Team Nexen Tire Europe drivers Alan Sinnot and Luke Fink dominated the Drift Allstars Europe season opener in Birmingham, taking the top two places. The team, which launched on the Friday before the event, runs on Nexen’s new N8000 tyres. Luis Lopez also joined the two drivers in the Nexen team, which launched on the Friday before the event.
Johnson Controls has released a new battery aimed at the replacement market and particularly at Japanese and Korean compact cars. The Blue Dynamic has been developed specifically with models such as the Honda Jazz and Hyundai Atos in mind, according to the company. More than 20% (250,000 cars) of those model types across the EU are registered in the UK.
Pirelli will be at Donington Park this weekend (28-29 April), supporting the GT Cup Championship for the third consecutive year at its opening round. The championship has introduced GT3 homologated cars for the first time in its five-year history, and with a steadily expanding entry list, and a 23-race calendar the season is hotly anticipated. World-class brands such as McLaren, Porsche, Ferrari, Mosler, BMW, TVR and Chevron are involved, and all will roll on Pirelli’s slick DM and DH compound and wet WS and WH compound tyres. Due to the various cars appearing on the GT Cup grid, Pirelli will supply a range of different tyre sizes will be on offer to competitors.
Nissan's factory at Sunderland has been awarded the Queen's Award for continued achievement in International Trade. The Queen's Awards for Enterprise are the UK's most prestigious awards for business performance, recognising and rewarding outstanding achievement by UK based companies.
Since its European launch in 2010, the Bridgestone Ecopia EP150 line-up has continued to grow. The Japanese tyre maker reports that the EP150 is now available in 55 and 65 series sizes to fit a wide range of compact and medium-sized passenger cars with 14 to 16-inch rim sizes. The EP150, together with the Turanza ER300 Ecopia, forms the basis of an Ecopia product portfolio that offers sizes to fit most popular car models on European roads.
Exhaust manufacturer, Milltek Sport showcased new sponsorship deals, fitments and continued investment in its UK factory at Autosport International. The company will be a series sponsor of the MSA UK Time Attack series for the next three years, during which it will be the “Official Exhaust of Time Attack”. Milltek says the series, which includes road cars “with F1 power levels” will allow the company to participate in “a valuable two-way flow of technical information” between top teams and Milltek’s own engineers.
The Telegraph reports engineering firm Tomkins plc is selling its Schrader Electronics Ltd. tyre pressure monitoring systems business for approximately £550 million. Tomkins has appointed Barclays Capital to manage the sale of the Northern Ireland based business; The Telegraphs states that Tomkins’ Sensors and Valves business, which is also located in Northern Ireland, is being sold along with Schrader. According to the newspaper, a “handful of private equity firms” have been approached regarding the sale.
Team Falken driver Matt Carter has won the 2011 British Drift Championship Super Pro class after a sixth place finish in Sunderland. The Falken team took second place in the Constructors Standings, missing out on first place by two points.
“Compared with previous tracks such as Imola and Spa, Silverstone is very different because it has a lot of high speed corners requiring high downforce settings on the cars,” says Jean-Felix Bazelin, Dunlop Motorsport’s general manager. The brand is hoping for an advantage in its home leg of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup at Silverstone for its fifth round on 9-11 September. The Silverstone 6 Hours takes place just over an hour away from the brand’s Birmingham base where tyres for all forms of two and four wheel motorsport around the world are produced.
The first 100 per cent electric car, Nissan’s Leaf signed Bridgestone to provide its Ecopia EP150 tyres as original equipment earlier in the year. Now the tyre manufacturer has helped to cement its relationship with the 2011 European Car of the Year with fitment on the Leaf of Nissan GreenSource Team Holland in the e-Miglia rally across the Alps on 5 August.
Two local businessmen have opened the latest HiQ franchise to be added to the network, which now numbers over 150 UK branches. Former car dealership bosses Keith Hancock and Matthew Stone opened the new centre on Stag Road as part of a new business venture to increase HiQ’s prominence in Kent, eastern Sussex and Surrey. The Tunbridge Wells centre offers full servicing in addition to the normal fast fit activities.
A Nissan and Ford approved dealer, J S Holmes Ltd, located on High Road, Wisbech, Cambridgeshire has added a comprehensive car service facility to its business. The new on-site fast fit operation will be part of the HiQ network and has been taken on by new franchisee Martin Holmes – one of three generations still involved in the business today. Holmes said: “It is great for us to be linked to a national brand, giving us the opportunity to be competitive in the market.
Following a successful 2010, the Bridgestone Eco-Rally returns this year in association with Start. This year the eco-friendly vehicles participating in the event will traverse a new route that begins in Broad Street, Oxford and finishes at The Mall in London after taking in a pit stop at the BRE Innovation Centre in Watford. This year’s Bridgestone Eco-Rally takes place on July 31 and culminates with a free to attend green transport exhibition. Counted amongst the vehicle manufacturers that have already signed up to this year’s event are Mitsubishi, Volvo, Aston Martin, Lotus, Nissan, Ford, Tesla and Honda. Bridgestone also states that a host of celebrities – who will be named at a later date – will drive the vehicles.
Maxxis reports that Ireland’s Shane O’Sullivan has joined the Team Japspeed drifting team the brand sponsors. He will compete full time in the ProDrift Series in the RB25-powered S15 using the MA-Z1 Drift tyre. Shane Finn, who will be running the team in conjunction with the Japspeed Ireland division, said: “Paul McCallum and the Japspeed UK team have built a truly fantastic machine which we’ve seen compete successfully in Ireland in the past.
Toyo Tires’ has updated its flagship Proxes range, with the addition of the Proxes T1 Sport and the Proxes C1S. The Proxes line has been selected as original equipment on brands from Audi, Mazda and Nissan to bespoke sports cars like Westfield, Farbio and Invicta.
According to the company, the Ultra High Performance Proxes T1 Sport is all about making “the best even better.” For ultimate handling and grip in both wet and dry conditions, the Proxes T1 Sport is said to be “supremely stable,” even at fast motorway speeds. The tyre has an asymmetric tread pattern with a multi-compound concept engineered for braking, aquaplaning and cornering performance.
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