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

Date: 31/10/09 Drivers: Richard Hein, , 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: , 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 , 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: , 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 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: , 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 TrottetR acing 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: , 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

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. especially surprised to see the number of (presti- customers is performance. It is what they expect, it sional teams. gious) cars, (excellent) teams and (very) good driv- is what we owe them. And the winner is : …….. Portimao Le Mans Series ers attending the GTOpen series. Overall we did not The best indicator to tell me that we have succeeded race where we have won 3 out of 4 categories see any reduction in number of entrants and in some From a pure technical point of view, we have deliv- in this challenge is the number of “new” teams com- - LMP2 with ASM, Olivier Pla and Miguel Amaral instances there were more than in 2008. Well done ered better performance in all the categories in which ing to “speak” with us already for 2010. - GT1 with LAA Corvette, , Patrice M.Pajera (the promoter)!!! we participated as a result of continuous product in- Goueslard and Yann Clairay novation including new compounds and construc- 2010 looks set to build on this year and deliver - GT2 with the famous yellow JMW Ferrari, Rob Bell Race fans have been privileged to witness some tions. even more adrenalin fuelled racing action. Is and Giamaria Bruni amazingly talented drivers battling for victory there a new team in any class that will be rac- in 2009, who has stood out for you as the driver The most significant development is probably our ing on Dunlop’s for the first time next year that The post podium ceremonies and press conference of the year and why? ability to better understand and integrate with the de- you are excited about working with? have been very emotional moments for all the sign engineers of the top teams (BMW, Zytek, Audi, Dunlop Motorsport EU team. Again, a difficult question as any comparisons be- Corvette, etc…). with whom we increasingly work. Certainly right now we are in the heart of what tween series or races is subject to endless discus- We have a new generation of engineers at Dunlop English people call “the crazy season”. Everybody sion and arguments. Would you say Pavarotti is a Motorsport EU and by working closely with the de- talks to everybody, everything is possible today and better singer than Freddy Mercury? velopment engineers in our partner teams we are everything could collapse tomorrow. However, DOWNLOAD IMAGE

125GP CHAMPIONSHIP

Date: 18/10/2009 Rider: Julián Simón, Bancaja Aspar Team. Race: Phillip Island, Australia. Tyres: Dunlop slicks/wets.

Simón takes victory in the Australian 125GP ahead of team-mate Bradley Smith, and in doing so se- cures the 125cc World title with a further two races still to run. Smith kept the pressure on to the end to take second in the championship finishing the last race in Valencia less than half a second behind world champion Simón in first. DOWNLOAD IMAGE

250GP Championship

Date: 08/11/2009 Rider: Hiroshi Aoyoma, Scot Racing Team. Race: Valencia, Spain. Tyres: Dunlop slicks/wets.

Aoyoma finished eighth in this, the last race of the season. It was enough for him to take his first 250GP title, the last ever in the series as it will be replaced by the new Moto2 class in 2010. DOWNLOAD IMAGE japanese Superbike Championship

Date: 01/11/2009 Rider: Katsuyuki Nakasuga, YSP Racing Team. Race: Suzuka, Japan. Tyres: Dunlop N-Tec slicks/wets.

An exhilarating final round of the Japanese Superbike Championship saw reign- ing 2008 champion Nakasuga battling it out in wet and dry conditions to retain his title for the second year running. This was the first time the championship had been run on the east course of the Suzuka circuit, a short 2.243km track with few passing places, offering an exciting spectacle for race fans. DOWNLOAD IMAGE australian Superbike Championship

Date: 29/11/2009 Rider: Josh Waters, Team Joe Rocket Suzuki. Race: Phillip Island, Australia. Tyres: Dunlop N-Tec slicks / wets.

Josh Waters dominated the season, taking a double win at Phillip Island to claim the championship title in his rookie year. DOWNLOAD IMAGE ama superbike Championship

Date: 16/08/2009 Rider: Mat Mladin, Rockstar Makita Suzuki Team. Race: Suzuki Big Kahuna Nationals American Superbike Race, Virginia International Raceway, USA. Tyres: Dunlop N-Tec slicks / wets.

