Scotland Ball raises £8k for BEN
The 15th BEN Scotland Ball, held recently, enjoyed an increase in attendance and raised an impressive £8,000 for the automotive charity.
The 15th BEN Scotland Ball, held recently, enjoyed an increase in attendance and raised an impressive £8,000 for the automotive charity.
Calling all keen motorcyclists: BEN – the automotive industry charity, has a very special event planned for you this summer. Between the 22nd and 25th June, riders will embark from the UK on a route through four countries to reach the second highest pass in the Alps – the Stelvio Pass in Italy.
Sumitomo Rubber Industries high performance tyre brand Falken is to supply its ZIEX ZE912 tyre to two grass roots motorsport series in the northwest of England, after agreeing to a new sponsorship and support scheme. Drivers in the Association of North Western Car Clubs (ANWCC) K11 Micra Challenge and the Under 17 Motor AutoSOLO Championship for Standard Cars will have access to free and subsidised tyres to qualifying competitors and others involved with the championship respectively.
Pirelli has a tweet or two in store for motorsport fans. The Formula One tyre supplier has launched a new Twitter page where Pirelli motorsport aficionados can share and receive news on the company’s worldwide events.
The 2013 rally season is still young, but Kumho shares it is ”already making its mark” on the UK championships. For example, Alex Allingham's ex-Prodrive Subaru Impreza N10 that took outright honours at the Rally Marketing Mid-Wales Stages event on 3 March did so courtesy of Kumho gravel tyres.
Cooper Tire’s 4×4 range has been extended with the introduction of the Zeon LTZ and two new Discoverer models, the S/T MAXX and A/T3. All three tyres are off-road ready, with the Zeon LTZ performing as a hybrid between sport truck and all-terrain applications, with improved road handling and ride characteristics. One of the brand's distributors in this segment, Kings Road Tyres has worked with Cooper for more than 10 years, and purchasing and marketing manager, Tim Bader predicts that the new options could make a big impact, creating “a real buzz among stockists and end users”.
Organisers of the Michelin Clio Cup Series with Protyre, the newly established saloon car category that is intended to provide a highly cost-effective first step into competitive car racing in the UK, are pleased to reveal the latest technical details and pricing for the road-to-race conversion kit.
Gordon Brookes, 53, has returned to Michelin’s agricultural division in Stoke-on-Trent, taking over the role of technical manager for the UK and Republic of Ireland from Laurent Mozziconacci. Brookes started his career in the early 1980s running his own company building racing and rally cars. He joined Michelin in 1987 as a multi-product line sales manager and after six years he moved into the agricultural division, where he spent three years, before progressing into the OE and wholesale side of the agricultural department.
Under a three-year agreement, Kumho Tire will act as sponsor and official tyre supplier to the China Touring Car Championship (CTCC). The championship, which gets underway for the 2013 season at the Zhuhai International Circuit on 12 May, is supported by the FIA and the FASC (Federation of Automobile Sports of the People's Republic of China) and features premium level touring car racers. Races attract more than 10,000 spectators and the state-run broadcaster Chinese Central Television holds exclusive rights to the series.
Michelin has begun its three-year commitment to the Dakar Rally as it means to go on, with its tyres fitted to victors in the Bike, Truck and – on the tyre manufacturer’s comeback to the category for the first time since its 2001 victory – Cars. The French tyre giant brought its Latitude C tyres for the Car class, the Bib Mousse-equipped Desert Race for Motorbikes, and the XZL for Trucks, showing the strength and versatility required for competitors to tackle the frequently punishing conditions encountered.
Toyo Tires racers won six stages and 13 podiums during the 2013 Dakar. Team Toyo’s Robby Gordon finished the Rally strongly, winning Stages 11 and 13 while two past Dakar champions, Carlos Sainz and Nasser Al-Attiyah, used the Toyo Open Country M/T-R to win Stage One and Stages Three, Four and Six respectively. Sainz drove the American-built #303 Team Qatar Red Bull buggy, Al-Attiyah the #300 Team Qatar Red Bull buggy, while Gordon competed in the Toyo-supported #315 Speed Energy/Toyo Tires/Mapei Hummer.
The 2013 Dakar Rally saw history created as Race2Recovery, the group of predominantly injured soldiers who formed a rally team to raise funds for Forces charities, became the first ever disability team to complete the world’s toughest race. The team’s Land Rover Defender-based Wildcat race vehicle, running on Cooper Tire’s Discoverer STT, and its crew of driver Major Matt O’Hare and co-driver Corporal Phillip Gillespie, crossed the finish line of the final stage in Santiago, Chile on Saturday evening, ending two weeks of racing that saw the team’s other three Wildcat vehicles fall out of the race.
Toyo Tires supported driver Robby Gordon won Stage 11 and finished second at Stage 12 of the 2013 Dakar. Gordon’s victory at Stage 11 came after the competition portion was shortened amid safety concerns. Originally intended to run from La Rioja to Fiambalá in Argentina, the Stage was cut at the first checkpoint, taking the distance down from 219km to 70km, since heavy rains had flooded two rivers along the route.
Following the enormous success of last year's inaugural event, BEN has revealed details of the route for its 2013 motorcycle rally. Between the 22nd and 25th June, entrants will embark on a ride through four countries to reach the second highest road pass in the Alps and one of the most challenging routes in the world – the Stelvio Pass in Italy.
The Pirelli International Rally has been renamed as the Pirelli Richard Burns Foundation Rally in support of the former world rally champion, with the event remaining the second round of this year's MSA British Rally Championship.
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