Cooper Tires Sponsored Expedition Saves Lives in Africa
Tyre Landfill Ban Now in Effect
Lucky Thirteen for Yokohama at the Isle of Man TT
Michelin Energy Best for Wear and Running Costs Says Report
Rally Success for Hankook
Bridgestone Makes its Mark at Tattoo
A Riveting Read for BF Goodrich Customers

Cooper Tires Sponsored Expedition Saves Lives in Africa

Cooper Tires has added its weight to a campaign designed to reduce the number of deaths caused by malaria in Africa by supporting the vital "African Rainbow Expedition".

The backbone of the expedition, led by explorer Kingsley Holgate and his family team, was a convoy of Land Rovers fitted with tough Cooper rubber, which finally reached its end destination, the former capital of Mozambique Omuhipiti, on June 4. The African Rainbow Expedition was part of a massive campaign to distribute more than 250,000 life-saving mosquito nets to pregnant women and children under the age of five.

Ninety percent of malaria deaths occur in the region targeted by the expedition, south of the Sahara desert.

Tyre Landfill Ban Now in Effect

Businesses are being reminded that used tyres can no longer be sent to in landfills with the introduction of new regulations, which came into force across England and Wales in July.

Liz Parkes, Head of Waste Regulation at the Environment Agency said: "From 16 July, regulations will ban used whole and shredded tyres from being disposed of in all landfill sites. "Over 48 million tyres were scrapped in 2004, with around a quarter of these going to landfill sites. The tyre industry has responded to the requirements of the ban and recovery capacity has been increasing steadily from 1995 to an estimated 95% in 2005. This legislation will help us reduce the amount of waste that goes to landfill, especially as there are better ways we can manage waste tyres.

"More tyres will now have to be recovered, recycled and reused - options include retreading, use as alternative fuel, reprocessing into 'chip' and 'crumb' for use in rubberised playing field surfaces and roadways and drainage schemes."

Other established uses include turning them into office stationery like mousemats, bookmarks and coasters or even recycling the rubber to make carpet underlay. The new rules are a result of an EU wide ban under the Landfill Directive. Legislation banning the landfilling of whole used tyres in certain sites came into force in 2003. Now all waste tyres fall under this legislation, with the exception of large tyres from agricultural or heavy plant vehicles (diameter greater than 1400mm) and bicycle tyres. Tyres can still be used for landfill engineering purposes and new tyres (manufacturing rejects) can also be disposed of in landfills as the regulations apply only to used tyres. The Environment Agency will work closely with landfill operators and waste producers, and their trade associations, the ESA, BMRA and local authorities, to ensure a smooth transition.

"Our overall aim is to ensure the continued safe management of waste tyres after the ban on landfill disposal comes into effect. The Environment Agency will take a pragmatic and proportionate approach to enforce the regulations, and take action against those who deliberately abuse the rules and fly tip or allow tyres to be disposed of in landfills," added Liz Parkes.

Meanwhile, John Dorken, spokesperson for the Tyre Industry Federation, commented: "The tyre industry has been preparing for this ban for more than 6 years and has already achieved a 95% recovery rate of used tyres (based on preliminary data for 2005). An example of this approach is the highly successful voluntary Responsible Recycler Scheme, which covers higher volumes of used tyres than any other voluntary scheme in Europe and ensures that all used tyres are disposed of in an efficient and environmentally friendly manner.

"Due to the efficient market structure already in place for the recovery of used tyres, the tyre industry does not believe that the ban will result in any significant problems in the recovery of used tyres as the UK's collection and reprocessing system has the flexibility to deal with any fluctuations."

Lucky Thirteen for Yokohama at the Isle of Man TT

Yokohama celebrated a thirteen-year run of race wins at the Isle of Man TT this year, in the sidecar class. Nick Crowe took back-to-back wins in the 2006 running of the sidecars, to bring his total to three wins. However, Dave Molyneux remains at the top of the rider tables, with no less than ten race wins on the island in that period, just edging out Rob Fisher, who has nine.

