Benchmarking aids fleet risk strategy
According to LeasePlan UK, there are an estimated 3 million company cars on the roads and roughly 1 in 3 will be involved in an accident each year. Over 17 per cent of these incidents will take place on a Tuesday, with damages from fault and non-fault incidents costing companies upwards of £6.4 million over the past three years, just for the one day.
Continue Reading‘Outlook for UK pump prices uncertain’ – PRA
The recent rise in fuel prices in the UK is likely to see more fluctuation, but predictions suggest that diesel may continue to rise ahead of petrol. “Much of the sharp upswing in the UK wholesale cost of petrol, caused by a big surge of global prices in the immediate aftermath of the hurricane, was absorbed by retailers such that average pump prices only rose by just over 2.0pp,” commented Brian Madderson, chairman of the Petrol Retailers Association (PRA).
Continue ReadingDunlop to tackle Far, Middle East challenges in last 18 hours of 2017 World Endurance
Dunlop is preparing for the final three World Endurance Championship events of 2017, with 6 Hour races in Fuji, Shanghai, and Bahrain. In LMP2, the teams will have the medium and medium-plus options for the remaining three rounds. Although the class is open in terms of tyre competition, all teams have chosen to compete on Dunlop tyres. Tyre choice in the GTE class will vary across the three available compounds depending on manufacturer and track. This is the first year with the GTE Pro class tyre restrictions in place which necessitates double stinting, and combined with the extreme conditions of the final three tracks, will make set-ups particularly critical.
Continue ReadingGrasser Lamborghini wins Pirelli supported Blancpain GT titles after Mercedes win
The GRT Grasser Racing Team claimed Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup and overall titles with a third-place finish in the final race at Barcelona with its Lamborghini Huracan GT3. The result gave Grasser’s Mirko Bortolotti, Christian Engelhart and Andrea Caldarelli the drivers’ Endurance title, while Bortolotti and Engelhart became the overall Blancpain GT Series drivers’ champions, which also considers results in the Sprint Cup.
Continue ReadingAlternative tyre strategy helps Vettel to 4th at Malaysian grand prix
While all the frontrunners at the final Malaysian Grand Prix used a similar single-stop tyre strategy, changing from Pirelli P Zero Red supersoft to Yellow soft tyres, Sebastian Vettel’s Ferrari reversed the order to support his bid for points from the back of the grid. The German chose to start the race on the soft tyres to try and gain track position, switching to the faster supersoft tyres on the same lap that Red Bull’s Max Verstappen pitted from the lead to change from supersoft to soft. Verstappen won the race from the second row of the grid.
Continue ReadingApollo Tyres ‘has no intention’ of entering Kumho acquisition race
Apollo Tyres has denied reports published in India’s Economic Times suggesting that it is about to enter the race to acquire Kumho Tire. An Apollo spokesperson told Tyres & Accessories: “Apollo Tyres strongly denies the story headlined Apollo Back in Kumho Race as Geopolitics Sours China Deal’ that appeared in the print edition of The Economic Times on 2 October, 2017.
Continue ReadingNew WRC gravel tyre heralds ‘new era’ for Dmack
Dmack has unveiled its first new gravel tread pattern for WRC cars in the FIA World Rally Championship in five years. The DMG+2 has been used since 2012, helping it into the lead in five WRC events and to win 47 gravel stages. It makes way for the new DMG+22 at Rally RACC - Rally de España, where Dmack tyres won their first WRC stage in 2012. The new DMG+22 tyre features the same tread pattern which has been used successfully in WRC 2 and WRC 3 this season. Dmack states the tyre should be more suited to the final three events remaining this year.
Continue ReadingAuto Bild names Goodyear Vector 4Seasons Gen-2 all-season tyre test winner
Goodyear’s Vector 4Seasons Gen-2 all-season tyre has won German magazine Auto Bild’s latest tyre test. According to the magazine, the tyre demonstrated the best driving performance in all weather conditions, especially in wet and snow conditions.
Continue ReadingFirestone launches third Battle of the Bands contest for unsigned UK musicians
Firestone has launched its 2017 Battle of the Bands competition, with Orange Amplification and Wolf Alice bassist Theo Ellis. The contest provides hundreds of acts the opportunity to showcase their music, as well as win more than £2,000 worth of Orange Amplification equipment, studio time worth around £1,500, and support towards the creation of an EP.
Continue ReadingBridgestone sells Kingsway to Lodge Tyres
Following an extensive period of negotiations with Lodge Tyres, Bridgestone has agreed to sell its share capital in Kingsway Tyres. Lodge has completed the acquisition of the Kingsway retail business, which operates from 15 depots, predominantly in the east of England. Indeed the Kingsway website already features Lodge Group branding and refers to 16 depots, suggesting some degree of reorganising and/or re-branding has already taken place.
Continue ReadingGoodyear Dunlop winter strength proven by recent tyre test wins
Goodyear Dunlop’s twin premium brands have proven their winter performance in recent tyre tests conducted by GTÜ/ACE, ADAC/TCS and ÖAMTC. In all three tests, Dunlop’s Winter Sport 5 (SUV) and Goodyear’s UltraGrip Performance Gen-1 took first and second place respectively.
Continue ReadingPirelli opens first European PZero world in Munich
Pirelli has inaugurated the first European PZero World in Munich, at the centrally located Hanauer Strasse 42. After last year’s opening of its first flagship store in Los Angeles, Pirelli had set 2017 as the date for the arrival in Europe of this innovative point of sale.
Continue ReadingDunlop’s global motorsport family unites to help Macmillan
The global Dunlop Motorsport organisation has taken part in the World’s Biggest Coffee Morning – dubbed Dunlop’s Fastest Coffee Morning in recognition of the participation of sporting stars – to raise funds and awareness for Macmillan Cancer Support, the brand’s corporate charity. The events taking place today (Friday 29 September) included contributions from Drivers and team members from the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship, FIA World Endurance Championship and European Le Mans Series.
Continue ReadingFirenza’s SUV/4×4 tyre range designed for UK, European market demands
Singapore based tyre supplier Firenza has developed three 4x4 patterns for the increasingly popular and demanding UK and European segment.
Continue ReadingEvergreen Dyna redesigned to deliver for UK 4×4 drivers
Evergreen Tyres’ recent relaunch of its Dyna range includes two key SUV/4x4 patterns; the DynaControl ES880 and the DynaComfort ES380. The Dyna range was introduced in 2016 with redesigned tread patterns and tyre constructions. The brand states that the result of this is improvement in steering, fuel efficiency, all weather grip and road noise, important performance characteristics to the UK market.
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