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Bridgestone Score 15th 2008 MotoGP Victory

Bridgestone has concluded its 2008 MotoGP season with panache in Valencia, Spain setting the company up for next year, when the manufacturer will take on complete tyre provision duties for the series. Casey Stoner took his Bridgestone-shod Ducati to the win, while Honda’s Dani Pedrosa and this season’s World Champion, Italian rider Valentino Rossi, made up the rest of the podium. Rossi’s third-place, which he took impressively from a starting grid position of tenth, meant that he set a new points record for a MotoGP season with 373. Australia’s Stoner (280) and Spain’s Pedrosa (249) made up the rest of the season-ending top three.

Hiroshi Yamada, Bridgestone Motorsport’s Motorcycle Sport Unit’s manager, told motorsport journalists, “I could not have asked for a better way to end this successful season for Bridgestone. Casey rode a faultless race and thoroughly deserved his sixth win of the season. Together with Casey and Ducati, we have taken wins at the beginning and end of this season… We enter a new era for next season with a sole tyre supply regulation, but it has been a great pleasure for Bridgestone to have been part of a competition scenario with our rivals [Michelin] in MotoGP since 2002. After such a long season, I would like to thank each and every one of our riders, teams and their staff for a tremendous support this year, and to all Bridgestone staff at the track and at the factory for their invaluable individual contributions. Tomorrow marks the first day of testing in preparation for next season and we will surely have another big challenge ahead of us.”

27th October 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Bridgestone Bandag Wins “Good Stuff” Award

The American Trucking Associations have awarded the second annual Mike Russell “Good stuff” Trucking Image Award to Bridgestone Bandag Tire Solutions (BBTS). The award was created to acknowledge companies that creatively implement the association’s “Good Stuff. Trucks Bring it” campaign, which is intended to generate positive awareness of the trucking industry.

The award is named after the late Mike Russell, the ATA’s former vice president of public affairs for ATA, who helped develop the campaign. “Mike Russell was a good friend and enthusiastic champion of the industry,” said Kurt Danielson, vice president of sales & marketing for BBTS. “BBTS Bridgestone made a tremendous commitment to support the American Trucking Associations beginning in 2005 by promoting the Good Stuff campaign to our owner-operator and fleet truck tyre customers. The Good Stuff campaign benefits us all.”

27th October 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Deldo Offers “Interesting” Private Brands Winter Range

One of Europe’s leading distributors of winter tyres, Belgian wholesaler Deldo is offering a catalogue of 25 brands, detailing its complete product range of premium and private labels. The company already delivers to around 10,000 clients throughout Europe, and will this winter hope to increase that number by offering what the company calls an “interesting mix” in its budget label line-up.

Thanks to experience gained over many years importing tyres from Asia, Deldo is able to offer several attractive product lines. Minerva is a long-established brand name, and was introduced in 1992 as a private label. From this year Minerva is being produced by two new manufacturers, offering approximately 15 new sizes. With Rockstone (Deldo’s new exclusive brand for Europe) the budget segment has been further extended. Thanks to the introduction of the new CP-661 Roadstone (Nexen) pattern, 15 new sizes have been added to Nexen’s (already) large size range.

27th October 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Production Cutbacks Imminent at BFGoodrich Tuscaloosa Factory

BFGoodrich is said to be laying off several hundred employees at its Tuscaloosa, Alabama factory, effective November 1, and significantly reducing tyre production over the next eight weeks. Local newspaper the Montgomery Advertiser reports BFGoodrich-Michelin spokeswoman Lynn Slovak as saying the layoffs would be temporary.

27th October 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

European Pirelli Star Drivers Chosen

Following two demanding days of rally action, the European winners of the Pirelli Star Driver have been named. Challenges faced by the 18 candidates included a series of interviews with the judging panel and a demonstration of practical skills on six driving stages, and based on their performance Finland’s Jarkko Nikara and the Czech Republic’s Martin Semerad were selected to represent the region.

27th October 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Electric Performance

German based specialist sports car manufacturer Ruf Automobile GmbH has demonstrated that battery powered vehicles need not be merely clean, green and sensible. The latest electric concept vehicle to come from company managing director Alois Ruf delivers a level of performance that puts many petrol engine sports cars to shame.

The eRUF Model A concept vehicle was unveiled on October 10, 2008. Based upon the Porsche 911, the Ruf creation to all appearances looks just like every other 911 built at the Porsche factory in Zuffenhausen, near Stuttgart. Lurking within the engine compartment, however, is not the familiar six-cylinder, 3.6-litre boxer engine. In its place sits a 150 kW/204 hp three-phase AC motor capable of producing a maximum 650 Nm of torque.

24th October 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Federal Looks Back on Spectacular Drift Australia

The 2008 Toyo Tires Drift Australia Series may only have finished in September with its fifth and final round at Oran Park Speedway on 20-21, but Federal Tires – which supplies some of the participants’ rubber and sponsorship – is already looking forward to “an even bigger year in 2009.” The Federal brand is heavily represented by the rides of Khudar Elhaouli, Tom Monkhouse, Eugene Arendsen and Nathan Weissel. The latter two drivers have also represented Team Federal alongside Trent Whyte in the Team Drift competition, which the Taiwanese manufacturer singles out as a particular highlight of the series.

