Falken Motorsport driver anticipates quick Nürburgring 24-Hr with new Porsche
Back in January, the Falken Motorsport Team announced that it would return to the Nürburgring 24 Hour race on 25-26 June running a GT3 R specification Porsche 911, in a break from its tradition of Japanese sports cars. Peter Dumbreck, will be racing the car in this year’s 24 Hours, also breaking from Japanese manufactured cars, exemplified by his Nissan GTR drive in this year’s GT1 World Championship, though he notes that he has “driven a few Porsches earlier in my career including the Alzen 996 Turbo and 996 and 997 Cup cars in the Carrera Cup six or seven years ago. I’ve also driven an older RSR at the Nurburging in 2005”. Previewing the event for Falken, Dumbreck talked about the differences between driving Porsche models, such as the 997, and Nissan’s GTR, including his impressions of the Falken tyre specifications for the former, on which they have been tested.
Continue ReadingAvon signed as sole Brit F1 Sidecar tyre supplier
Avon Tyres has announced that it will be the sole tyre supplier to the 2011 Eastern Airways British F1 Sidecar championship following the first two rounds of the 2011 season, in which teams will be allowed to use up remaining stock. The eight-round series started on the Easter Bank Holiday weekend and will conclude on 1 October, with four of the eight races alongside the UK’s premier two-wheeled series – the MCE Insurance-backed British Superbike Championship – shown live on Eurosport and ITV 4. The Avon series will also feature in an hour-long highlights show of all eight rounds during a prime-time slot on Eurosport.
Continue ReadingGoodyear throws its weight behind European truck racing
Some 80 million television viewers around the world are said to watch the FIA European Truck Racing Championship, and in 2011 Goodyear is continuing its commitment to the sport by supplying tyres to all 24 participating race trucks. In addition to supplying all teams with specially designed and built Truck Racing tyres, the company will also provide the FIA with technical support at all ten series races. The Goodyear tyres are supplied and serviced by TRO (Truck Racing Organisation), the sole tyre supplier. TRO represents the interests of all teams in the FIA European Truck Racing Championship and its trucks and trailers will attend all races, providing a tyre fitting area in the paddock at each venue. This year sees the introduction of RFID chips in the supplied tyres to enable their systematic electronic monitoring during race weekends.
Continue ReadingMaxxis delighted with opening round of revised drift championship
The Maxxis British Drift Championship recently got underway again following a six month break, and the title sponsor says the series continues to grow in popularity and is now bigger than ever. In order to give smaller teams and individual drivers the chance to maximise their resources the championship format has been tweaked and the 84 drivers competing this year have been split into three categories – Semi-Pro, Pro and Super-Pro – based on their driving skills and drift experience. Following the opening round of the 2011 series at Donington, Maxxis says it was delighted to see Mark Luney and SAT/Cosworth – one of its sponsored teams using the Maxxis MA-Z1 Drift tyre – take victory in the new Super-Pro class.
Continue ReadingMaxxis team enjoys ‘best ever’ BSB finish
Last weekend’s BSB round at Oulton Park provided a “best ever” moment for Maxxis-sponsored team MSS Colchester Kawasaki. The tyre maker reports that team rider Stuart Easton, having secured the new Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R’s first podium in the 2011 MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship with a third place in race one, followed up with an even better performance in the second race and led for the majority of laps before finishing second overall. This was, Maxxis states, the team’s best ever Superbike finish.
Continue ReadingBogie prevails in Pirelli International Rally
Scottish driver David Bogie has extended his lead at the top of the Dulux Trade MSA British Rally Championship drivers’ standings with his second win out of three rounds on the Pirelli International Rally in Carlisle on the weekend of April 29 and 30. Now leading the pack by seven points, the 23-year-old from Dumfries has performed consistently well throughout this season, taking first on Rallye Sunseeker in February and second on the Bulldog International Rally North Wales last month.
Continue ReadingHankook celebrates successful DTM debut
High praise for Hankook came after the company’s first DTM race as exclusive tyre supplier. Following the weekend’s touring car race at the Hockenheim circuit in Germany, viewed by some 58,000 spectators including Hankook Tire executive vice-president and Europe COO Jin-Wook Choi and global CSFO Hyun-Bum Cho, race winner Bruno Spengler declared the Hankook Ventus race tyres to be “very good,” adding that “even though we are running a lot over the kerbs here at Hockenheim, the tyres remained consistent. That is really very good.”
