8 Points Separate Top 4 Before Maxxis British Drift Championship Finale
Maxxis’ MA-Z1 Drift tyre has been on show this month in the third and fourth rounds of the British Drift Championship that also bears the brand’s name as title sponsor. The company said the tyre has delivered consistent performance in the changeable weather it has encountered. Through a day of alternating torrential showers and bright sunshine the MA-Z1 Drift’s performance at Lydden Hill, Kent, during round three helped Team Japspeed driver Shane Lynch take victory and with it the championship lead in the pro class. After round four, last year’s European Drift Champion Mark Luney stormed into the lead.
Continue ReadingPirelli GP3 Rain Tyre Sees Use at Hockenheim
Pirelli has described last weekend’s racing at Hockenheim as ‘action-packed’. The two races held during the fifth round of the inaugural GP3 series were characterised by incidents, accidents, and changeable weather – which meant the company’s rain tyre saw its first use on Friday and Saturday during free practice and qualifying.
Continue ReadingYokohama Sponsoring "Asia Cross Country Rally 2010"
Yokohama Rubber has pledged its support for the Asia Cross Country Rally 2010, which will be held in Thailand between August 7 and 11. This is the tenth time the tyre maker has been involved with the FIA certified cross country rally, the largest in Asia, and Yokohama will provide its Geolandar tyres to all entrants in the newly established sports class category and award prizes to the winners in all categories. It will also support many drivers, including Takuma Aoki, who will participate in the T2-D class (non-converted commercial diesel) and Tadamitsu Niihori, the race’s overall winner on two previous occasions.
Continue ReadingHankook's Andreas Mikkelsen Gains IRC Points in Azores
Hankook driver Andreas Mikkelsen celebrated after an eventful finale to the Stat Rallye Acores over the weekend resulting in an impressive fourth overall. During the three day event the Hankook crew of Mikkelsen and co-driver Ole Fløene recorded their maiden IRC fastest time and challenged more experienced teams on their first visit to the island and only their second rally on gravel using the M-Sport Ford Fiesta S2000 on Hankook tyres. The Norweigen rally ace was comfortably running in the top five on the IRC event until a herd of cows, that had strayed, obstructed the stage causing Mikkelsen to hit them, consequently damaging the crews Ford Fiesta S2000. When speaking about the incident Mikkelsen said: "We were flat-out in sixth-gear and 50 metres after a big crest there was eight or ten cows in the middle of the road. We had to put the car into the ditch where we hit two of the cows. It was a scary moment."
Continue ReadingPirelli Preparing for GP2 at Hockenheim Following ‘Pleasing’ Silverstone Round
The fourth round of the inaugural GP3 series, run on the revised Silverstone track layout, gave Pirelli’s hard compound tyres a chance to show drivers their performance characteristics. Pirelli notes the new hard compound Pirelli PZero 13-inch tyres proved to be “both fast and reliable at Silverstone despite a wide variety of weather conditions that accurately reflected the vagaries of the British climate.”
Continue ReadingAvon Tyres Chosen for Trackspeed’s Spa 24 Hours
Leading British GT outfit Trackspeed Racing has confirmed it will fit Avon Tyres to their Porsche 911 GT3 RSR in the GT2 class of this year’s Spa 24 Hour race on 31 July – 1 August. The announcement follows the company’s tyre performance in the Spa round of the Avon Tyres British GT Championship in June, when the British competitors raced alongside the Belcar series (which runs to GT3 specifications using another manufacturer’s rubber). There, Peter Kox set the outright fastest lap in an Avon-shod Lamborghini Gallardo, with all Avon runners “putting in consistently fast times,” says the manufacturer.
Continue ReadingFederal Named as Partner Sponsor of Drifting Series
Federal Tires is the sole tyre sponsor of the 2010 D1 Street Legal Drifting Series, the platform from which drivers can progress to the D1 Grand Prix International Championship. Although the series is geared towards novice drifters, the level of professionalism is high as it attracts recognized D1GP celebrities and former regulars. Fourteen races across four categories that include East, West, Inter Series, and with the Ladies Series will take place at nine circuits across Japan, following a championship event in a special drifting track on the Tsukuba Circuit. Being a national street legal series, there are tighter restrictions on how a car can be modified, which means every car has to prove its road-worthiness by retaining the engine with which it was originally supplied. Also, a competitor wishing to be a part of the race event is required to obtain the D1SL licence.
