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”.
Falken Tyre Europe is expanding its portfolio of truck tyres, adding new sizes to its already proven GI388 for regional transport and construction-site use, introducing new high-load versions for the RI151 bus tyre and the SI011 winter truck tyre. The brand is boosting the load index of its steer axle tyres for regional use, as well as introducing high-load and XL width versions in response to market demand. These high-load tyre models have replaced their normal load index predecessors to minimise confusion and the need for duplicate stocking.
The current Red Bull Air Race World Champion and Falken-supported athlete, Yoshihide Muroya continued his run of success by securing second place in the first race of the 2018 season, held in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. For the fourth consecutive year Falken is sponsoring the Red Bull Air Race pilot as he competes in the fastest motorsport in the world.
This year, the Falken tyre brand will serve as presenting partner for the Audi Nines, an annual invitational for some of the world’s best Skicross and Snowboardcross athletes. In 2018, the event comes to Sölden, Austria for the first time and will be held on 14 April.
Masatsugu Nishino has been named the new president of Sumitomo Rubber Industries’ factory in Turkey. Currently chief executive officer of Falken Tyre Europe, a position he has held since April 2015, Nishino will take up his new role with Sumitomo Rubber AKO Lastik Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S. on 1 January 2018. Nishino’s successor as Falken Tyre Europe’s CEO has been named as Mitsuteru Tanigawa, who will assume the position from January.
Falken Tyres and Liverpool Football Club marked their global partnership with a shirt presentation ahead of the club’s game with Chelsea on Saturday 25 November at Anfield. Falken opted to sponsor the game, and accordingly its branding was displayed prominently in the players’ coach entrance, in the Liverpool dugout and on the LED sideboards. 50,477 fans saw an entertaining game end in a 1-1 draw.
Falken plans to launch its latest summer tyres during its debut as an exhibitor at the Equip Auto trade show in Paris (17-21 October 2017). The new Ziex ZE310 Ecorun summer tyre, available from spring 2018, will be launched as the successor to Falken’s Ziex ZE914 Ecorun. Falken says the new tyre offers outstanding traction and grip on both wet and dry roads coupled with low wear.
Liverpool FC has a new global partner and official tyre partner. Following the end of its arrangement with Maxxis, which began in 2009 and concluded at the end of the 2016/17 season, the club has entered into a multi-year collaboration with Falken Tyre.
Falken Motorsport achieved eighth place overall at the 45th ADAC Zurich Nürburgring 24h race with its new BMW M6 GT3. The Sumitomo global brand’s motorsport division makes the race one of the flagship events in its promotional calendar, and added a second car to its team for the 2017 edition. Falken’s newest addition, competing at the endurance race for the first time in the company’s colours, was the third-best BMW home after a collision on Saturday evening led to the retirement of its Porsche 911 GT3 after completing just 26 laps.
Japanese tyre maker Falken Tyre is intensifying its strategic use of football as a platform for sales and marketing, and for the new season has secured perimeter advertising packages at various clubs playing in the German Bundesliga, Spain’s Primera División, the Italian Serie A and France’s Ligue 1.
Falken Tyres achieved its aim of a first podium at the Nuerburgring 24 Hours. The team of Peter Dumbreck, Martin Ragginger, Alex Imperatori and Wolf Henzler guided Falken’s Porsche 997 GT3 R from 19th on the grid to a podium slot, improving on its fourth place finish in 2014. The team’s number 44 Porsche – the only car on the grid to use Falken tyres – rose gradually through the field overnight, dealing well with typically varied Eifel region weather. Tyres & Accessories, visiting the event, enquires how the Sumitomo Rubber Industries brand’s European operation benefits from its relationship with the Nuerburgring and its flagship endurance race.
Falken Tyres has achieved its aim of a first podium at the Nürburgring 24 Hours. The team of Peter Dumbreck, Martin Ragginger, Alex Imperatori and Wolf Henzler guided Falken’s Porsche 997 GT3 R from 19th on the grid to a podium slot, improving on its fourth place finish in 2014. The team’s number 44 Porsche – the only car on the grid to use Falken tyres – rose gradually through the field overnight, dealing with typically varied Eifel region weather, including showers during the night.