Continue ReadingDunlop joins Isle of Man TT Races commercial portfolio
Dunlop has announced it will be the “Official Tyre Partner” for the 2011 Isle of Man TT races. Allan Bell MHK, minister for economic development commented: “The TT Races commercial programme continues to grow and it is fitting that in the year of the centenary of the Mountain Course, one of the companies that has become synonymous with the event has become a commercial partner.” Eddy Geerdink, Dunlop marketing director, commented: “Dunlop is delighted to become the Official Tyre Partner of the TT Races. The Mountain Course is one of the world’s toughest circuits and our success in the event over the years has provided us with excellent recognition for the performance and technology of our tyres.”
Continue ReadingMetzeler increases two-wheel British motorsport involvement
Following on from its five year deal with the MCE British Superbike Championship, Metzeler has announced that it will increase its involvement in Superstock 1000, 600 and the Triumph Triple Challenge, including a promotional brand unit in the trade areas of each event. Metzeler Racing manager Jason Griffiths commented; “This is a big year for Metzeler as the Superstock classes have never been bigger and we are also proud to supply the tyres for the Triumph Triple Challenge. Just like the bike manufacturers, Metzeler sees real importance in proving the quality of its road based products especially as lap times have continued to tumble. The class is very difficult to predict this year with so many potential winners, it’s going to be a real battle out there I’m sure! We are also supporting the fans more this year with a promotional unit and competitions at every round with top prizes.”
Continue ReadingMaxxis British Drift Championship to begin at Donington
This Easter weekend (22-23 April) sees the 2011 Maxxis British Drift Championship get underway at Donington Park, with new regulations in place designed to make racing more competitive. Teams competing this year on Maxxis’ MA-Z1 Drift tyre will include Paul Cheshire’s 650bhp G35 Skyline and the tyre brand’s own sponsored SATS Cosworth Supra, driven by Mark Luney.
Continue ReadingMaxxis reviews British Motocross Championship third leg
Tyre brand Maxxis is the current title sponsor of the ACU British Motocross Championship – in addition to sponsoring several teams individually – and has pronounced itself delighted to see more close racing when the third round of the Championship took place at the sandy Cadders Hill circuit in in Lyng, Norfolk on 17 April. Maxxis also said its sponsored teams put in “a strong showing to deliver some solid top ten finishes”.
Continue ReadingYokohama to support Toshi Arai and Fumio Nutahara in IRC Europe
The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd. will provide its Advan A006T (for tarmac) and ADVAN A053 (for gravel) rally tyres in support of Toshi Arai and Fumio Nutahara in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC), which has been underway in Europe since January. Yokohama Rubber is endeavouring to improve recognition of its Advan rally tyres in Europe by supporting proven drivers in highly popular rallies.
Continue ReadingPirelli-shod drivers secure podium lock-out in Granite City rally
MSA Scottish Rally Championship contenders driving on Pirelli tyres secured the top three positions at the Granite City Rally in Aberdeen on Saturday, 16 April. Dave Weston, the 2006 champion, claimed victory in his Ford Focus WRC by a slender margin of one second over current title-holder David Bogie, who continues to lead the championship standings, following wins on the opening two rounds of the season in his Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX. Rising star David Wilson, in another Mitsubishi, completed the podium to underline the control and durability of its Scorpion tyres on the punishing gravel stages of Aberdeenshire.
Continue ReadingCooper begins 30th season of British F3 tyre supply
This weekend Cooper Tire enters its 30th season as exclusive tyre supplier to the Cooper Tires British Formula Three International Series, as the formula begins its 60th anniversary season this weekend. The series’ more international flavour of recent years will be represented by its first round taking place at Monza, Italy: one of four held outside the UK. Britain will see six events.
Continue ReadingShane O’Sullivan drives Maxxis-shod Japspeed S15 in Ireland
Maxxis reports that Ireland’s Shane O’Sullivan has joined the Team Japspeed drifting team the brand sponsors. He will compete full time in the ProDrift Series in the RB25-powered S15 using the MA-Z1 Drift tyre. Shane Finn, who will be running the team in conjunction with the Japspeed Ireland division, said: “Paul McCallum and the Japspeed UK team have built a truly fantastic machine which we’ve seen compete successfully in Ireland in the past.
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