A YEAR of VICTORIES! DUNLOP Celebrates a Year of Champions
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
IN TOUCH MOTORSPORT NEWS ISSUE 9 DECEMBER ’09 A YEAR OF VICTORIES! DUNLOP CELEBRATES A YEAR OF CHAMPIONS DOWNLOAD IMAGE WELCOME TO OUR FINAL EDITION OF IN TOUCH FOR 2009 It’s been an incredible year for Dunlop Motorsport both on two and four wheels. The Dunlop Motorsport service teams have been working hard across the globe and have proved instrumental in delivering countless race and championship victories for our racing partners and customers. Our success has been shown not only by the winners of this year, but by the increasing number of new teams signing up to race with us for 2010, along with exciting new championships which have chosen Dunlop as their exclusive partner including the new Moto2 class in GP and the 24HR of Dubai. For our final In Touch we want to share some of this year’s victories with you. With over 80 Championships won on two wheels alone it would be impossible to show them all, so please find here a small selection of some of our proudest moments of 2009. We look forward to seeing you at the track next year to share in more success with us. The Dunlop Motorsport Team DOWNLOAD IMAGE ASIAN LE MANS SERIES Date: 31/10/09 Drivers: Richard Hein, Jacques Nicolet Matthieu Lahaye, Oak Racing Team. Race: Okayama, Japan. Tyres: Dunlop Sport Maxx slicks/wets. Despite four previous podium finishes it was the inaugural ASIAN Le Mans series that brought the Oak Racing team their first race wins of 2009, gracing the top step twice and taking the well earned LMP2 title. LE MANS SERIES Date: 02/08/2009 Drivers: Luc Alphand, Patrice Goueslard and Stephane Gregoire, Luc Alphand Aventures Racing Team. Race: 1000km of Algarve, Portugal. Tyres: Dunlop Sport Maxx slicks/wets. The Luc Alphand Aventures Team build on their second place finish at Spa with a fantastic run for the first ever night race at the Portimao circuit, taking the chequered flag and gaining valuable points which ultimately saw them win the 2009 LMGT1 championship. DOWNLOAD IMAGE DOWNLOAD IMAGE LE MANS SERIES Date: 02/08/2009 Drivers: Miguel Amaral and Olivier Pla, Quifel Team ASM. Race: 1000km of Algarve, Portugal. Tyres: Dunlop Sport Maxx slicks/wets. The Quifel Team ASM take another victory in the night race at the Portimao circuit in the Algarve. They went on to secure the 2009 LMP2 title. Seen just behind them in its distinctive Dunlop colours, the JMW Ferrari 430 Team car piloted by Rob Bell and Gianmaria Bruni just missed out on the LMGT2 title by a mere single point. DOWNLOAD IMAGE VLN (BF GOODRICH ENDURANCE CHAMPIONSHIP) Date: 27/06/2009 Drivers: Marc Basseng, Frank Biela and Hans-Joachim Stuck, Team Phoenix Racing. Race: Nurburgring, Germany. Tyres: Dunlop Sport Maxx slicks/wets. Basseng, Biela and Stuck had the pleasure of giving the Audi R8 LMS its first victory, also the first for Audi in the series since its inception in 1977. They delivered a convincing win at the fifth round of the 2009 championship on the legendary Nurburgring circuit and in doing so broke a nine race winning streak by Porsche. DOWNLOAD IMAGE DTM (DEUTSCHE TOURENWAGEN-MEISTERSCHAFT) Date: 25/10/2009 Driver: Timo Scheider, Audi Sport Team Abt. Race: Hockenheimring, Germany. Tyres: Dunlop Sport Maxx slicks/wets. Scheider scored a second place finish for the last race of the season, enough to secure him the 2009 DTM Championship title. He also made history with Audi making it the only manufacturer to win the title three consecutive times in a row in the history of the championship. GT OPEN Date: 07/11/2009 Drivers: Marcel Fässler and Joël Camathias, Trottet Racing Team. Race: Portimao, Portugal. Tyres: Dunlop Sport Maxx slicks/wets. After a thrilling final race of the season, the Trottet Racing Team took the 2009 championship title at the Portimao circuit, the first championship victory for the team. DOWNLOAD IMAGE BTCC (BRITISH TOURING CAR CHAMPIONSHIP) Date: 11/10/2009 Driver: Colin Turkington, Team RAC. Race: Brands Hatch, United Kingdom. Tyres: Dunlop Sport Maxx slicks/wets. Turkington brings his BMW home in second position in the last race of the 2009 season. Six race wins, eight podium finishes and three fastest laps were enough to give him his first championship title in his eight year BTCC career. DOWNLOAD IMAGE DOWNLOAD IMAGE AMERICAN LE MANS SERIES Date: 17/08/2009 Drivers: Joey Hand, Bill Auberlen, Tommy Milner and Dirk Müller, BMW Rahal Letterman racing team. Race: Sebring, USA. Tyres: Dunlop Sport Maxx slicks/wets. A fantastic result for the Dunlop shod BMWs of the Rahal Letterman Racing Team, scoring a perfect one-two finish and giving the new M3 its first race victory. DOWNLOAD IMAGE MINI CHALLENGE Date: 03/05/2009 Drivers: Manuel Bertolin, Victor Saez, Carlos Alberto Cerro. Race: Valencia, Spain. Tyres: Dunlop R17 slicks/wets. Bertolin celebrates victory in style over second place Saez and third place driver Cerro at the Ricardo Tormo circuit in Valencia mid-way through the Spanish series of the MINI Challenge. The incredibly successful national series has also brought action filled racing to the UK, Germany and Australia with more countries joining up for 2010. Q&A – JEAN-FELIX BAZELIN, DUNLOP MOTOSPORTS EU GENERAL MANAGER SHARES HIS THOUGHTS ON THE 2009 CAR MOTORSPORT SEASON. 