Pirelli has announced a new control tyre sponsorship with the Mini Challenge. The manufacturer is currently displaying several exciting competition cars at the Autosport International Show in Birmingham between 12 and 15 January. Pirelli will also unveil the latest livery for the Pirelli Star Driver UK programme, which since 2008 has given an up-and-coming talent a fully-paid drive on the British Rally Championship.
Brembo, the designer and manufacturer of brake systems and high performance automotive components, celebrates 50 years in business, confirming its technological supremacy through a string of great successes in competitive motorsports during 2011.
The list of winners using Brembo products is truly staggering. Among these are 12 victories in the Formula One Championship that saw Sebastian Vettel and the Red Bull Racing team successfully defending the Drivers' and Constructors' Titles won in 2010. Involved in Formula One since 1975, Brembo is able to boast 205 Grand Prix race wins, making up a total of 17 World Championship Drivers' titles and 21 World Championship Constructors' titles, achieved with the top teams.
The 20th Taiwan Excellence Award was held recently; the aim of the event is to enhance the brand image and reputation of Taiwanese firms and products in the wider, global business arena, showcasing product and technological innovation.
Federal Tire was one of those companies honoured for its innovative products. The awards are made, based on four criteria, namely R&D, design, quality and marketing and a product has to score well in every category in order to advance to the next stage of judgment.
Bosch has appointed Iain Procter to the position of product specialist for Around the Wheel equipment within its Automotive Aftermarket division. Proctor’s sphere of responsibility includes tyre service equipment, four wheel alignment, lifts and brake testers. His role encompasses marketing and product management, including both technical and sales support for the Bosch and Beissbarth product ranges.
Cooper has launched its new 4×4 tyre for extreme conditions, the Discoverer S/T MAXX. The tyre’s compound and tread succeed the popular Discoverer STT. Cooper stated that the tyre will have its first serious test during the 2012 Dakar Rally, in which it will be fitted to Xavier Foj’s Toyota Land Cruiser 150; the third consecutive time the legendary Spanish driver will run on Cooper rubber. The tyre will be launched fully into Europe in February. It is M+S rated and available in sizes ranging from 16 to 18 inch.
Jim Parker retired on 18 November 2011 after 37 years in the tyre industry. Parker initially joined Kleber in 1974 as a tyre fitter for its competition department. During his time at Kleber, he took on various job roles including being in charge of the day to day running of the competition department and attending most major rally and race meetings, assisting the tyre manufacturer to six consecutive years of winning the production saloon car and production sports car championships. According to the company, Jim Parker was instrumental in the development of the radial race tyre, which was used intensively on tarmac rally events.
Even as a few hundred residents of Findlay, Ohio and locked-out Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. workers held a “community rally” this past weekend, Tire Review opines there may be some cracks appearing in the stalemate between the USW union and the tyre maker.
Toyo Tires will fit its Open Country M/T-R tyres to Robby Gordon’s Team SPEED in the 2012 Dakar. Two of Robby Gordon’s specially built Hummer H3 racers will compete for the overall win; defending 2011 Dakar winner, Nasser Al-Attiyah joins the team in the #300 Qatar/Toyo Tires Hummer H3 while Gordon will drive his bright orange #303 SPEED Energy/Toyo Tires entry. Past off-road racing champions Gordon and Toyo Tires first competed in the Dakar in 2006. “Toyo Tires and I have worked hard over the years to develop a tyre combination that is right for the HUMMER,” said Gordon.
2011 was Kumho’s ninth and final year as official supplier to the Formula 3 Euro Series, for which the company created a new tyre with stiffer construction and softer tread compound. The intention was to create a cover with a more significant performance peak coupled to a reduction in grip after just a few laps, what Kumho views as the type of cycle F3’s aspiring Grand Prix drivers need to cope with if they are to make it to the pinnacle of motorsport. The product helped competitors to break lap records achieved on the previous tyre.
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Car parts and garage consumables distributor CES (UK) says that it is working to help independent garages ready themselves for continuing developments in the market, focusing on new TPMS legislation. From November 2012, TPMS will be mandatory on all new vehicle platforms, legislation designed to improve vehicle safety and drive down emissions. Although there is still almost a year until TPMS becomes mandatory, there are already many vehicles in the car parc that use the technology. The company has also recently launched its 2012 catalogue, with 100 pages of consumables, tools and cleaning products that are typically used every day by technicians.
Car parts distributor CES (UK) has held a classic car event on the streets of its hometown Chester. Car enthusiasts and shoppers were able to view a spectacular display of cars from the CES-sponsored Winter Challenge Rally lining the city centre. More than 70 cars were on show ahead of the four day rally to Monte Carlo, while their drivers, dressed in period costume, answered questions from the gathered crowds. CES says the rally was a great opportunity to showcase its brand and give a little boost to the local economy.
US-company HRE Performance Wheels is the latest rim manufacturer to team up with Vredestein’s Premium Styling label. The tyre maker says it and HRE decided to join forces as both companies “serve the same high end target group.” This new partnership will have its public debut at Vredestein’s stand during the Essen Motor Show.
Yokohama says that its 2011 motorsport season ranks as “one of the most successful” for the Japanese tyre manufacturer. It has supplied tyres to the Intercontinental Rally Challenge and the World Touring Cars Championship at the highest levels of circuit racing and rallying, while also helping “grass roots” level competitors to “clinch a huge variety of championships in almost every conceivable form of motorsport”.
This season’s rookie tyre manufacturer in the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC), DMACK tyres, face a stern challenge at next weekend’s Rally de Espana – the 12th and penultimate round of this year’s series. The mixed-surface round delivers an extra challenge for competitors and teams who must transform rally cars from gravel to asphalt specification during the event. But it’s also a huge test for tyre manufacturers. Not only will they have to cope with the normal rigours of a world rally but, on day one, gravel tyres will have to perform on both gravel and asphalt mixed-surface stages.
On October 1 independent tyre wholesaler Grouptyre launched a new trade promotion in conjunction with Pirelli, giving independent tyre retailers the chance to stock up on the premium brand’s latest merchandise.
The initiative runs from 1 October to 30 November 2011 inclusive and retailers will automatically collect points based on their purchases of Pirelli tyres during the promotion period. Points relate to tyre speed rating, so dealers will collect one point for every S or T rated Pirelli tyre they buy, rising to five points for each W/Y/Z rated or 4×4 tyre purchased.
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