Brawn unsure if tyre issues will return

Ross Brawn admits he is unsure whether or not the BGP 001 will experience the same tyre temperature struggle in Belgium that had began to derail its championship push before Valencia.

The championship-leading outfit, having opened up huge title leads following the first seven races, struggled to get its tyres into their correct operating range in Britain, Germany and Hungary – three races in which the team scored just a single podium finish.

However, the 30C plus air temperatures that were a constant throughout the European Grand Prix weekend meant the team had no such issues, which allowed Rubens Barrichello to claim its seventh win of the year.

But with far cooler conditions expected in the Ardennes region of Belgium, as is usually case, for this weekend’s race, Brawn said he couldn’t be sure the tyre issues wouldn’t return given it has had no running in such weather since Hungary.
Asked if there was a risk its situation could revert to how it had been before the summer break, he said: “Yeah, we have got to try [and resolve it].

“It’s a paradox isn’t it: you work most of your time to try and produce a car that’s easy on tyres, makes them last and can do all the normal things.

“And we’ve now got a situation where it’s hurting us and with no testing to go out and scan things, check things, do things, to see what happens in a range of tyre pressures, settings and downforce.

www.itv-f1.com

Range Rover Sport TDV8

After yet another jaunt across the country to Wales, the chunky Continental SportContact tyres on our Range Rover Sport had finally given up the ghost. Having covered almost 30,000 miles on them, I couldn’t really complain about their lifespan. However, as associate editor Ollie Marriage found out in some Alpine snow a couple of months ago, the grip levels had been getting progressively worse on anything other than bone-dry roads.

I put this down to the fact that the outer edges of the tyres seemed to have worn down faster than the rest of the rubber, even though I checked the pressures regularly. This was more noticeable still on the two nearside tyres (there are quite a few roundabouts on my daily commute).

Looking at the replacement Contis I’d ordered, though, it soon became clear it wasn’t uneven wear at all but part of the design, as the brand new tyres also had less tread on the shoulders than in the middle. According to Continental this is to optimise handling by reducing movement in the tread blocks when cornering. I suppose the forces at work when hustling 2.7 tons of Range Rover through bends are not inconsiderable, but it’s something worth keeping an eye on if you’re running this type of rubber.

After the shock of replacing all four 275/40x20 tyres at £260 each, the Rangie’s 30,000-mile service is now looming. Hopefully, unlike the 15,000-mile one, there’ll be no dicky oil filter this time.

www.evo.co.uk

Pirelli reports losses in first half

Pirelli & Cie SpA posted sales of 2.13 billion euros for the first half of 2009 vs. 2.4 billion euros during the same period last year.

Pirelli's income for the half totaled 101.1 million euros, down from 180.9 million euros during the first half of 2008.

The company's Pirelli Tyre division achieved sales of 1.9 billion euros during the first six months of 2009. However, Pirelli reports that its second quarter revenues were up 6.7% over the same period in 2008.

The company "closed the second quarter with a progressive improvement in overall operating results compared to the first quarter," say Pirelli officials.

"Pirelli Tyre, after a first quarter conditioned by a marked contraction of the industrial segment in both sales channels (OE and replacement) and accentuation of the crisis in OE in the consumer segment, began to benefit in the second quarter from the positive impact of falling raw materials prices, from effiiciences carried out thanks to restructuring measures, and from the first signals of recovery in the market."

www.moderntiredealer.com

Bridgestone reveals final allocations

Formula 1's tyre supplier Bridgestone has announced the final final compound allocations of tyres for the last four rounds of the championship.
The Japanese company said it will return to the philosophy of leaving a rubber stiffness gap between the two tyre compounds for the Japanese and Brazilian Grands Prix.

The Super Soft and Soft compounds will be used at the Singapore Grand Prix, while the Soft and the Hard compounds will be taken to Japan.

Super Soft and Medium tyres will be used in Brazil, while the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix will see the teams using the Soft and Medium compounds.
"We are pleased to release our final allocations," said Bridgestone's Hirohide Hamashima. "Singapore is a street course and based on our experience there last year we feel the soft and super soft is the best choice. For Suzuka we will have a gap in compound hardness.