2009 has been an incredibly successful year in One driver has brought a lot to our 2009 perfor- now able to translate drivers feed back and data into despite not having yet finalized all the contracts, I racing across the world for Dunlop Motorsport, mance while staying very (too much?) modest and computer models then work on these models and can tell you that our target is to go one step further which race series particularly stood out for you self-effacing is Olivier Pla, from the Portugese based translate that work back into real tyres that go faster, than in 2009, in term of performance and results. To this year? ASM LMP2 team. longer and better. do that that we will have to continue with the very best partners we already have and work with new If you were asking a Father which of his children he Few people outside Motorsport know him although This compounded with the huge experience of our ones. ALMS, LMS, VLN are the competitive series prefers, I guess the answer would be “none and all”! he is one of the best circuit drivers and the most senior design engineers makes a unique mixture of where we already operate and we will endeavour to I feel a bit like that .We have had an incredible season capable at giving feedback to our engineers at de- skills to deliver efficiency, performance and service have better results there than in 2009. For that we in Motorsport with lot of excitement despite the diffi- velopment tests. I am happy to give him here all the to our partners. could be driven to explore new categories and work cult economic environment. Therefore I will nominate credit he deserves. with new teams and cars. Watch this space! all the race series that have succeeded in delivering What has been the biggest challenge in 2009 a tremendous show in 2009 and thank all the drivers I would also pay a tribute to all the gentlemen driv- for the trackside Dunlop Motorsport service? We are very excited to start a new partnership with and organizers for their efforts and successes. That ers we have worked with in 2009. They very often Formula Ford and to be selected as the sole tyre being said, it is always frustrating not to answer such are gentlemen in name only like the drivers of the Our trackside service engineer group is (rightly) supplier for the Dubai 24H which kicks off the 2010 a specific question, I will try to take some risks and OAK Racing Pescarolo - Jacques Nicolet, Richard known as the best in the field.I am not being preten- season in January. give an answer – the GTOpen championship. Why? Hein and Jean-François Yvon who finished on the Le tious in saying that, it is what “new customers” have Mans 24H podium after an incredibly thrilling race. told us. Our people are known to be honest, hard What has been the defining moment in motor- At the beginning of 2009 there were concerns for workers whilst keeping this famous British sense of sport for you in 2009 that really stands out as a those series that bring together “Pro and Am’” driv- Dunlop Motorsport is continually pushing for- humor that makes things easier when things become shining example of Dunlop’s involvement and ers and teams. Maybe the “Am’s” might be less able ward technology to deliver the best possible a bit more difficult in the heat of a race.I can say this dedication to racing? or inclined to enjoy themselves in a exciting but ex- tyres to win on. What has been the most signifi- becomes some of this British sense of humour has pensive hobby and to support racing teams in a year cant development you have delivered to racing rubbed off on me – a Frenchman! From what I have said earlier, you can imagine that of recession. customers this year? The biggest challenge for our service engineers has there are so many that will live long in the memory. been to retain all their human and professional skills However as I have started to take some risks I will Despite this background I must say that I have been What we have delivered in 2009 to our partners and despite having to service more, and more profes- continue and choose one event.