Tyre News

AvonBegins Support of British Hillclimb Championship

Avon Tyres is throwing its weight behind the MSA British Hillclimb Championship, with a new agreement to be title sponsor this season. The Championship will be organised by the BARC and will include rounds at the leading hillclimb venues in the UK, as well as Jersey and Guernsey.

The addition of the prestigious grassroots championship expands the UK motor racing portfolio of Cooper Tire Europe, which manufactures the Avon brand. Cooper’s European motorsport involvement already includes title sponsorship of the Cooper Tire British F3 International Series and the Avon Tyres British GT Championship.

A new pricing structure for its competition tyres has been designed by Avon specifically to attract new entry-level drivers to the championship, with a view to securing its long-term future.

Paul Coates, Avon Tyres Motorsport general manager, said, “Across the UK and Europe, we are involved in a wide range of very high-profile, prestigious and important race series but we can’t forget the grassroots competitors, as they represent the baseline and the future of the sport.

“That’s why we’re delighted to work with the BARC, support the Avon Tyres MSA British Hillclimb Championship and provide what incentives we can to make the series as attractive as possible to new racing drivers.”

BARC Chief Executive, Dennis Carter said, “It really is great to have Avon Tyres on board in supporting and helping to promote this very prestigious Championship. They have a wealth of experience in producing and supplying hillclimb tyres and we look forward to working with them.”

Avon will subsidise prices on specific hillclimb specs in size ranges relevant to the typical hillclimb competition cars and has promised to continue compound development on its hillclimb offering throughout the 2012 season. The company will be introducing race tyres in a selection of new sizes to suit hillclimb competitors and advances in technology from all areas of Avon’s development programme will be transferred to hillclimb tyres, wherever relevant. It will also support the championship, its teams and drivers with marketing and local PR campaigns. A tyre supply and fitting service at the events will be provided by BMTR, who will also be available to offer competitors specialist advice on the Avon hillclimb product range.

The Avon Tyres MSA British Hillclimb Championship was launched on Saturday February 4 at Leicestershire circuit, Mallory Park. (Feb 10, 2012)

Lassa to Expand Capacity

Brisa, producer of Lassa tyres and a joint venture company between the Bridgestone Corporation of Japan,and the Sabanci Group, the leading industrial conglomerate in Turkey, has announced that it will invest USD 117.5 million in its tyre manufacturing units located at Izmit, Turkey.

"This is the largest investment ever in our company's history, about which we are very excited. The production capacity expansion at Production Facility in Izmit is primarily intended to meet the growing demand in both local and export markets as well as reinforcing Lassa's commitment to becoming a global brand," said Mr Hakan Bayman, General Manager of Brisa.(April 19, 2012)