"This will be an interesting return to this great circuit as half of the circuit has a new surface, so tyre usage considerations could be challenging. In Brazil we also stay with the stiffness gap. It can get very hot in Sao Paulo and we usually see a good race there, although I think we will struggle to have a race as exciting as the one we had last season.

"Abu Dhabi is a new destination for us. Although it is technically a street course, we are bringing harder compounds than we use at the other street courses. We feel that the hard compound would be too stiff for this new circuit, so we are bringing the consecutive soft and medium compounds."

www.autosport.com

Gloucestershire drivers taking risks on tyres

More than two-thirds of motorists in Gloucester could be driving with illegal “horror tyres”, as the recession bites into motoring budgets.

Staff at Chris Mullins Tyres, in Bristol Road, have found almost 77% of the 3,050 tyres they examined from cars, 4x4s and light vans between May and the end of July were worn below the legal limit of 1.6mm.

Chris Mullins believes the figures show too many motorists are not aware of tyre legislation.
He said: “It’s no coincidence that we’re seeing more badly worn tyres brought into the centre than at any other time since I’ve been involved in the industry over the past 20 years.
“Tyres are often a distress purchase when the car fails the MOT and not enough motorists realise that it is an offence to drive on tyres with less than 1.6mm of tread.”

www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk

TeamVodafone aims to end drought

TeamVodafone duo Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes are hoping to turn around a lacklustre run of results in recent years at the Queensland Raceway when they hit the track for the Queensland 300 this weekend.

Despite being the team's nominated test track, TeamVodafone has only tasted victory once in the past five years when Lowndes triumphed in 2005.
Lowndes, who is currently fourth in the championship on 1350 points, is the most successful driver to compete at the 3.12km circuit with six wins and he is eager to break the unusual drought this week.

This is our home track and for the last couple of years we haven't performed to our best," said Lowndes. "This year we are really hoping to turn things around."
"We're heading into the last event with sprint tyres before the endurance races come up. In terms of tyre life I think we will face similar issues that we came across in Darwin a few months back."

"The track is constantly changing. Each year it seems to get bumpier and it is very hard to reach an optimum set-up given the varying track temperatures and changing grip levels throughout the day."

Team-mate and championship leader Whincup has never tasted success at the track, but is confident of keeping up the consistency he has shown so far this season.

www.sportal.com.au

Continental offers cost calculator for all tyre brands

Tyre manufacturer Continental has launched its Conti CostCalculator, which evaluates the total ownership costs of its tyres against those of its rivals.

The calculator compares Continental's long-distance and regional truck tyres against offerings from Bridgestone, Goodyear and Michelin and aims to simplify the tyre-buying process by analysing data such as:

-tyre purchase price
-average fleet fuel consumption
-annual mileage

Barry Guildford, general sales manager for CV tyres at Continental UK, says: "The industry currently looks at price and mileage when it comes to truck tyres. The Conti CostCalculator looks beyond that at the whole-life cost of a tyre and takes into account other variables like the tyre-casing values, time running at maximum payload, tyre fitment price and the fuel price.

"All the data is certified independently by vehicle certification agency Dekra, meaning the results are transparent and straight forward. Along with a monetary saving, the CostCalculator generates a matching CO2 reduction and cost saving in percentage terms for a given comparison.
Guildford adds: "The data is comprehensive, simple and powerful and it's right there in front of you. Up to now it has been difficult to convince operators of the role tyres play in lowering fuel consumption and with the Conti CostCalculator we now have proof."

www.roadtransport.com

Brno MotoGP test: Honda test Ohlins suspension

Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso have started to assess Ohlins suspension during today’s at the Brno circuit in the Czech Republic.

The factory Honda duo will run back-to-back tests against current suspension supplier Showa following successful Ohlins tests in Japan by Tadayuki Okada and Kousuke Akiyoshi recently.
The surprise move is the result of a request by Honda’s Research and Development department in Japan, which is currently working on the 2010 factory RC212V.

