The ADAC TOTAL 24h of the Nürburgring has been rescheduled for September, leaving a cloud-shaped hole in Falken Motorport’s schedule. The tyre brand’s team is followed by an enthusiastic fan base, though, and Falken has found a way to engage them without the totemic event of its motorsport season.
Giti Tire Motorsport’s all-female racing team took to the grid of the second Digital Nürburgring Endurance Series meeting on 4 April. Professional WS Racing drivers Carrie Schreiner and Celia Martin got behind the gaming wheel of a virtual Giti liveried Audi RS3 LMS TCR for the three hour endurance race and finished 10th in the TCR Class.
Hankook Tire has become a sponsor of the Nürburgring Endurance Series, the race event at the renown German circuit that previously went by the name VLN Endurance Championship and billed as the largest motorsport championship in the world. The tyre maker hopes this new tie-up will be the start of a “long term partnership” with the retitled, open tyre supply motorsport series.
Falken will run a pair of the latest specification GT3 Porsche 911 GT3 R cars in both the Nürburgring Endurance Series (formerly known as the VLN) and the Nürburgring 24h race in 2020. The Falken Motorsports race team, run by Schnabl Engineering for the tenth consecutive year, has ordered a new 991.2 chassis to run alongside its 2019 Porsche. Both cars will be identical in specification.
From endurance racing and drifting to desert rallies, Falken Tyres has seen success in varied motorsport disciplines this season. The brand celebrated top-ten finishes in its 20th year at the Nürburgring 24-hour race and on the Peking to Paris Rally, while the season’s crowning glory has been drift driver James Deane’s double title win.
Goodyear will accelerate the development of its motorsport programme in 2020 in several German race series. Following a period away from the top level of sport, the tyre brand will build on its long and successful racing history at the Nürburgring-Nordschleife, where Goodyear will equip numerous teams in the VLN Endurance Championship and the 24h Race. Its racing tyres will also be used in the two racing series DMV GT and Touring Car Cup (DMV GTC) as well as the DMV National Endurance Series 500 (DMV NES 500).
Falken Tyres celebrated 20 years at the Nürburgring with sponsorship of the ADAC TOTAL 24-Hour Race (N24), held on 22-23 June 2019. The Sumitomo Rubber Industries brand’s team, run by Sven Schnabl, now fields two cars at the event, and in the VLN Endurance Championship. The UK’s Peter Dumbreck and Swiss driver Alexandre Imperatori drove the BMW M6 GT3 alongside BMW factory drivers Stef Dusseldorp and Jens Klingmann to claim an excellent sixth place finish, having started 31st on the grid, while the new Porsche 911 GT3R, driven by Austrian duo Martin Ragginger and Klaus Bachler supported by Porsche factory drivers Dirk Werner and Jörg Bergmeister, finished the race in 21st, having suffered an off that put paid to its chances of a top-ten finish. Falken also supplied racing tyres to Subaru Tecnica International’s WRX STI. Tyres & Accessories took the opportunity to catch up with Falken Tyre Europe’s new chief operating officer and president, Markus Bögner, on what is probably the rising company’s most important weekend of the year.
Falken Tyres is marking 20 years at the Nürburgring with sponsorship of the ADAC TOTAL 24-Hour Race (22-23 June 2019). The Sumitomo Rubber Industries brand is hosting more than 400 tyre retailers and almost 50 journalists from all key European markets at the “Grüne Hölle”, the oldest and most famous part of the Nürburgring racetrack.
It’s 24-Hour Race time. Falken Tyres is returning to the Nürburgring this weekend with a tried and tested line-up, while Yokohama Rubber and Giti Tire are each supplying tyres to four cars competing in the 47th Nürburgring 24-Hour Race (ADAC Total 24h-Rennen). Dunlop has a major presence and says it is well prepared for the race, which it views as the “third chapter” in its “June motorsport trilogy” after the Isle of Man TT and Le Mans 24h. Michelin reports that “nine of the ten fastest teams” will race on its tyres.
Volkswagen’s first fully electric race car, the ID.R has broken the electric-powered vehicle lap record on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife, using Bridgestone Potenza tyres. The car completed the challenging 20.83km track in 6:05.336 minutes, beating the previous record by 40.56 seconds. Bridgestone custom-developed the Potenza tyres to help the ID.R navigate the demanding track in record-breaking time.
Bridgestone is supplying Potenza branded slick tyres as a new chapter in its Volkswagen supply partnership begins at the Green Hell of the Nürburgring. Volkswagen’s electric ID. R will aim to beat the lap record for electric vehicles on the Nürburgring Nordschleife in summer 2019. Bridgestone is a long-term original equipment tyre supplier for the firm’s production vehicles, and the new deal sees the companies expand their partnership into motorsport. The ID. R is the racing forerunner to the new ID. product family – Volkswagen’s wide range of purely electric vehicles to be launched from 2020.
Falken Motorsports has introduced a new Porsche 911 GT3 R for the start of the 2019 motorsport season. The new Porsche will compete alongside the team’s BMW M6 GT3 at the Nürburgring, continuing the Japanese tyre brand’s 20-year commitment to the legendary Nordschleife with racing cars from two premium car manufacturers.
Following the completion of the 2018 motorsport season, Giti Tire says it will feature a record four vehicles participating in the 24 Hours Nürburgring race, including driving the first all-women racing and technician team. The pioneering all-women team is the first of its kind at the 24 Hours Nürburgring race.
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