Yokohama has become the tyre of choice for competitors in the sidecar class. In the last thirteen years, there has been just one race that the Japanese manufacturer hasn't won, with two separate sidecar races each year.

Michelin Energy Best for Wear and Running Costs Says Report

Michelin Energy tyres last longer and therefore cost less per mile - according to a major comparison test of 10 leading brands carried out recently by Auto-Plus, the leading French weekly motoring magazine.

The test results demonstrated that the Michelin Energy E3A tyres offered 20% more life than the next best brand and 60% more life than the most expensive tyre. The Energy tyres were shown to last nearly twice as long as the worst performing tyre in the test carried out for the magazine by the experienced and respected independent test laboratory, CERM (Centre d'Essais Routiers et Mecaniques).

With substantially greater tyre life and a competitive purchase price, the Michelin Energy E3A gave the lowest cost per mile figure of the 10 brands - in fact 40% lower than the most expensive tyre. Taking into account the fact that Michelin Energy tyres reduce fuel consumption because of their lower rolling resistance, the Energy E3A tyre was judged to be the most cost effective tyre among those tested.

The test carried out by CERM used a fleet of identical front wheel drive Renault Laguna 2 models over more than 6,000 miles of fairly severe French public roads. Precise records of distance and wear were documented and tyres and drivers switched between vehicles to normalise results. Comparative front tyre wear was calculated from the data recorded as on a front wheel drive car the rear tyres will last longer.

Rally Success for Hankook

Korean tyre manufacturer Hankook continues to impress in the UK's motorsport market with the company's latest success in the Jim Clark Rally - the second round of Britain's premier series - the Tesco 99 Octane British Rally Championship. The SJR Hankook team set a string of fastest times with driver Gwyndaf Evans and increased its points haul with an impressive finish by team mate Stuart Jones.

Hankook was also supporting BRC regular Robert Swann who recorded a top 10 result in the Group N class and youngster Matt Beebe who won his class.

Bridgestone Makes its Mark at Tattoo

Bridgestone has continued to spread vital safety messages to UK motorists, and raise money for charity, by exhibiting its Think Before You Drive roadshow at the world's largest military air tattoo. Thousands of people visited the Bridgestone stand at the recent Fairford Air Tattoo, where they not only received potentially life-saving road safety information but also had the opportunity to have their photos taken with a stunning replica of Michael Schumacher's World Championship-winning Ferrari Formula One car in return for charity donations.

Budding Schumacher wannabes were even able to compete in a state-of-the-art motor racing simulator to win their own championship, with a VIP tour of the WilliamsF1 facility in Oxfordshire and exclusive signed Bridgestone Motorsport merchandise awarded for recording the fastest lap over the course of the weekend.The proceeds from the photos with the Ferrari Formula One car and rides on the simulator raised an impressive £1,250, which will now be donated to Bridgestone UK's chosen charity Teenage Cancer Trust.

Andy Dingley, senior marketing analyst at Bridgestone UK, said: "The weekend was a tremendous success, and gave us another excellent opportunity to spread the message of Think Before You Drive".

A Riveting Read for BF Goodrich Customers

BFGoodrich has launched a new consumer magazine, available free of charge to customers visiting tyre dealerships throughout the UK. With over thirty pages 'Take Control' magazine provides a wide and varied read encompassing an extensive selection of motoring news and lifestyle themes, from action in the dunes of Dubai following Dakar drivers, to rallying at its best at the 2006 FIA World Rally Championships, in which BFGoodrich are proud to sponsor the Ford, Citroen, Peugeot, VK- Stobart and Skoda teams.

BFGoodrich Brand Manager Dominic Clark commented: "We are very pleased to be able to give our customers a taste of the excitement and action from BFGoodrich. We are excited to be sponsoring these teams at the FIA World Rally Championships and the magazine gives us the opportunity to capture the action and bring it into the dealerships. BFGoodrich customers can then see their winning brand in action."