One of the big complaints voiced by Pedrosa and British GP winner Dovizioso in 2009 has been Honda’s struggle to extract maximum performance out of Bridgestone tyres.
Tests in Japan on Ohlins have been deemed a sufficient step in performance to get Pedrosa and Dovizioso’s comments on Monday.

But Pedrosa said it would be impossible for him to switch to Ohlins for the final six races, even if he felt the switch from Showa was a big improvement.
Pedrosa told MCN: “This was a HRC proposal and I think it is a good idea. Everybody else is on Ohlins, so why not try and see if we can improve?”

Italian Dovizioso also told MCN: “This will be really interesting because I’ve never tried Ohlins.
"It will be interesting to see how it performs and whether there is a difference. It is good to see Honda deciding to try because it means they want to find a solution to some of our problems.
"When you speak with all the other riders about suspension I’ve never heard any bad complaints about Ohlins so I’m looking forward to trying it.”

Pedrosa is currently second quickest behind Jorge Lorenzo with a best lap of 1.56.726. That is 0.5s slower than his fastest lap on his way to second place in yesterday’s Brno GP.

www.motorcyclenews.com

Bentley unveils Mulsanne...

Bentley unveiled its all-new Mulsanne luxury grand tourer at the Pebble Beach Concours D'Elegance in Monterey, California, this weekend.

The eight-litre Mulsanne is a replacement for the Arnage, and is based on a completely new platform. It is inspired by the company founder W.O. Bentley's 1930s 8-litre which was also on display on the Bentley stand at Pebble Beach.

Every panel is bespoke and the Mulsanne features many handmade parts, including the fillet of metal below the rear window. It's a huge car standing on 21" alloy wheels with 265/40 Pirelli P Zero tyres.

The two-lamp headlights on the Arnage have been replaced by single units. The round headlamps are said to be inspired by the lights from the 1955 Continental Flying Spur S1.
The car will be powered by a 6.75-litre V8, and although the company has not confirmed performance figures yet it'll probably have a top speed of around 186mph.

www.channel4.com

Smoke plume alert after tyre fire

People in the path of a plume of smoke from a massive tyre fire in Londonderry should stay inside and shut their doors and windows, the Fire Service has said.
More than 10,000 tyres were on fire at a depot in the Pennyburn Industrial Estate, reported at 1220 BST.

At the height of the blaze it took 41 firefighters to bring it under control.
Jonathan Tate of the Fire Service said people in the Hazelbank, Ballymagroarty and Northland Road areas should close their windows.
"The wind conditions are not in our favour this morning and that is preventing the smoke plume from being dispersed," he said.

"If anyone is in the way of the plume they should keep their doors and windows closed."

The cause of the tyre fire is still under investigation.

www.news.bbc.co.uk

New Tyres Coming from WTA

World Trade Association said it has signed deals that will add a number of large OTR tyres to its mix.WTA said its producers are working on a steel-belted 45/65-45, and radials in sizes 27.00R49, 30.00R51, 40.00R57 and 33.00R51.

In addition, WTA is planning on adding size 18.00-25 L5S in 28 and 40 ply rating, and possibly a 50/65-51, a 37.00R57, and even 63-inch radials. (Tire Review/Akron).

www.reifenpresse.de

20 fuel saving tips..

Save money every time you driveIf you make every drop really count, you’ll make your fuel and your money go further.

10 tips for you and your car

1 Service your engine
Did you know a poorly maintained engine can increase your fuel consumption by up to 50%? Just replacing dirty spark plugs can improve your fuel consumption by up to 5%.

2 Keep your tyres at the right pressure
If your tyres are under inflated by just 1psi, your fuel efficiency can be reduced by up to 3%. So pump up those tyres up once a week or whenever you fill up.

3 Avoid carrying excess weight
For every extra 100 lbs (45 kg) you carry, your fuel efficiency can drop by 1-2%. So clear your car of unnecessary items that just add weight to your vehicle when you can.

