Let's talk about tyres
August 3rd 2007 11:56
Originally posted on 1 August 2007 on www.orble.com/v8-supercars
To maintain parity in the V8 Supercar series, every car in the category uses the same kind of tyres, supplied by the same manufacturer, a control tyre which, for the last six years, has been supplied by Dunlop.
Dunlop’s current contract to supply this control tyre was due to expire at the end of 2007, however confirmation has recently been given that this will be extended until the end of the 2012 championship series. A coup for Dunlop that sees them confirmed as the premium motorsport tyre manufacturer in Australia.
“This has been the most competitive of tendering process ever undertaken for the supply of tyres to the Championship,” Touring Car Entrants Group Australia (TEGA) General Manager Kelvin O’Reilly said. “At the end of the day, the known quality of the Dunlop race tyre together with the excellent logistical support that has been provided to the Championship teams for the past six years has been recognised by the TEGA Board.”
“Providing a race tyre to the V8 Supercar Championship is technically no mean feat as the cars are some of the biggest and heaviest race cars in the world, capable of very high speeds and that take tyre grip to the very limits of adhesion,” he said.
“Dunlop has been a great partner of the Championship since 2002. The tyres that they have provided have been expected to work in a huge variety of conditions including track temperatures of 2 degrees up to more than 50 degrees, and at circuits that are high speed such as Bathurst and Phillip Island and low speed such as Winton.
“We are excited at the prospect of continuing the tradition of Dunlop Tyres holding V8 Supercars to the race track. By the end of this agreement more than 100,000 Dunlop race tyres will have been supplied to the Championship over more than a decade.”
The Dunlop control tyre is manufactured at a specialised racing tyre factory in Japan, with each one being hand-made, taking three hours each to produce. Slick tyres, for use in dry weather, weigh 11kg each and wet weather tyres weigh in at 12kg each. Depending on each race, Dunlop supplies anywhere between 10 and 24 tyres per car.
The excellent performance and capability of the Dunlop V8 Supercar tyre is now available to everyone through their sport road tyres. V8 Supercar driver Steven Richards is pleased to see that the performance and safety of race car tyres and road car tyres are becoming closer.
“I’ve been around race tracks since I was driving karts as a 15-year-old and what I’ve noticed is that the gap between the performance and safety of racing and road tyres is dwindling,” Richards said. “For example, Dunlop’s SP Sport Maxx tyres that I fit to my FPV GT were manufactured using the same MRT technology used by Dunlop to manufacture the control tyres that I race my FPR BF Falcon in the V8 Supercar Series.”
“Dunlop’s SP Sport Maxx tyres are great for my road car because this tyre includes MRT technology, which gives me great performance and safety results.”
“For a relatively small extra cost, these four little rubber contact patches on the road really could be the difference between life and death,” he said.
Dunlop Brand Manager Michelle Upton said that the SP Sport Maxx has played a large part in influencing the OE fitment of low profile tyres.
“The technology and performance of the SP Sport Maxx is driving consumer demand for the ever-growing ultra-high-performance tyre sector,” she said. “This demand has forced us to extend the Sport Maxx range by 43 sizes to 61 sizes and Dunlop is signaling its intentions for domination in this sector with particular focus on the 16”, 17” and 18” market and above.”
The Dunlop SP Sport Maxx has finished first in the Wheels Tyre Test in 2006 and excelled in the dry braking and the wet hot lap disciplines to finish first in the small car category in ’07.
Images courtesy of Dunlop Tyres
To maintain parity in the V8 Supercar series, every car in the category uses the same kind of tyres, supplied by the same manufacturer, a control tyre which, for the last six years, has been supplied by Dunlop.
Dunlop’s current contract to supply this control tyre was due to expire at the end of 2007, however confirmation has recently been given that this will be extended until the end of the 2012 championship series. A coup for Dunlop that sees them confirmed as the premium motorsport tyre manufacturer in Australia.
“This has been the most competitive of tendering process ever undertaken for the supply of tyres to the Championship,” Touring Car Entrants Group Australia (TEGA) General Manager Kelvin O’Reilly said. “At the end of the day, the known quality of the Dunlop race tyre together with the excellent logistical support that has been provided to the Championship teams for the past six years has been recognised by the TEGA Board.”
“Providing a race tyre to the V8 Supercar Championship is technically no mean feat as the cars are some of the biggest and heaviest race cars in the world, capable of very high speeds and that take tyre grip to the very limits of adhesion,” he said.
“Dunlop has been a great partner of the Championship since 2002. The tyres that they have provided have been expected to work in a huge variety of conditions including track temperatures of 2 degrees up to more than 50 degrees, and at circuits that are high speed such as Bathurst and Phillip Island and low speed such as Winton.
“We are excited at the prospect of continuing the tradition of Dunlop Tyres holding V8 Supercars to the race track. By the end of this agreement more than 100,000 Dunlop race tyres will have been supplied to the Championship over more than a decade.”
And your time starts ... now!
The Dunlop control tyre is manufactured at a specialised racing tyre factory in Japan, with each one being hand-made, taking three hours each to produce. Slick tyres, for use in dry weather, weigh 11kg each and wet weather tyres weigh in at 12kg each. Depending on each race, Dunlop supplies anywhere between 10 and 24 tyres per car.
The excellent performance and capability of the Dunlop V8 Supercar tyre is now available to everyone through their sport road tyres. V8 Supercar driver Steven Richards is pleased to see that the performance and safety of race car tyres and road car tyres are becoming closer.
“I’ve been around race tracks since I was driving karts as a 15-year-old and what I’ve noticed is that the gap between the performance and safety of racing and road tyres is dwindling,” Richards said. “For example, Dunlop’s SP Sport Maxx tyres that I fit to my FPV GT were manufactured using the same MRT technology used by Dunlop to manufacture the control tyres that I race my FPR BF Falcon in the V8 Supercar Series.”
Look at that tread ... isn't it beautiful?
“Dunlop’s SP Sport Maxx tyres are great for my road car because this tyre includes MRT technology, which gives me great performance and safety results.”
“For a relatively small extra cost, these four little rubber contact patches on the road really could be the difference between life and death,” he said.
Dunlop Brand Manager Michelle Upton said that the SP Sport Maxx has played a large part in influencing the OE fitment of low profile tyres.
“The technology and performance of the SP Sport Maxx is driving consumer demand for the ever-growing ultra-high-performance tyre sector,” she said. “This demand has forced us to extend the Sport Maxx range by 43 sizes to 61 sizes and Dunlop is signaling its intentions for domination in this sector with particular focus on the 16”, 17” and 18” market and above.”
The Dunlop SP Sport Maxx has finished first in the Wheels Tyre Test in 2006 and excelled in the dry braking and the wet hot lap disciplines to finish first in the small car category in ’07.
Images courtesy of Dunlop Tyres
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