Continue ReadingCooper Tires British F3 Adopts Pit Stops, but No Tyre Changes
The Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series heads to Rockingham alongside The Avon Tyres British GT Championship this weekend (17-18 July) with the former introducing pit stops and the latter entering the second half of a closely fought season. Teams and drivers from F3 have reportedly welcomed the introduction of pit stops as an exciting addition to the format of the innovative junior single-seater championship. Mandatory pit stops along the lines of those employed in Formula One will be tried for the first time in the second of the weekend’s trio of Rockingham races. The aim, according to Cooper, is to give drivers experience of the race strategy element that takes place in F1, even though tyres will not be changed. Meanwhile Avon’s British GT Championship heads to Rockingham following a six-week break, and things in this year’s title race are looking close. At the sharp end of the grid, the GT3 class the battle looks likely to continue until the final round, with only 16 points separating the top five teams in the championship.
Continue ReadingHard Compound GP3 Tyres Debut at Silverstone
The fourth round of the inaugural GP3 series took place at Silverstone over the weekend and gave drivers their first opportunity to savour the circuit’s revised track layout, which features seven new corners that have increased lap length and average speed. Silverstone also saw the debut of tyre supplier Pirelli’s hard compound tyres, which were left on the rack in favour of the medium compound in Barcelona and Istanbul followed by the soft compound during round three in Valencia.
Continue ReadingBritish Drift Championship Visits Donington
The Maxxis British Drift Championship travels to Donington Park this coming Saturday (10 July) for round four of the series. Tyre manufacturer Maxxis will be there to see the top drivers reassert themselves after weather and car troubles made life difficult for many competitors during the previous round at Lydden Hill.
Continue ReadingFederal Appointed Tyre Sponsor of Malaysian Super Series and Sepang S1K
Continuing to promote its motorsport credentials, Federal Tyres has announced it will supply the official tyre for the touring car class of the Malaysian Super Series Championship (simply known as MSS) and the Sepang 1,000km endurance (S1K) race in 2010, marking the first season that Federal has sponsored the two Malaysian series.
Continue ReadingFalken-Shod Tajima Retains Title at Pikes Peak
Veteran Pikes Peak International hill Climb winner Nobuhira Tajima has secured a fifth consecutive victory at this year’s 88th running of the Colorado mountain race. Although he did not set a new record with his latest win, achieved one day before his 60th birthday, Tajima continues to hold the current overall record for reaching the peak, beating hill climb veterans Paul Dallenbach and Rhys Millen in the Unlimited Class. Tajima drove his new car, a 910-hp Monster Sport SX4 Hill Climb Special fitted with Falken WildPeak A/T tyres, a new of all-terrain, all-season range Falken launched in April, and finished with the time of 10:11.49, a few seconds faster than his winning time last year.
Continue ReadingGP3 Debut for Soft Compound PZero Tyre
Pirelli’s new 13-inch PZero soft compound GP3 tyre made its debut at last weekend’s Valencia street circuit for round three of the all-new series. The tyre, designed to deliberately degrade and slide, remained on the shelf during the first two rounds in Barcelona and Istanbul Park, as the medium compound tyre instead saw action at these venues.
Continue ReadingMaxxis/Japspeed British Drift Championship Completes Third Round
As reported before in these pages, Maxxis is the title sponsor – alongside Japspeed – of the British Drift Championship, which completed 2010’s third round recently. The manufacturer says Lydden Hill, which staged Round Three, is one of the most exciting tracks in the British Drift Championship calendar, and remains a firm favourite with the drivers. The challenge was increased with the typical British summer contributing torrential rain followed by bright sunshine and then more wet conditions.
Continue ReadingBridgestone Brings F1 Personalities to 2010 Eco-Rally
Bridgestone’s Eco-Rally 2010 will feature appearances from Ross Brawn, Patrick Head and Nico Hulkenberg with more names to be announced. Now in its fourth year, the Bridgestone Eco-Rally takes place on Wednesday 7 July and will showcase all the latest in low and zero emission vehicle technology in a convoy from Brighton’s seafront to London’s Hyde Park. At the finish line, it will join the UK’s largest sustainable transport exhibition, free to attend, at the Royal Albert Memorial.
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