Mladin claims his seventh AMA Superbike title with two races remaining in the 2009 series. DOWNLOAD IMAGE

Isle of man TT

Date: 06/06/2009 Rider: Steve Plater, HM Plant Honda. Race: Senior TT, Isle of Man. Tyres: Dunlop N-Tec slicks / wets.

Steve Plater heads to an impressive debut senior TT victory. The 2009 TT week proved to be an historic success for Dunlop, taking a clean sweep of all five classes with Plater joined by John McGuinness, Ian Hutchinson and Michael Dunlop claiming victories in the Superbike TT, Junior Supersport TT, Supersport TT (on D211GP tyres) and Superstock TT. DOWNLOAD IMAGE idm GERMAN Superbike Championship

Date: 23/08/2009 Rider: Jorg Teuchert, Team Yamaha Motor Germany. Race: Assen, Netherlands. Tyres: Dunlop N-Tec slicks / wets.

A fantastic year for Teuchert, the German rider wrapping up the 2009 championship title by Assen with one round to go. DOWNLOAD IMAGE

SPANISH formula extreme superbike championship

Date: 22/11/2009 Rider: Carmelo Morales, Team Siemens Gigaset LaGlisse, ESP. Race: Valencia, Spain. Tyres: Dunlop N-Tec slicks / wets.

Morales weaves through the last few corners at the final round of the championship in Valencia. The race win gave him the Formula Extreme Championship title for the second year running. Morales went on to win the Albacete European Championship on the 1st November riding a Super- stock machine on Dunlop D211 GP tyres. DOWNLOAD IMAGE

Finnish Superbike Championship

Date: 28/06/2009 Rider: Vesa Kallio, Kallio KTM Racing Team. Race: Alastaro, Finland. Tyres: Dunlop N-Tec slicks / wets.

An incredible year for Vesa Kallio, The Finnish rider’s domination of the championship was total, win- ning every single race to take the justly deserved 2009 title. DOWNLOAD IMAGE

Swedish Pro Superbike Championship

Date: 26/09/2009 Rider: Filip Backlund, Team Backlund Racing. Race: Mantorp, Norway. Tyres: Dunlop N-Tec slicks / wets.

Suzuki rider Backlund spent pretty much the whole season on the podium, taking a safe second at Mantorp to win the 2009 championship title. DOWNLOAD IMAGE bol d’or 24hr

Date: 13/09/2009 Riders: Freddy Foray, Olivier Four, Vincent Philippe, Suzuki Endurance Racing Team. Race: Magny Cours, France. Tyres: Dunlop N-Tec slicks / wets.

