maker says the ex-Formula One driver and BBC F1 commentator returned from the third round of the 2014 FIA World Rallycross Championship, which he attended as an ambassador for Cooper Tire, with a case of ‘World Rallycross fever’ that has given him a new-found appreciation for the sport.
Formula One heads to the German Grand Prix this weekend, a round that alternates each year between the Nürburgring and Hockenheim. This year, Hockenheim plays host, and Pirelli has selected its P Zero Yellow soft tyre and the P Zero Red supersoft for the event. Following the German Grand Prix the race teams will then head directly to Hungary, where the soft and medium tyres have been nominated.
At the end of May, tyre manufacture at Dunlop Motorsport’s plant in Birmingham came to an end, with car tyre production transferred to Goodyear Dunlop’s Hanau factory in Germany and motorcycle tyre production to the company’s Montlucon facility in France. While some of the machinery from the Fort Dunlop facility will be shipped to other sites, most will be sold off; the Pelmar Group reports that it has been appointed to dispose of equipment from the plant.
Tyre production at Fort Dunlop, a site that was Europe’s largest tyre manufacturing facility as recently as the 1970s, has ended as Dunlop Motorsport transfers its motorsport capacity to facilities in France and Germany. A total of 241 manufacturing jobs vanished as the final shift left the factory on the afternoon of 30 May; local MP Jack Dromey, who had fought to retain Dunlop motorsport manufacturing in Birmingham since Goodyear Dunlop first announced plans to leave the site a year ago, referred to the end of production as “a day of shame”.
Pirelli has expressed its condolences to those affected by two accidents at Saturday’s Jim Clark Rally, which was the second round of the British Rally Championship. Three people were killed and one injured when a race vehicle veered into a crowd at around 4pm, while five people were injured in a similar incident two hours earlier.
Nexen Tire has announced plans to join the largest drift racing scene in Europe. The company announced that it has agreed a sponsorship deal with Team Aerokit Nexen, one of the teams fighting it out for glory in the Drift Allstars 2014 European Series, with the racing calendar running from the 17 May through to September.
It has now been sole tyre supplier to the World Superbike championship for more than ten years and is also partner to national championships, including British Superbike. But is Pirelli looking to further extend its two-wheel motorsport participation? Bikesportnews.com says it is. Matteo Giusti, the tyre maker’s racing and product communication manager, told BSN that Pirelli is currently discussing its “next steps regarding the possibility to make an offer for MotoGP.” He added that Michelin and Dunlop have also expressed interest in supplying the championship, however at present nothing has been decided.
22 Formula Student teams from around the world are taking up a technical partnership scheme with coatings specialist Zircotec. The company will provide access to professional motorsport thermal management technology for use in their 2014 Formula Student cars. Zircotec stated that there are still places available in the scheme, encouraging more teams to apply.
Maxxis International has launched a new advertising campaign that focuses on the people who trust its tyres to deliver on the world’s roads, racetracks and off-road courses. The new ‘Good company. Always.’ campaign will run in trade, motorsport and consumer media throughout 2014, highlighting the benefits of using the manufacturer’s tyres through the people that use them for personal and professional transport.
Maxxis has announced the appointment of Channi Jethwa as its marketing and digital coordinator. She becomes the second addition to Maxxis’ digital team in ten months, demonstrating the tyre maker’s success in this area over the past year.
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