Silverstone [United Rubber (PVT) Ltd.]
Pirelli Tyres has confirmed its continued involvement with motorsport series across the British Isles. In the 2005 season the manufacturer will support the Kwik Fit Pirell British Rally Championship, The Irish Tarmac Championship and the Maranello Ferrari Challenge, to name but three.
The Silverstone motor circuit has pulled out of the running to host the British International Motor Show. The SMMT confirmed the racetrack had withdrawn leaving three major venues – the Birmingham NEC, Earls Court in London and the Docklands Excel centre — pitching for the 2006 exhibition. An SMMT spokesman said a final decision on the show’s future location would be made in February.
The Aftermarket Show will open its doors to tyre industry visitors at the NEC from 13 to 16 January next year. Organiser, Haymarket Exhibitions, believes that the show will be both relevant and appealing to all sectors of the industry.
“The tyre section of the show is sponsored by the TIC, and the NTDA is again taking a stand; this is an exhibition that the tyre and fast fit market is keen and willing to support,” says Haymarket’s group sales manager Giles Brown.
Exhibitors such as Vredestein, Nordisk, Rage, Eurosport, Autopart and equipment suppliers like Supertracker, Tecalamit and Mace Industries will all be returning for a second successive year.
The last show was the first to combine all elements of an aftermarket industry, elements that had previously been exhibited as separate entities within Autosport International. The move is also an attempt to emphasise the combination of business and pleasure, and the automotive exhibition takes place over a full weekend for the first time. More than 90,000 people, including almost 25,000 from the automotive trades, attended the NEC for the two shows in 2004.
Although the focus is on the consumer, brands such as Dunlop, Pirelli, Uniroyal, Yokohama, Kumho and Silverstone will all be displaying their latest motorsport and high performance ranges to visitors. Fulda will also be present and is sponsoring the Live Action Arena at Autosport International as part of its campaign to launch its ultra-high performance car tyres in the UK.
Malaysian news sources are reporting that Lion Forest Industries Bhd is teaming up with Chinese tyre manufacturer Shandong LuHe Group Co Ltd to form a 75:25 joint venture company to produce Silverstone tyres in China. On 15 December the two companies said that Lion Forest’s subsidiary, Lion Rubber Industries Sdn Bhd, had signed an agreement with Shandong LuHe to form the joint venture company with paid-up capital of 152 million ringgit (approximately £21 million).
Lion Forest’s newly acquired subsidiary Quay Class Ltd and Lion Rubber also entered into an agreement with Silverstone Bhd’s 100 per cent subsidiary, iMpression Worldwide Inc, for the provision of technical know-how and services and the use of the Silverstone brand name. Silverstone Bhd is a wholly owned subsidiary of Silverstone Corporation Bhd.
Renault is lining up former world champion Jacques Villeneuve to replace Jarno Trulli. Italian driver Trulli left Renault three races earlier than originally planned amid accusations that the team was undermining him and supplying inferior equipment.
After three months of searching and 7000 applicants, Dunlop has finally found a Race Academy winner following the final stage at Silverstone on Tuesday.
Derby-based Andrew Walker won the title after the final three contestants took part in the track ‘shoot-out’ at Silverstone which included a media assessment, drives in the Porsche and Ginetta race car as well as the ARDS assessment and exam that was required to get the race license to compete at Brands Hatch.
The national search was launched at the Autosport Show in January with the intention of discovering a budding Jenson Button or Damon Hill and seven regional finalists were chosen to attend the Dunlop Race Academy.
After completing a fitness test, and a panel interview, featuring representatives from Dunlop, Ginetta and one of Britain’s top GT drivers, Calum Lockie, the drivers had to undergo a driving assessment.
Mr Walker will now take part in the Dunlop Drivers cup at Brands Hatch on 2-3 October.