4 Take the roof rack off
If you’re not using your roof rack or your roof box, remove it. A roof rack can affect the aerodynamic efficiency of your vehicle, creating drag which can result in your car using up to 5% more fuel.

5 Check the air filters
Air filters keep impurities from damaging your engine. Remember to check and replace your air filter if clogged.

6 Use the correct oil
Using the manufacturer’s recommended lubricant can help improve fuel efficiency by 1-2%. Higher quality motor oils can also help your engine operate more efficiently. If you’re using Shell Fuel Economy, Shell Helix will help you squeeze even more out of every drop by helping your engine run extra smoothly.

7 Check the seal on your fuel cap
Fuel evaporates every time you open the fuel cap. Make sure your cap is properly screwed on every time after every fill up.

8 Plan your trips
Cutting down on the time spent in the car is the easiest way to conserve fuel. To reduce driving time, combine all your short trips and errands into a single journey or call ahead to avoid wasted journeys.

9 Keep hydrated
Don’t forget to drink water. When you’re well hydrated, you concentrate better. Keep a bottle to hand as you drive and make sure you drink to help keep yourself cool and focused when you drive. And remember, if you ever feel drowsy while driving, pull over and rest at the first opportunity.

10 Keep calm
That way you’ll be able to drive smoothly and anticipate what’s going on ahead of you. When you keep calm, you also drive with plenty of distance between your car and others.

10 tips on how to drive more efficiently

1 Drive smoothly
If you drive aggressively, you can burn up to a third more fuel than if you drive smoothly. Avoid accelerating or braking too hard and try to keep your steering as even as possible.

2 Use higher gears
When you drive in higher gear, you’ll use less fuel, so change up a gear whenever you can.

3 Keep the windows closed
Wind blowing through an open window can slow you down. And, to compensate, you’re likely to speed up. Instead of opening windows why not use your car’s internal ventilation system, just so long as this doesn’t make you feel drowsy.

4 Use cruise contro
lUsing cruise control on major roads can help you maintain a constant speed and helps you make all those drops count.

5 Avoid excess idling
Stuck in a jam? Idling gets you nowhere, but still burns fuel. Turn the engine off when you’re in a queue until you need it. As a rule, if you’ve stopped for over 10 seconds, switch off your engine.

6 Avoid over-revving
Change gear in good time when you pull away or when you’re accelerating. Never ‘redline’ the rev counter.

7 Avoid high speeds
The faster you go, the more wind resistance you’ll encounter and the more fuel your vehicle will consume just to maintain speed. Remember that according to the UK Department of Transport figures, at 70mph you could be using up to 30 per cent more fuel than at 50mph. So keep it slow.

8 Use air-conditioning sparingly
Sometimes it’s hard to avoid using your air-conditioning, but remember that it does put added strain on your engine on hot or cold days. And, it increases your fuel consumption by up to 8%. On temperate days, you can always use your car’s internal ventilation system instead.

9 Avoid rush hour
If you can travel outside of peak times, you’ll spend less time stuck in traffic and use less fuel drops as a result.

10 Keep a constant speed
Instead of coasting when you reach a downward slope, maintain steady engine revs. This will help you to maintain a constant speed rather than picking up speed and is likely to have a positive effect on your fuel consumption.

www.lowcarboneconomy.com

Motor Racing: Wet tyres 'can be supplied'

Tyre manufacturer Goodyear insist they would be ready to provide Sprint Cup cars with wet weather tyres.

The Nationwide Series can use treaded tyres in inclement weather, but the premier series has no plans to run in the rain, which has led to the race being postponed at two straight events.
Spokesman Greg Stucker said: "We're confident we have a package that would be suitable if that's what they chose."

www.teletext.co.uk

Tyre giant Michelin boosted by smaller than expected losses

Tyre-maker Michelin has posted a smaller than expected first-half loss.
However, directors said that, although industry stocks were returning to more normal levels, it was too soon to talk about an upturn.

