Hankook Tire has become a sponsor of the Nürburgring Endurance Series, the race event at the renown German circuit that previously went by the name VLN Endurance Championship and billed as the largest motorsport championship in the world. The tyre maker hopes this new tie-up will be the start of a “long term partnership” with the retitled, open tyre supply motorsport series.
Falken will run a pair of the latest specification GT3 Porsche 911 GT3 R cars in both the Nürburgring Endurance Series (formerly known as the VLN) and the Nürburgring 24h race in 2020. The Falken Motorsports race team, run by Schnabl Engineering for the tenth consecutive year, has ordered a new 991.2 chassis to run alongside its 2019 Porsche. Both cars will be identical in specification.
Goodyear will accelerate the development of its motorsport programme in 2020 in several German race series. Following a period away from the top level of sport, the tyre brand will build on its long and successful racing history at the Nürburgring-Nordschleife, where Goodyear will equip numerous teams in the VLN Endurance Championship and the 24h Race. Its racing tyres will also be used in the two racing series DMV GT and Touring Car Cup (DMV GTC) as well as the DMV National Endurance Series 500 (DMV NES 500).
Falken Motorsports has completed a shakedown of its 2019 race cars at Portugal’s Autodromo Internacional Algarve ahead of the 2019 VLN Endurance Championship, which begins on 23 March 2019. This season the team will introduce the new 2019 Porsche 911 GT3 R, with the test marking the first running for the new chassis as well as the new larger 300/680R18 Falken tyres fitted to the front axle to provide additional grip. The rear axle is fitted with 310/710R18 tyres, which are the same as the team’s previous model.
Dunlop has concluded a tyre test programme that will result in new tyres being introduced into the German VLN Endurance Championship. The tyre manufacturer hopes to make another step forward in performance to build on a successful season in the Nürburgring Nordschleife based series. Dunlop-equipped cars took several overall and class wins in 2018, and the tyre company used the session at Portugal’s Autodromo Internacional Algarve to test new ideas and concepts for the 2019 season.
Falken Motorsports has introduced a new Porsche 911 GT3 R for the start of the 2019 motorsport season. The new Porsche will compete alongside the team’s BMW M6 GT3 at the Nürburgring, continuing the Japanese tyre brand’s 20-year commitment to the legendary Nordschleife with racing cars from two premium car manufacturers.
Falken Tyres experienced its most successful VLN Endurance Championship season in 2018, securing seven podium finishes including two race victories, as its Porsche 911 GT3 R beat its competitors around the Nordschleife. The Type 991 has been the most successful Falken race car in the VLN to date, claiming two wins and nine podium finishes since its racing debut in April 2016. A reliable competitor, it has completed more than 30,000 racing kilometres overseen by Falken’s engineers.
BMW Motorsport and Dunlop have extended their long-established partnership in the VLN Endurance Championship for at least another two years. The tyre maker will continue to equip all BMW Cup-class cars in the VLN races. These races are run at the Nürburgring Nordschleife, and Dunlop will also supply its 265/660 R18 racing tyres for the circuit’s 24-hour race.
Falken Tyre Europe says 1 September 2018 will go down in the annals of Falken Motorsports after it celebrated a double win at the Nürburgring – the first in its almost 20 years of VLN participation. The 1-2 finish saw Martin Ragginger and Klaus Bachler dominate the sixth round of the VLN Endurance Championship and win for the first time in the Porsche 911 GT3 R, ahead of Falken team colleagues Stef Dusseldorp and Alexandre Imperatori in the BMW M6 GT3.
Falken will contest its 20th season at the 2018 Nürburgring 24-Hour Race and subsequent VLN Endurance Championship. The Falken Motorsports driver line-up, which has been altered for 2018, are competing in its two GT3 cars, the Porsche 911 GT3 and BMW M6 GT3. Falken has also produced a video to mark the occasion of two decades on the Nordschleife “Green Hell”.
This year has been a strong one for Falken Tyre on the motorsport front. It has racked up a plethora of titles from its motorsport activities and also secured a first victory in the VLN Endurance Championship as well as a top-ten finish at the notoriously challenging Nürburgring 24-hour race.
The 2017 VLN Endurance Championship is, states Falken Tyre Europe, its most successful season to date. The win by the Falken Motorsports BMW M6 GT3 in the fourth race of the season gave the tyre maker its first overall victory since the start of its Nürburgring commitment in 1999. The Porsche 911 GT3 R team added two more podium finishes later in the season. The final race of the season took place on the weekend with Falken Motorsport team’s Porsche 911 GT3 R, driven by Klaus Bachler and Romain Dumas, taking fourth place. Peter Dumbreck and Stef Dusseldorp had a great race in their BMW M6 GT3 coming from behind to finish in 11th place overall.
British racing driver James Walker will return to the gruelling Nürburgring after a four-year hiatus, driving a Dunlop-shod BMW 235i in the ultra-competitive VLN series. After a successful 15-year career spanning single seaters and sportscars, Walker moved his family back to Jersey and gave up racing, until being tempted back to racing in Germany on 22-23 September.
Dunlop has extended its partnership with the BMW M235i Racing Cup, described by product manager Dunlop Motorsport EMEA, Alexander Kühn as “the perfect entry point into the VLN.” The Cup began in 2014 and regularly features more than 20 cars battling in the most heavily occupied and extremely competitive class in the VLN and the 24h race on the Nurburgring. All BMW M235i Racing cars have competed for four consecutive seasons on the toughest race track of the world, racing exclusively on Dunlop racing tyres in the dimension 265/660 R18.
Falken has returned to the Nürburgring podium at the 40th RCM DMV Grenzlandrennen, with the tyre brand’s Falken Motorsport team’s Porsche 911 GT3 R, driven by Martin Ragginger and Klaus Bachler following up victory for the BMW in July. In changeable weather conditions familiar to the Eifel region Ragginger/Bachler brought the Porsche over the line in third place at the second VLN Endurance Championship race of the season at the circuit.
If you would like the latest news from the Chinese tyre industry in Chinese, visit our partner site TyrepressChina.com. Or click below to continue on Tyrepress.