Davanti has extended its ultra-high performance tyre range with a new semi-slick track tyre. The Protoura Race joins the Protoura Sport in its range of bold, budget-conscious designs engineered to deliver high levels of performance on the road and on the track.
Davanti Tyres has launched its first semi-slick track tyre, the Protoura Race. The tyre, designed to offer the power and handling to achieve podium results, was tested at Applus IDIADA and Calafat Circuit in Spain, as well as at the UK’s Formula One host circuit, Silverstone. Its features include a directional tread pattern for superior wet control, enhanced carcass strength for more driver feedback and control under high cornering forces experienced on race tracks; a new compound to provide the grip required for faster acceleration and harder braking; and a road-legal, semi-slick tread design to allow amateur racers to drive to and from the track. Davanti adds that the tyre will be available in sizes between 13” and 18”.
Pirelli has launched the P Zero Trofeo RS, a new iteration of its semi-slick tyre range designed for sporting performance. The tyre has already been requested, in a specialised edition, for the Pagani Automobili Utopia hypercar. Pirelli said the tyre is a “technical evolution” of the P Zero Trofeo R, though the RS is primarily targeting original equipment channels, compared to the R’s positioning as an aftermarket tyre to improve on-track performance.
Although track enthusiasts in the UK and Europe have been acquainted with the Bridgestone Potenza Race since last year, their brethren across the Pond have been denied the opportunity – until now. Bridgestone Americas has added the road legal semi-slick tyres to its Bridgestone Potenza line-up.
Bridgestone has launched the semi-slick Bridgestone Potenza Race, its first ever tyre day tyre for the replacement market. In testing conducted by TÜV SÜD at the 6.115km Nardo circuit in Italy, the tyre was able to improve upon average times set by three leading competitor tyres over three laps by an average of more than two seconds. It was also ranked second for longevity, and delivered class-leading dry braking at Bridgestone’s European proving ground. The Potenza Race is homologated for public roads, but with performance focussed on track days. Developed and manufactured in Europe, the Potenza Race will be available in 13 popular sizes between 17 and 20 inches from June 2022, supporting the most commonly sighted hot hatchbacks and sportscars at track days.
When searching for the best tyre for sporty driving, the choice is between maximum safety and the highest possible dynamics. The former involves good grip and deep grooves, especially in the rain. But for the fastest cornering and optimal contact with the road, especially in dry conditions, a tyre with a low void ratio is the way to go.
A successor to the Hankook Ventus R-s3 UHP range has been launched in Australia, and Hankook Tyre Australia says the new Ventus R-s4 semi-slick has been “designed with maximised grip, durability, and handling performance,” making it “perfect for both track and general driving.”
German car magazines love a tyre test, and sport auto is the latest to publish its findings on a batch of the current summer products. Using a Toyota GT86 as test vehicle, the performance-oriented sister publication to auto motor und sport evaluated seven size 225/40 R18Y UHP tyres together with three road legal semi-slicks. In consideration of their different focus, the trio were separated from the seven UHP products in the final results table.
Semi-slick tyres are unsuitable for road use, state the team behind a comparative test published by Swiss magazine Auto Illustrierte. An evaluation between standard, ultra-high performance and semi-slick tyres conducted at the Goodyear proving ground in Mireval, France showed the racing tyres take much longer to stop on wet road surfaces than their more conventional counterparts. Specialists from TÜV Süd supported the Auto Illustrierte testing and evaluated the results as a neutral partner.
The latest issue of Germany’s sport auto magazine (5/2015) has published a test of road-legal size 235/35 R19 91Y semi-slicks. Three candidates were mounted on a VW Golf R and evaluated under a range of motorsport-oriented criteria. In contrast to the weighting system commonly seen in tyre tests, dry road surface criteria contributed 70 per cent to the sport auto test’s total score, while wet surface criteria only carried 20 per cent and environmental factors ten per cent. The clear test winner was the ‘particularly recommended’ Pirelli PZero Trofeo R, which finished ahead of two ‘recommended’ tyres, the Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 and Dunlop SportMaxx Race.
The BRSCC Teekay Couplings Production Mk2 GTi Championship will run on Toyo tyres again in its 2015 season. The Toyo R888 will be used as control tyre for all competitors in both the Mk2 and the new Mk5 GTi sister race package, which will run alongside the Mk2 series.
Japanese tyre manufacturer Toyo Tires has announced the UK launch of its road-legal track tyre, the Proxes R888R. The tyre will be displayed at Autosport International, which begins tomorrow (8 January 2015). The tyre previously made its global debut at the Essen Motorshow in November.
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