The French group, which employs about 1,000 workers at a factory in Stoke-on-Trent, said it was committed to generating positive free cash flow in the second half of the year, after achieving £489 million in the first six months.
It posted a net attributable loss of £101 million in the first half.
That came as a surprise to many analysts, as expectation was for a loss of £216 million, compared to £365 million last year.

Michelin said the loss was due to high restructuring costs.
The group achieved an operating margin of four per cent in the first half.
Cash flow and a cut in net debt were also “significant positive surprises”, driven by a reduction in inventory, said Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas in a research note.
Mr Jonas said that “Michelin surprised in all the right areas”.
The group said inventory was down by £493 million since the end of 2008, when it stood at £3.1 billion.

“The second-half margin should be closer to 10 per cent than four per cent,” Mr Jonas said in the note.
Michelin shares were up 6.9 per cent in early trading following the announcement.
Chief executive Michel Rollier said, in a statement, that the company had benefited from keeping a close eye on costs – which included several shutdowns at its Stoke plant over the winter period.
He said: “Faced with the persistent, steep decline in global tyre markets, Michelin has responded swiftly and effectively by tightening its management and deploying production adjustment programmes.

“As part of this response, the group nevertheless had to introduce short-time working hours in a number of countries and to implement the production reorganisation programmes needed to make Michelin more competitive.
“Concerning the business environment, inventories have now returned to more normal levels, but not to the extent that we can talk about a real upturn.”
Michelin’s own inventory would probably be lower in 2009 as a whole in terms of value, managing partner Jean-Dominique Senard told a news conference.
Mr Rollier had said in June that he did not see a recovery in global tyre markets before the end of 2010.

In February, when the group presented full-year results, Rollier had said tyre markets would begin to firm in the second half as replacement market inventories were replenished and business activity began to recover.
The group, which has had to cut working hours and production to cope with the sales slump, would maintain its efforts in the months ahead, but “the decline in raw material prices should support second-half margins”, Mr Rollier said.
Senard said raw material price declines should have a positive impact of up to £510 million in 2009, after six years of increases.

Michelin said sales were down 13.4 per cent at £6 billion in the first half.
Unit sales fell 23 per cent as tyre demand dropped in all markets except China, Michelin said.
The group reduced its net debt by 10.7 per cent to £3.24 billion at the end of the first half.

www.birminghampost.net

Pirelli report - 40º and rising!

The Pirelli team were hard at work at the weekend at the Brands Hatch triple header with track temperatures hitting the sort of numbers reserved for exotic World Superbike rounds!
Leon Camier was in scorching form with a triple top, a new Superbike 14-in-a-season record and gave team boss Colin Wright a milestone 100th victory.

Watching him intently over the weekend was Pirelli agent and 1990 British Superbike Champion Terry Rymer. Camier and Rymer share a number of striking similarities; both are from Kent, dominated in British Superbikes in their 22nd year, both went exceptionally at their Brands Hatch local circuit and most strikingly for motorcycle racers, both measure up at a towering six foot two!

In fact 'Too Tall Tel' only realised the amount of similarities on the day itself, ""Two tall, good looking lads from Kent both having a great year in British Superbikes- its like history repeating itself!"

The Pirelli technicians sweated it out supplying hoops all weekend and were pleased with the performance... the pace of the race plus the temperature really tested the grip but the final Superbike race of the day saw not one accident, a testament to the stability of the Pirelli Super Corsa BSB tyres.

blogs.mirror.co.uk

Massa: 'I want to get back behind the wheel'

As he prepared to fly home to Brazil from Hungary yesterday, Ferrari driver Felipe Massa thanked God and said that his primary aim was to get back into a racing car as soon as possible following the accident in qualifying for the recent Hungarian Grand Prix that left him with potentially life-threatening head injuries.

"I'm feeling much better now and I want to recover as soon as possible to get back behind the wheel of a Ferrari," Massa said as he gave his first interview since the accident.
"I want to thank God. Then I want to thank the doctors at the race track and at Budapest's AEK hospital, who have done a lot for me, and Dino Altmann [his personal doctor and head of the Brazilian Grand Prix's medical service], who came with my family from Brazil and who was extraordinary over the last days.

www.independent.co.uk

Goodyear develops ‘punctureless’ tyre.

