INISSUE TOUCH20 MOTORSPORT NEWS EXCLUSIVE MOTO3 READY TO GO! P 19 & 20 A LOOK FORWARD TO THE SEASON AHEAD DUNLOP TAKES ON THE WORLD P6 MARCH 2012 MOTORSPORT DUnlop’S SUPER 2011 ON TWO WHEELS… 2011 saw Dunlop achieve worldwide motorcycle success across the full spectrum of racing surfaces. From state-of-the-art asphalt on the grand prix racing calendar, to the bumpy public roads of the legendary Isle of Man TT, the manicured stadium dirt of AMA Supercross and the ever-changing terrain of a Motocross GP - Dunlop won on them all. The final season of the 125cc World Championship, an open-tyre class long dominated by Dunlop, ended with Nico Terol crowned champion, while Dunlop’s run of consecutive race wins reached 133. 125GP had existed since 1949, but there was little time to reflect as Dunlop’s attention turned to its role as exclusive tyre supplier for the replacement Moto3 class. Dunlop’s deal as single supplier for Moto2 entered its second season in 2011, when young German Stefan Bradl took the title after a season that saw Dunlop balance increased tyre performance with continued equality. Lap records were broken at twelve of the 17 circuits, while 16 different riders and seven different motorcycles claimed a podium finish. At June’s Isle of Man TT races, Dunlop riders took four wins around the fearsome 60.72 km mountain course, headlined by victories for John McGuinness (Honda) in the prestigious Superbike and Senior TTs. Bruce Anstey (Honda) and Michael Dunlop (Kawasaki) took their Dunlop tyres to the top in the Supersport and Superstock TTs respectively. Open tyre competition exists throughout the German IDM Championships, where Dunlop emerged victorious in all three solo classes. The perfect sweep was headed by KTM’s Martin Bauer in the premier Superbike category. Dunlop-Yamaha rider Jesco Günther clinched the Supersport title, while Australian Jack Miller (Aprilia) took the honours in the hotly contested 125cc class. In the 2011 Alpe Adria Championships, Dunlop riders won five out of the six classes: SBK (Andreas Meklau), STK1000 (Martin Choy), STK600 (Lukas Jasensky), 125GP (Julian Mayer) and 125SP (Stefano Schillaci). Off-road, Dunlop made a triumphant return to the FIM Motocross World Championship with seven podiums, including one victory, during the 2011 MX1 season. Honda team-mates Evgeny Bobryshev and Rui Gonçalves led the Dunlop challenge, finishing fourth and sixth in the standings after a year in which both riders proved themselves to be potential future champions. In the glamorous world of the AMA FIM World Supercross Championship, Dunlop competitors Ryan Villopoto (450 class), Broc Tickle (250 lites West class) and Justin Barcia (250 lites East class) swept to title victory. Over in AMA racing, Dunlop extended its exclusive contract during 2011, a season that saw Josh Hayes (Superbike), Danny Eslick (Sportbike) and James Rispoli (Supersport) crowned champions. 01 MARCH 2012 motorsport.dunlop.eu motorsport.dunlop.eu MARCH 2012 02 AND FOUR... Dunlop will be hard pushed to better its results on four-wheels “2011 was probably the best year for at least a decade for during the 2012 season having enjoyed a stunning 2011 in its Dunlop as far as results are concerned,” said Jean-Felix Bazelin, racing activities around the globe. Dunlop Motorsport general manager. “In the LMS and at Le Arguably the highlight for Dunlop-shod teams came at the Le Mans, we won LMP2 with Greaves which I don’t think was Mans 24 Hours, where the Zytek of Greaves Motorsport secured expected, they were reliable and quick. In the ALMS, where you a stunning victory in the LMP2 class. It marked a 1-2 finish for probably have the most competitive GT series in the world, we Dunlop as Signatech Nissan – who had started from class pole won every title with BMW and also won all the prototype classes position – joined the British team on the podium with Dyson. In America we did very well.” The Greaves team were one of the success stories for Dunlop Elsewhere in endurance racing, there was overall podium over the course of 2011, adding the LMP2 title in the Le Mans success for Dunlop in the 24 Hour races at the Nurburgring and Series to its victory at La Sarthe despite strong opposition in the Spa, while the GT Open title wasn’t decided until the closing second prototype class. laps of the year. Prototype success also came in the American Le Mans The Dunlop-backed British Touring Car Championship went Series, where Dyson Racing secured a clean-sweep of to the wire, with five drivers in contention for the title before Matt honours in LMP1 after a heated battle with rivals Muscle Milk Neal was crowned in the final race of the year while in the V8 AMR. Signatech meanwhile ended the year top of the team’s Supercar Championship – where