SERT take a confident victory in the 2009 Bol d’Or 24HR endurance race after months of extensive testing with Dunlop. Q&A - Stephen Male, Dunlop Motorcycle Motorsports EU Manager shares his thoughts on the 2009 motorcycle motorsport season. 2009 has been an incredibly successful year in mance of the year must go to the last ever 250cc What has been the biggest challenge in 2009 racing with a very aggressive, well funded effort. At racing across the world for Dunlop Motorsport, Grand Prix World Champion, Hiroshi Aoyama. for the trackside Dunlop Motorsport service? the season opening Le Mans 24 hour race in April. which race series particularly stood out for you Michelin won the race with their new development this year? Dunlop Motorsport is continually pushing The biggest challenge we have had to deal with in partner Yamaha Austria Racing Team (YART) this forward technology to deliver the best possible 2009 has been the success of our products in Su- was the first time we had lost this race since 2005. We’ve won over 80 individual motorcycle champion- tyres to win on. What has been the most perbike and Supersport. This success has meant Following our post-race debrief we identified with ships across the globe during 2009, so it’s a little significant development you have delivered to that at almost every race this year we have had in- SERT the areas of tyre and motorcycle performance difficult singling out 1 particular series however from racing customers this year? creasing workloads as more customers switched to we needed to jointly improve to be competitive at my perspective I think our achievement in the IDM Dunlop. Satisfying these new customers has been a their next race, the Bol d’Or. German Superbike series stands out. We have worked on many new developments during major priority as our whole philosophy is focused on the year but 2 items stand out. Firstly, from a motor- Product AND Service. Throughout the late spring and summer we had a We started the season in 2009 following our drive in cycle point of view the introduction of the new Moto number of tests with SERT developing new tyre pro- 2008 to re-establish our credibility after a couple of 2 class, one year earlier than originally planned and 2010 looks set to build on this year and deliver files, new constructions, new slick compounds and years where we were not at the level we wanted. The the subsequent award of this class to Dunlop as a even more adrenalin fuelled racing action. Is new wet tyres. In the run up to the Bol d’Or Michelin end results were championship wins in all 3 competi- one-brand, in Grand Prix for 3 years. there a new team in any class that will be had a huge PR build up eventually bringing many tive classes; Superbike, Supersport and 125cc, in racing on Dunlop’s for the first time next year of their top European motorcycle customers to the the process persuading many teams and riders to This meant we have had to develop the tyres for that you are excited about working with? event and telling the specialist press that the result switch to Dunlop from other brands. How did we these completely new machines in a very short pe- was not in doubt – they were going to win ! do this? Product and Service. The wider availability riod of time, with very limited testing opportunities. For motorcycle racing the challenge for 2010 will be of our N tech product range for both Superbike and We have succeeded in developing the new tyres, in to satisfy the requirements of the Moto 2 Grand Prix The race event itself did not go the way they had an- Supersport and continuous support to IDM from the the process defining sizes, profiles, constructions, class as it develops. We will be working with many ticipated. Although they were fastest in practice and Birmingham design and service groups were compounds etc, on time (production has already teams we have worked with before but the machines qualifying, in the race itself we were fully competitive deciding factors for many of these new customers. started) with a performance level higher than that of in the new class have not had much testing time so and eventually won with SERT setting a record race our Supersport tyres, a huge testament to the skills far. I think that we will see these machines evolving distance (over 800 laps) in the process. Race fans have been privileged to witness some of the motorcycle race technical team. very quickly so we will have to work hard to satisfy the amazingly talented riders battling for victory in teams and riders within the new tyre regulations. All of our motorsport team design, manufacturing 2009, who has stood out for you as the rider of From an overall motorsport point of view one of our and the service team played a major part as we de- the year and why? major successes has been the development of a com- What has been the defining moment in motor- veloped and tested new tyres, then produced, at pletely new family of race tread compounds. At the sport for you in 2009 that really stands out as a very short lead time the full race quantities for the Again we have seen many tremendous performanc- end of 2009 a number of our compounding materials shining example of Dunlop’s involvement and event. In the final analysis not only did we win the es this year, Jorg Teuchert dominated IDM Superbike will become illegal from a Health and Safety point of dedication to racing? race we also delivered a major upset to one of our and Sasha Hommel won the IDM 600 Supersport view in the manufacturing plants. We started work on fiercest global competitors and showed just what we Championship at only 19 years of age. replacing these materials during the latter part of 2008 For me one of the defining moments of the year came are capable of. and have developed through 2009 a completely new at the Bol d’Or 24 hour race at Magny Cours. At the Steve Plater won both the Senior TT and the Brit- family of compounds with new, legal materials which start of the season our development partner Suzuki ish Supersport Championship and Vesa Kallio won now out-perform the previous compounds. This is an Endurance Racing Team (SERT) decided that they 9 races from 9 starts on his KTM to win the Finnish important achievement as it means our customers will could not complete in the full series. At the same Superbike Championship. I think the overall perfor- enjoy even better tyre performance during 2010. time Michelin decided to re-engage in Endurance Ground breaking.

The new Geomax MX51.

/ features race-honed and patented ‘geomax reinforced pattern’ and unique ‘tie-bar’ design for toughness and chunking resistance / High density polyester carcass allows lower tire pressures and hence larger footprint yet still retains sidewall stability / multi-polymer compounds for longevity and adhesion throughout the whole life of the tire

www.dunlopmotorcycle.eu

OE TYRE FITTING INFO

The latest additions to the OE tyre fitting market for Dunlop include Roadsmart tyres for the Honda VT1300CS for the US, Canadian, Australian and Japa- nese markets giving it a 50% market- share.

From February 2010 Dunlop will also provide OE tyre fitting for the Honda CB1100 in USA, Canadian, Australian, Japanese, Brazilian, Korean, New Zea- land, South African and all European markets.