Pirelli has served as sole tyre supplier to the British GT Championship since 2016 and has announced its return for a fifth season in 2020 – with a pair of new-spec tyres. Competitors in the GT3 category will race on the Pirelli P Zero DHE tyre this season, a product that replaces the prior-generation DHD2. Cars in the slightly less powerful GT4 category will wear another new tyre, the Pirelli P Zero DHB, successor to the DH.
Under a new three-year agreement, Cooper Tire Europe will supply its rallycross tyres to the BTRDA Clubmans Rallycross Championship. While all six of the championship’s competitive categories remain open to all tyre suppliers in 2020, this will change in 2021 and 2022 with Cooper becoming the exclusive tyre range for the ‘Production 4×4’, ‘Production’ and ‘Junior’ categories. The championship’s formal name also changes this season to the BTRDA Clubmans Rallycross Championship Presented by Cooper Tires.
Just before Christmas, Motorsport UK announced it had selected Cooper Tire Europe as exclusive tyre supplier for the coming three British Rallycross Championship seasons, and as such is renaming the championship the Motorsport UK British Rallycross Championship 5 Nations Trophy Presented by Cooper Tires. The tyre maker says it is “excited” to extend its motorsport supply portfolio.
Bridgestone’s position within the motocross tyre segment has been strengthened by its selection by Britain’s most decorated rider of all time, who labelled the range as “amazing”. In what Bridgestone describes as a “huge breakthrough”, the brand will be fitted to all bikes at Dave Thorpe’s Honda Off-Road Centre as well as to each bike at his Honda Adventure Centre.
Testing for the Extreme E off-road electric racing series began earlier this month at the Château de Lastours off-road proving grounds in the south of France. One question the tested aimed to answer during proceedings was how well the car and tyres work together. They also looked into any potential weaknesses in the electric race car’s physical and technical design, not least in its motor. The tests lasted several days and were run by Continental, tyre supplier to Extreme E, and Spark Racing Technology.
From next year, Goodyear will replace its sister brand Dunlop as sole tyre supplier to the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC). Goodyear says the decision comes with a view to enhancing the Goodyear brand within the motorsport and ultra-ultra-high-performance (UUHP) segments. Goodyear first returned to motorsport outside North America at the end of August with the opening round of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) at Silverstone.
Although active within North America, including as exclusive tyre supplier to NASCAR’s top three series, the Goodyear name has long played second fiddle in motorsport to Dunlop in other parts of the world. This will change on Sunday, with the brand’s return to global motorsport at Silverstone. Goodyear says that after 12,000 kilometres of testing at seven circuits, it is “well prepared” for its comeback.
Goodyear is making headlines for its global motorsport comeback, but is by no means the only tyre maker presenting its latest tyres for the 2020 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) at this week’s Prologue test. Michelin says it has also brought its freshly-developed endurance tyres to Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Spain to give teams and drivers a “valuable opportunity” to fine-tune their cars’ set-ups ahead of the WEC season opener at Silverstone on 1 September.
Teams from the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) will take to the track for ‘Prologue’ pre-season testing at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya tomorrow. One of the most significant moments of this anticipated public test session will be the return of Goodyear to international competition.
Yokohama Rubber is to supply Yokohama Advan racing tyres to the 65th Macau Grand Prix, which takes place in the administrative region between 15 and 18 November. This is the 35th occasion that Yokohama has served as tyre supplier – it supplied tyres to this event for 33 consecutive years until 2015 and, after Pirelli’s tyre supply in 2016, resumed support last year. Yokohama Advan tyres will be the control tyre for the event’s main race, the FIA F3 World Cup, and for the concurrently held FIA World Touring Car Cup (WTCR) race. In addition, they will be the tyre of choice for cars competing in the event’s other races.
It’s official: Hankook Tire has submitted a tender for Formula 1 tyre supply between 2020 and 2023. In response to questions from within our publishing group, Felix Kinzer, director of corporate communications at Hankook Tire Europe, confirmed that the company submitted an application prior to the 31 August deadline.
The FIA is currently seeking tenders for tyre supply to the Formula One World Championship between 2020 and 2023. As expected, talk in motorsport circles has returned to the possibility of Michelin throwing its hat into the ring. The French tyre maker is open to the prospect of acting as sole tyre supplier, as requested by the FIA tender, provided that “a technical challenge was involved.” Yet other FIA conditions continue to place stumbling blocks in the way of a Michelin return.
The opening round of the new Formula 3 Asian Championship took place on the weekend of 14-15 July, and all vehicles lined up on the grid at Malaysia’s Sepang International Circuit were shot with GitiCompete GTR1 tyres. Giti Tire is on board as exclusive tyre supplier to the series.
The recent signing of a long-term supply agreement between Maxam Tire International and STARCO will allow the latter to extend its wheel and tyre product range for the growing agricultural segment. The agricultural trailer and implement products supplied by Maxam will primarily consist of tyres with higher than standard speed and load ratings; these will be paired with STARCO rims and offered to OEMs as complete wheel solutions.
The pre-season round of the new Mini Challenge Asia series took place at the Zhuhai International Circuit in China on 17-18 March, with all entrants racing on Giti rubber. Giti Tire says it is “excited to be taking a new step forward as the official tyre” of 2018 Mini Challenge Asia, and it is supplying GitiCompete GRT1 tyres to each of the John Cooper Works Mini F56 cars racing in the China-based series. The official opening round will take place at the Zhuhai International Circuit on 16-17 June 2018.