The Formula 1 teams and the motorsport association FIA are in disagreement about the regulations for the next season. Among other things F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone has suggested that each car at each racing weekend is supplied with three extra sets of tyres.
Dunlop Germany has been awarded a top level “Formula Q” award by the Volkswagen Group. Dunlop was the only tyre producer to gain the award for Supply Reliability, Productivity and Error-free Quality. Every year Volkswagen awards 20 of its 8,000 suppliers for their outstanding performance.
Goodyear, who stopped supplying tyres for Formula 1 last season, has announced that, from next year, it will no longer supply tyres to the Indy Racing League (IRL) and Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) in the USA. The company will concentrate on other forms of racing, such as NASCAR. Stu Grant, general manager for global race tyres, said that the decision will be reviewed and that he would not rule out a return to IRL, CART, nor Formula 1 competition.
With a fuel consumption of less than three litres per hundred kilometres (approximately 95mpg) the new Volkswagen Lupo TDI sets new standards. The reduced consumption has been achieved by a combination of various measures; the use of light-weight forged wheels by Fuchs is for instance a contributory factor to the reduced weight of the vehicle. On the tyre side, Bridgestone/Firestone has scored in original equipment with the B 381 Ecopia, size 155/65 R14 75T. The name, made up from “ecology” and “utopia” is also the statement of a programme, which will exploit experience gained in the construction of this tyre for future Bridgestone/Firestone products. The tyre manufacturer achieved weight reduction by using aramid instead of steel in the belt and light-weight polyester in the casing. Thanks to its clever rubber compound formula the tyre’s rolling resistance has also been optimised and at the same time has fulfilled the tyre manufacturer’s ecologically motivated desire for noise reduction. As an equivalent for the winter season Bridgestone recommends the WT 12 tread pattern.