Federal has been pleased with its progress in the competition and with the brand development opportunities it has had through participation in the series. The brand is particularly keen to raise awareness of its products in the high and ultra-high performance sectors, and the audience of Drift events – which involve throwing cars into spectacular slides to gain points for style rather than just speed – is typically made up of willing consumers of products in this sector. In terms of results, Elhaouli’s overall series fourth place, alongside the eighth, ninth and tenth placements of Monkhouse, Arendsen and Weissel, reflects the relative success Federal-shod competitors have experienced, allowing them to finish the year, in the company’s words, “at the pointed end of the field.”

24th October 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Toyo Welcomes Two to Sales Team

Toyo Tire U.S.A. Corp. has added Wally Holst and Bill Stevenson to its sales team. Holst, the new regional sales manager for Upstate New York and a portion of Pennsylvania, has more than 11 years of sales and account management experience in the tyre and automotive industries. Stevenson, whose experience includes commercial tyre sales and fleet management, has joined the Northeast team as a district sales manager, assisting in sales and service of Toyo dealers in that region. (Tire Review/Akron)

24th October 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Bridgestone Awards Canadian Safety Scholars Winners

Bridgestone Firestone Canada Inc. (BFCA) awarded three scholarships to the winners of its first Safety Scholars video contest, in which drivers ages 16-21 create short auto safety-themed videos. Three grand prize winners were selected from 5 finalists through an online voting process that was open to the general public on www.SafetyScholars.ca. More than 1400 online votes were tallied. The top three winners receive a $5,000 college scholarship and a free set of Bridgestone tyres. This year marked the first time the contest was held in Canada after two successful years in the U.S., the company said. (Tire Review/Akron)

24th October 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Specialising in Specialty Tyres

Midland Specialty Tire Co., Ltd.’s decision to focus on its could off-road and industrial tyre business has positioned it to weather the current economic storm well, company representatives told Tyres & Accessories in Shanghai. Speaking to T&A during September’s CITExpo, Midland executive director, Surwin Huang explained how the Hong-Kong funded tyre factory based, which is based in mainland China has been dedicated to developing and producing tyres for agricultural implement, industrial and construction equipment since its establishment in 2003.

Surwin Huang has 32 years of experience in the tyre business which began at Armour Tyre in Xuzhou China, as this company’s sales/export manager. In 2003 Huang founded Midland Specialty Tire Co., Ltd., starting his own career in tyre manufacturing.

24th October 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Continental Honoured by Deutsche Post

Continental Tyre Group has been recognized as one of the most improved suppliers in the inaugural Supplier Day Corporate Procurement by Deutsche Post World Net, the world’s leading logistics group. Continental was praised for the way it handled the DHL contract in the UK and European markets.

In the UK Continental supplies the commercial vehicle fleet of DHL Exel supply chain, a subsidiary of the Deutsche Post World Net group, after being awarded premier supplier status at the end of 2007. Through its emphasis on whole life cost management, Continental is said to have delivered “improvements in quality and processes at all levels.”

24th October 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Conti Renews Business Relationship with VW and Audi Canada

Continental Tire Canada has renewed its business relationship with Volkswagen Canada and Audi Canada. As of October 1, the Volkswagen and Audi sales and service network, which includes 170 Volkswagen and Audi dealerships across Canada, is able to offer customers a comprehensive line of Continental and General passenger and light truck tyres as well as Gislaved winter products. As part of the new agreement, all dealers will be able to offer their customers tyres for any Volkswagen or Audi model and can choose from among the three tyre brands.

24th October 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Schaeffler May Sell a Quarter of Conti

The German Schaeffler Group, which currently owns 90 per cent of Continental AG, may sell up to a quarter of the tyre and automotive supplier to investors in order to lift the financial burden of its so-called stealth takeover. Quoting unnamed bankers, Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported that the Schaeffler family is facing “increasing pressure from six banks” to change the terms of the company’s funding after Conti shares fell to less than 40 euros.

24th October 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Pan-European Pirelli Star Driver Selection This Weekend

Pirelli reports that everything is now ready in Freistadt, close to the Austrian city of Linz, for the pan-European Pirelli Star Driver selection process. This will decide who gets two of the five Group N or Super 2000 cars available for six European rounds of the World Rally Championship next year (in the Portugal, Italy, Greece, Finland, Spain and Great Britain WRC events).

A panel of experts will have the responsibility of selecting the drivers who will go through. These people are Walter Rohrl and Michele Mouton (both former stars of the World Rally Championship), David Evans (journalist), Mario Isola (Pirelli’s rally manager), Joao Passos (rally organiser) and Kevin Morris (team manager, Tommi Makinen Racing).

24th October 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Forging New Links

When it comes to sourcing forged aluminium wheels, you can count the number of suppliers on one hand. Apart from one or two other suppliers like Motor Wheel Service Group (MWS), which launched a reportedly Indian-sourced 17.5 – 22.5-inch commercial vehicle wheel range in 2005, the market is dominated by multinational aluminium giant Alcoa. One company that has so far kept under the radar, however, is Chinese manufacturer Zhejiang Hongxin Technology Co., Ltd.

Located in Huangyan, Taizhou City in China’s Eastern Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang Hongxin says that it is the only forged alloy wheel maker currently producing in mainland China (there are others close-by in places such as Taiwan). But this claim is in itself a relatively recent development.

24th October 2008/by Tyrepress Editors