James Bailey, Dunlop said: “We developed the Race Academy because Dunlop has been part of motorsport for over 100 years in the UK and felt that it was a good opportunity to put something back. We had a great response. 60,000 people looked at the application with around 7,000 entering the on-line test of motorsport and driving knowledge, so it’s proved a popular formula and we hope to repeat it next year.”
The English round of the Le Man Edurance Series, held at Silverstone, ended in victory for the P.Kaffer/A.McNish. The Audi Sport UK/Veloqx vehicle won the race running on Michelin tyres.
After launching its Race Academy competition in April, Dunlop has announced that it has selected seven qualifiers. The successful qualifiers will now be put through their paces in the semi-final held at Bruntingthorpe Proving Ground. Prospective drivers will have be interviewed, have their fitness tested and will have to pass precision driving and on track assessments. Only three drivers will make it through to the final which will be held at Silverstone on 17 August. The winner will compete at Brands Hatch in the Dunlop Drivers Cup, a one make race where all competitors race Ginetta G20 sports cars.
The Bridgestone Potenza equipped Ferraris of Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello successfully reclaimed the French Grand Prix crown as they claimed first and third places respectively. Fernando Alonso’s Michelin running Renault took second place.
Malaysian industrial giant the Lion Group, which owns Silverstone Tyre among its many other interests, is to introduce the brand into China. The group has a factory in China and already produces tyres under the Dong Feng brand name. The introduction of Silverstone marks a policy of expansion in China, with the Lion Group planning to invest US$ 1.5 billion over the next decade. As well as the tyre plant, Lion’s Chinese interests include 37 department stores, three motorcycle plants, a car manufacturing plant and 12 breweries. The Chinese operations account for almost 45 per cent of Lion’s annual turnover and 40 per cent of net earnings.
The Annual Autosport International show is without question one of the UK’s most successful motor shows. What began as an off-season showcase for the motorsports industries has developed into a glittering exhibition that few involved in motorsport can afford to ignore; though both Michelin and Bridgestone did just that this year.
Here we found Dunlop, Goodyear, Pirelli, Yokohama, Avon, Hoosier, Kumho, and Silverstone represented by Sport and Service. Each taking a very focussed approach to motorsport tyres and the motorsport sector. There were some odd men out, Vredestein and Technic both had stands and from a promotional point of view one had to wonder what the relationship between their display and motorsport was. Having said that Vredestein went home happy, reporting that they had gone to the show to contact independent dealers and made plenty of contacts. The company also took home the award for Best Stand in The Aftermarket Show. The company was also first to confirm its intention to return next year for the 2005 event. “We hoped to meet independent dealers and they were there in large numbers. It’s been a great show,” said Bert Stellinga. A similar statement came from Ian Smith at Technic, “It’s been a very successful return to exhibitions for Technic. We have seen independent tyre dealers, previous customers who have recognised the brand name and come on to the stand to re-establish contact, plus we are going away with some very promising leads.”
Technic took the opportunity of the show to display some clever blue retread tyres on a Smart car. The ‘blue tyre concept’ featured tyre casings with a blue pigment silica rally-type compound, rather than the traditional carbon black. “It was a move that has raised a great deal of interest and we are now considering adding coloured tyres to our range” said operations director Ian Smith.
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The Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers – Malaysian Tyre Manufacturers Industry Group claims that Malaysian manufactured tyres now conform to the highest international standards. Products have now been accepted in over 40 countries, including markets with strict regulations such as in Europe, Australia, US and Japan. Malaya’s four major manufacturers, DMIB Bhd, Goodyear Malaysia Bhd, Silverstone Bhd and Sime Tyres International Sdn exported over 2 million tyres in 2000.
The tenth race of the Pirelli Porsche Cup in Spa has been called off because, during practice, the tyres showed dramatic failures. The Pirelli tyres, it was said, “peeled like onions”. Following failures in Silverstone, Barcelona and Monaco, Porsche felt compelled to cancel the race in the interest of driver safety. Porsche is blaming Pirelli for inferior production process and the use of faulty compounds.
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