drivers compete on a Dunlop classification in the LMP2 class of the Intercontinental Le Mans control tyre – Jamie Whincup edged out team-mate Craig Cup, while Dunlop’s LMP1 development partner OAK Racing Lowndes to the crown by just 35 points. took fifth in class against big budget rivals including Peugeot In short, for Dunlop, close racing and championship success and Audi. were very much the order of the year. As for this year? “I am Dunlop’s GT teams also impressed, in particular BMW – who sure that 2012 will be more competitive again,” says Jean-Felix. took a podium finish at Le Mans and then clinched arguably the most competitive GT crown around by winning the ALMS championship. BMW also took second in the GTE-Pro class of the ILMC, while JMW Motorsport took second in GTE-Pro in the Le Mans Series. 03 MARCH 2012 motorsport.dunlop.eu motorsport.dunlop.eu MARCH 2012 04 A LOOK TO Dunlop is relishing the 2012 motorsport season. We have2012 several RT stands for ‘Racing Technology’ underlines our focus on exciting new challenges, including being chosen as the Official applying learnings from the racetrack to our ultra high Tyre for Moto3 and the Technical Partner for racing challenges as performance road tyres. Both tyres have a motorsport derived diverse as the AMG Motorsport programme with the Mercedes compound. Furthermore our latest SportSmart bike tyre has SLS GT3 car and the closely-fought Renault Clio Cup NTEC construction derived from our successful motorcycle championships across Europe. racing tyre programme. We are launching these ambitious new partnerships following We have been competing for over 120 years, but the race an incredibly successful 2011. Whether on two wheels or four, never ends. Dunlop keeps learning. When we win, all of our Dunlop was the tyre of choice in winning races from the Isle of drivers and riders win, whether on the road or the track. Man TT to the Le Mans 24 hour LMP2 and the LMP1 Championship in America to add to our title-winning success in Sanjay Khanna the GT class as Official Technical Partner to BMW Motorsport. Managing Director, Dunlop Brand, I’m very proud of the work put in by our Motorsport team to Europe, Middle East and Africa. achieve this success. In 2012, once again, Dunlop’s focus is on endurance and touring car racing, as well as motorcycle racing, which is integral to our ‘race to road’ development strategy. This year we have launched two new car tyres, the Dunlop Sport Maxx Race and the Dunlop Sport Maxx RT. The fact that 05 MARCH 2012 motorsport.dunlop.eu motorsport.dunlop.eu MARCH 2012 06 DUNLOP TAKES ON THE WORLD 2012 sees an exciting new series for international Two further cars complete Dunlop’s eleven in the motorsport with the inauguration of the FIA World WEC, with the GTE Am-contesting JWA-Avila Endurance Championship (WEC), and Dunlop will Porsche and Krohn Racing Ferrari. be bidding for glory from the season-opening The season-opening Sebring 12 Hours on Sebring 12 Hours on March 17. March 17 brings an additional challenge for The WEC had its germination in last year’s Dunlop; it’s also the season opener of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup (ILMC) – in which American Le Mans Series. Dunlop was highly successful, winning in the LMP2 ‘The World Endurance Championship is an class with the Signatech Oreca-Nissan squad. exciting new challenge for Dunlop,” says Jean-Felix The season is made up of eight races with the Bazelin, Dunlop Motorsport’s General Manager. jewel in the crown being the Le Mans 24 Hours, “We showed strong performance in the with classics such as the Sebring 12 Hours and the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup last year, but the 6 Hours of Spa mixing with new events such as the WEC is a far greater endeavour. 6 Hours of Sao Paulo and 6 Hours of Shanghai. “As well as eight races compared with the The WEC follows the Le Mans classes of ILMC’s seven, it is a yet bigger competition with prototypes and GT cars. Dunlop has a sole circuits such as Interlagos in Brazil and Shanghai in representative in the LMP1 class, with Oak Racing China to test our teams and tyres. fielding their Oak Prescarolo-Judd against the “The Le Mans 24 Hours is the jewel in the manufacturer Audi and Toyota entries. crown of this championship, but this really is a In the highly competitive LMP2 class it’s a strong massive international undertaking for us. Our tyre eight cars wearing Dunlop rubber, ranging from the designers are working relentlessly to ensure we ILMC champions, Signatech Oreca-Nissan to the have the best solution for every car using our Oak Racing Morgan-Judd entry, through a tyres of the very diverse mix of circuits visited Lotus-entered Lola, two Gulf Racing Middle East across three continents.