InMOTORSPORTTouch NEWS ISSUE 19 IN THIS ISSUE: NOVEMBER 2011 Dunlop’s Double IlMC wIn In ZhuhaI 125 season RevIew Moto2 season RevIew 10 questIons wIth alan nICholls Dunlop’s Date In DubaI DUNlOP REIgNS SUPREME IN EWC Dunlop’s Double win concluDes ilMc in Zhuhai Dunlop celebrated the end of the Intercontinental Le Mans In the overall race standings, Dunlop LMP1 partner Oak Racing Cup (ILMC) with double wins in the LMP2 and GTE Pro put their previous bad luck behind them to take an impressive third, classes of the 6 Hours of Zhuhai in China. and first petrol car home. It was the seventh and final event of a series which In GTE Pro, the #56 BMW took fourth in class, whilst in GTE Am, also took the best events from the American Le Mans Krohn Racing led the class by a minute at quarter distance, (ALMS) and Le Mans Series (LMS) including the blue ultimately finishing in seventh, three laps shy of the class winning riband Le Mans 24 Hours. team. By the season end, Dunlop team Signatech Nissan Dunlop scored title success in the next event, Petit Le Mans at had won LMP2 honours whilst BMW Motorsport took Road Atlanta with Signatech Nissan moving into an unassailable second in GTE Pro and Krohn Racing second in GTE lead in the LMP2 standings. Whilst there was Dunlop glory there Am. Through the season, Dunlop caps were seen on was also frustration as BMW yet again had the pace, but the top steps of three of the four open tyre circumstances meant at the end of a hard fought battle in GTE Pro competition classes. the #55 BMW finished third meaning that the title was effectively The Zhuhai finale on November 13 saw Signatech out of reach – with the opposition having to score just a single point Nissan win LMP2, extending their already unbeatable at the season finale to deny the Dunlop team. class points tally, whilst the two car BMW squad did GTE Am saw a dominant victory for Krohn Racing, finishing two everything they could to try to wrestle the season title away laps ahead of their nearest rival to move into a strong second in the from their opposition with a maximum score run of pole and ILMC standings. 1-2 in the race, but their opposition scored sufficient points to Zhuhai, China saw the season conclude and aside from deny the men from Munich. Signatech’s LMP2 and BMWs GTE Pro wins, in LMP1, Oak Racing It was the culmination of a season which started back in March were the second home of the petrol runners, with fifth overall going with the 12 Hours of Sebring, which was the first round of both the to the #24 car, and the #15 car coming home seventh. American and Global series. The event drew the curtains on the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup Just as the season-ender, Dunlop enjoyed a fine GTE Pro 1-2 which next year is replaced by the FIA World Endurance thanks to BMW, and also victory in the GTE Am class with the Championship (WEC). The WEC will consist of eight races in eight Krohn Racing team’s Ferrari 430. countries across three continents. Dunlop’s preparations are Official LMP1 tyre development partner OAK Racing failed to see already well underway… the finish after both entries ran into mechanical problems, despite the #15 car running as high as fourth, but the French team took a class podium in LMP2, joining Signatech on the podium. Spa came next in May with the 1000km race around the fearsome Francorchamps circuit where podium finishes in the LMP2 and GTE Pro classes were the result. Signatech was the first ILMC-LMP2 car home, whilst in GTE Pro, the #56 BMW took third position in the overall category standings, finishing second of the ILMC-entered cars. The 79th Le Mans 24 Hours in June saw further solid results for Dunlop, with a mixture of LMS and ILMC entered cars. Signatech finished second in class to the Dunlop-shod LMS entered Greaves Motorsport car. The success in LMP2 made up for a tough race in the premier LMP1 class, with OAK Racing forced to retire both of its cars. In GTE Pro, BMW took third with the #56, but the #55 retired with just three hours to go. In GTE-Am, engine failure forced Krohn Racing to retire. The Gulf AMR Middle East Aston Martin Vantage also failed to finish after an accident. The first ever rounds of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup at the Imola 6 Hours in Italy in July saw Signatech finish first of the ILMC LMP2 cars again whilst BMW looked set to win GTE Pro with the #55 BMW M3 before on track contact and a drive through penalty dropped them to a third in class. Dunlop headed home for the fifth round with the Silverstone 6 Hours taking place just an hour away from the Birmingham