Last year’s Hankook MSA Northern Ireland Rally Championship ‘Young Driver of the Year’ Award was contested by more than 30 competitors, and at the end of 2010 Jonny Leonard was declared the winner, entitling him to compete, all expenses paid, in an international event during 2011. The event selected was round five of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, Belgium’s Ypres Rally, which took place between June 23 and 25.
Zircotec’s ceramic coating technology is used to reduce the surface heat of exhausts, and Aston Martin saw the potential in the material for cooling its V12 Zagato endurance racing car at the Nürburgring 24 Hours. The coating, derived from Zircotec’s ThermoHold, was selected by the manufacturer for its durable and lightweight method of reducing under-bonnet temperatures at the Nordschleife, improving reliability and preventing heat damage to bodywork, fuel and electrical systems. With its origins in the nuclear industry, Zircotec’s ThermoHold technology is applied to the exhaust system by plasma spraying to prevent heat being radiated by the 6.0 litre V12 engine.
The Avon-shod Honda-powered LCR of Klaus Klaffenbock and Dan Sayle won the first of the two sidecar events at the 2011 Isle of Man TT races, while only technical issues prevented them from capitalising on a 17-second lead on the final lap in the second. Despite the disappointment of race two, the first Sure Sidecar A race win – which they led from start to finish – meant three TT wins in a row for Klaffenbock and the seventh career win for his Manx-born partner Sayle. Avon-shod machines took eight of the top ten positions in both sidecar races.
Rob Northcott, head programmer at fast fit computer specialists Team Systems, has completed the demanding 50 mile Dartmoor Bicycle Challenge 2011 on a unicycle as part of a fund raising campaign for Cancer Research to support colleague Matt Bateman who is currently seriously ill with Hodgkin’s Lymphona.
Pirelli is at the Monaco Grand Prix this weekend with its new supersoft tyre, the PZero Red, which the company says are designed to be ideally suited to the tight and twisty streets of the principality. The iconic Monaco street circuit is 3,340 metres long, and the PZero Red is designed to offer increased grip over the slippery asphalt, which is open to normal road traffic in the evenings. The evolution of the track is therefore difficult to predict, and with frequent heavy use of brakes, such as in the first corner, Sainte Devote, where cars will lose 160kph in 100 metres. The continuous heavy use of the brakes in Monaco generates extremely high temperatures which are also felt in the tyres, increasing the stress caused by heat on the tyre as a whole.
Pirelli’s Angel ST sport touring tyres are now available from all outlets with £25 cashback on every set purchased, the manufacturer has announced. The Angel ST tyres recently set a World 24-hour duration record, covering 3191 miles on one set. Using the Nardo test circuit in Italy, the endurance team logged an average speed of 132.9 mph, which in tyre-life terms equates to 7,500 miles under normal road conditions, Pirelli says. The offer runs throughout June and July.
Taiwan’s Federal Tyre has announced that its latest Couragia F/X asymmetrical tyre for high performance LSUV vehicles will officially be offered at Neta Tyre Service & Sales at the beginning of May 2011. Neta has been a family-owned and operated business in Queensland for over 40 years. Henry Lin, director of Federal’s Global Sales Division said, “We are proud to have the Couragia F/X sold in Neta stores… Federal strives to develop new tyres within the top-end of the touring category by continuing to drive quality and product improvements through the manufacturing and administrative processes.”
Less than 72 hours after concluding the Malaysian Grand Prix, Pirelli was in China, beginning preparations for round three of the 2011 Formula One World Championship. As was the case in Australia, the teams will have an extra set of hard compound tyres for use during Friday’s first free practice session only. The allocation for the rest of the weekend is unaffected. The manufacturer says the surface and weather in China is generally less aggressive than Malaysia, with conditions more similar to Australia. This means that there should be 30 per cent less tyre wear and fewer pit stops than seen at the Malaysian Grand Prix, which provided a thrilling battle from start to finish.
Before you next gripe, Jeremy Clarkson-style, that the bus is a slow and cumbersome form of transport worthy of your finest sneer, you should take the time to acquaint yourself with the Superbus project. The 15 metre long, 23 seat vehicle is now under development and its Dutch builder claims a top speed of 250 km/h (155 mph) for the vehicle. The first Superbus prototype was presented in Dubai on the opening day of the World Exhibition of the International Association of Public Transport on April 10, 2011, and project developer Superbus B.V. aims to have the high speed vehicle ready for commercial use in 2015. To keep the bus rolling at its anticipated top speed the company is drawing upon support in the tyre department from Apollo Vredestein.
Towards the end of April a new high performance tyre will be added to the line-up of Maxxis products available in the UK. Called the ZR9, the UHP tyre will be released in size 195/50 VR15 and is designed for and targeted at asphalt track racing. Describing the new tyre, Maxxis explains that the ZR9 features a “directional tread pattern design with low void ratio for impressive handling” and large shoulder blocks that aid cornering and lateral stability, plus central V-shaped grooves that disperse water efficiently for strong wet traction.
A Land Rover Defender shod with standard 255/55R18 Cooper 4XS tyres has topped the Kirkby Lonsdale Motor Club drivers and co-drivers competition at the start of the UK’s domestic rally season. Mike Dawn and Jane Clarke, from Windermere, chose the biodiesel-powered 4×4 to compete in a series of national rally events during the 2011 season. In their first rally on the North West Stages, they completed 24 stages and 75 competitive miles of asphalt routes to finish 41st out of 105 competitors.
The third running of the Michelin Green X Challenge gets underway in North America on March 19, and the tyre maker says the season opener at the Sebring circuit in Florida will offer “a glimpse into the future of technology and innovation that become more relevant every day.” The US based Green X Challenge recognises the Prototype and GT category cars that prove “cleanest, fastest, most efficient” in the “race within the race” at every American Le Mans Series event. Similar competitions are now also part of every Asian and European Le Mans Series event, the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the new Intercontinental Le Mans Cup.
Michelin North America has released a new tyre suitable for applications such as materials handling and airport ground support vehicles. Called the XZR, the new tyre is one the manufacturer says “provides increased operator comfort, speed capability and traction compared to the current Michelin offering for these applications.”
It’s now 80 years since Shojiro Ishibashi established Bridgestone Tire Co., Ltd. in the Japanese city of Kurume, and to commemorate its oak anniversary Bridgestone Corporation has unveiled a new corporate symbol, brand tagline and announced a refinement of its “The Bridgestone Essence” corporate philosophy. These changes, the tyre maker explains in a press statement, are “part of an integrated strategy to further strengthen Bridgestone brand globally.”
In the US Inovex Industries, Inc., the manufacturers of the Ride-On tyre protection system (TPS), have partnered with Motovan (Canada's largest distributor of motorcycle accessories) to distribute the company’s balancer/sealant product.
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