It is often told of successful people that for them the sky is the limit. But for Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, world’s largest tyre producer, the moon is the limit as they have jointly developed an airless tyre to transport large, long-range vehicles across the surface of the moon.
The new "Spring Tire" with 800 load bearing springs is designed to carry much heavier vehicles over much greater distances than the wire mesh tire previously used on the Apollo Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV). The new tyre will allow for broader exploration and the eventual development and maintenance of a lunar outpost.

According to Vivake Asnani, NASA's principal investigator at the Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, this was a significant change in requirements that required innovation. "With the combined requirements of increased load and life, we needed to make a fundamental change to the original moon tyre," he said. "What the Goodyear-NASA team developed is an innovative, yet simple network of interwoven springs that does the job. The tire design seems almost obvious in retrospect, as most good inventions do."

www.commodityonline.com

200 Pirelli drivers enjoy free track day

Over 200 Pirelli riders were treated to an action-packed day of free track-time, a display of the new BMW1000RR and a special Q+A interview session with top BSB stars including James Ellison at Oulton Park, this Wednesday. Some riders travelled from great distances to utilise this great opportunity for a free track-day and test their tyres in both wet and dry conditions at Oulton Park, a circuit chosen for its testing and exciting nature. Riders were also entered into a free draw to win a set of Pirelli tyres, a pair of VIP passes to the Oulton Park final BSB round and a host of other substantial prizes.

Dave Roche from Coventry came to test his new Ducati 848 on Pirelli Super Corsas and enthused, "What a wicked day, shame the weather came into play but I still went out again. I was drawn here partly because of the trackday but also as I wanted to see the new BMW in action and meet the riders. These sort of days don’t come round that often.

www.londonbikers.com

Pirelli Satisfied With Finnish Tyre Performance

Ford driver Mikko Hirvonen has claimed his third consecutive World Rally Championship victory and his first win on home soil, equipped with Pirelli Scorpion tyres. Rally Finland, which is also known as the 'Finnish Grand Prix' is the fastest and most spectacular event of the season, putting huge demands on the crews, cars and tyres.

The Rally Finland is characterised by flat-out gravel roads and huge crests that launch the cars into the air. Although the weather was largely warm, some overnight rain meant that the road conditions were mixed, making Finland a true challenge for the soft-compound Pirelli Scorpion rubber. These tyres will be used once more for the season-closing Rally Great Britain at the end of the year.

Just as was the case last year, Rally Finland witnessed an epic duel between the Ford of Mikko Hirvonen and the Citroen of five-time World Rally Champion Sebastien Loeb, both on Pirelli Scorpion tyres. However, this time it was the Ford driver who triumphed after their three-day long battle, winning 10 stages en route to his first Rally Finland victory. Hirvonen now enjoys a three-point lead over Loeb in the drivers' championship rankings, while Citroen has a 14-point advantage over Ford, with just three rallies remaining.

www.uk.eurosport.yahoo.com

The First Co-Branded MICHELIN/Harley-Davidson Motorcycle Tyre

For the first time in their long histories, Michelin and Harley-Davidson have joined forces to develop the all-new MICHELIN® Scorcher™ “31” tyre, which carries both companies’ trademarks on its sidewalls and the signature Harley-Davidson logo moulded into the shoulder.

Available exclusively as original equipment on four 2010 Harley-Davidson® Dyna® models, the all-new tyre was unveiled on July 25th at the Harley-Davidson summer dealer meeting in Denver, Colorado.The MICHELIN® Scorcher™ “31” delivers superior performance in three key areas, providing sensational grip, impressive durability and excellent handling.

The exclusive deep-cut tread design improves grip and water evacuation capability. Grip performance, particularly on wet roads, is also enhanced by the tyre’s rubber compounds, which use the latest generation of MICHELIN® synthetic polymers.