motorsport tyre production facility. Dunlop dominated the LMP2 class of the event with the top seven finishers using Dunlop tyres, however it was a lowly seventh in class finish for Signatech, who nevertheless continued to lead the ILMC class standings. DUNlOP WINS FIM ENDURaNCE WORlD ChaMPIONShIP aT DOha FINalE Dunlop development squad Suzuki Endurance the Suzuki Endurance Racing Team for yet Racing Team (SERT) won the 2011 FIM another display of what it takes to win an Endurance World Championship (EWC) after endurance world championship, and in particular scoring a podium finish in the season-concluding for showcasing Dunlop’s tyres in the best way,” 8 Hours of Doha at the Losail International Circuit, said Sharon Antonaros, Director Dunlop Qatar. Motorcycle EMEA. Despite contesting the event with just two riders “Earlier this year we saw the eleventh – Vincent Philippe and Anthony Delhalle – after consecutive Bol d’Or victory with Dunlop tyres. third rider Daisaku Sakai suffered an injury Now to win the championship with our immediately before the event, the Dunlop-shod development team is another endorsement of our Suzuki squad crossed the finish line after eight tyre technology and the efforts we put behind gruelling hours of action immediately behind their pushing the technology forwards. All these efforts title rivals, meaning they won the title by 109 are not just to win titles; they are to benefit our points to 105. consumers with the very best products possible Dunlop’s tyres provided the performance such as our recently launched RoadSmart II.” required to win this season’s title contested Part of the appeal of endurance racing for across 72 hours of racing in a wide range of Dunlop, is the development opportunities it weather conditions and track temperatures. presents. After winning an historic eleventh consecutive “Motorcycle endurance racing is one of the Bol d’Or win in the 24 Hours event at Magny hardest challenges that we face as a tyre Cours at the season opener in April, Dunlop and manufacturer,” says Stephen Male Dunlop SERT contested the 8 Hours of Albacete, Suzuka Motorcycle Motorsports Manager. “We have to Eight Hours and Le Mans 24 Hours Moto before find technology that allows performance at the the season culminated in Qatar. Podiums were level required across a huge variety of conditions. achieved in all events except Suzuka. In a typical 24 hour race, you can start the race The EWC win comes after Dunlop squad Team with 30ºC track temperature, and by 05:00 the Motors Events Bodyguard AMT Assurances won following morning it can be down to single the FIM Endurance World Cup for Superstock figures.” bikes after taking an unassailable lead at the Le Mans 24 Hours Moto at the end of September. “Congratulations to our long-standing partner, bRaDl takes Moto2 tItle Alex de Angelis and MotoBI added their names to the list of Dunlop, Moto2’s exclusive tyre supplier, finished the season 2011 Moto2 race winners with victory from pole at Phillip Island, by debuting a new rear tyre at Valencia. the Sammarinese finishing one-second ahead of title leader The ART09 3838 proved an instant hit, despite damp Stefan Bradl (Kalex). conditions, and took Michele Pirro (Moriwaki) to an emotional Both riders chose the W919 rear, but de Angelis opted for the first grand prix victory by six-seconds from Mika Kallio (Suter). softer 302 spec front. Joining them on the podium was star Kallio and third-place Dominique Aegerter (Suter) celebrated rookie Marc Marquez (Suter), who charged from last to third their first Moto2 podiums. with the same tyre choice as de Angelis. To best suit the cold and slippery surface, all riders paired the Marquez was forced to miss the Malaysian round, due to a new rear tyre with the 302 softer-option front slick. practice crash, where Bradl finished second to new Moto2 winner Although Bradl crashed in the race, he had already been Thomas Luthi (Suter). The top four riders used the 717 front and confirmed as champion, with Marquez still unfit to ride. 3757 rear. Bradl broke the lap record by almost half a second. Round Event Winner Front Tyre Rear Tyre 15 Australian GP, Phillip Island Alex de Angelis Dunlop Moto2 302 Dunlop ATR03 W919 16 Malaysian GP, Sepang Thomas Luthi Dunlop Moto2 717 Dunlop Moto2 3757 17 Valencia GP, Valencia Michele Pirro Dunlop Moto2 302 Dunlop ATR09 3838 While motorcycles in the 125cc and MotoGP grand prix classes were different motorcycles in the title top four, while fifth placed Thomas reaching the end of their development in 2011, the second season of Luthi (Suter) took his first Moto2 victory at Sepang.