Earlier this year, BFGoodrich Tires launched an innovative contingency program, motivating SCCA racers with the opportunity to race in one of the toughest off-road events in North America – the SCORE Baja 1000. The coveted seats in a BFGoodrich tires-equipped Wide Open Excursions Baja Challenge race car were awarded at the SCCA National Championship Runoffs at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisc., on Sept. 26 to champions running BFGoodrich tires in the AS, T2, T3, SSB and SSC classes.
Among those vying for the desert drive with their skills on the track were Lee Niffenegger in his Honda Civic Si, who has been blazing up the Showroom Stock B class all season long. Chad Gilsinger in his Honda S2000 and Tommy Boileau in his Honda S2000 have been showcasing the grip and acceleration of BFGoodrich’s g-force R1 tires in the Touring 3 class. Rounding out the Showroom Stock C class, multiple-time SCCA champion Joel Lipperini will be hot on the track with his Acura Integra.
“Because of our legendary success both on- and off-road, BFGoodrich Tires is uniquely qualified to offer a program like this to our racers,” said Roberts Kukainis, motorsports manager, BFGoodrich Tires. “One thing we know at BFGoodrich Tires is that those who race on our tires are all about fierce competition, and this contingency program has become a race in itself among our SCCA competitors.”
BFGoodrich’s SCCA Wide Open Excursion contingency program is an extension of BFGoodrich Tires’ already comprehensive contingency program in 2010 that offers SCCA Club Racing National drivers two BFGoodrich g-Force R1 tires for first place and one BFGoodrich g-Force R1 tire for second place. The contingency program was sweetened for the Runoffs, with tire contingencies from first (12 tires) down to sixth (two tires) place finishers.
“Not only does this program set BFGoodrich Tires apart from the competition, but it also helps honor the 35th anniversary of BFGoodrich Tires competition in SCORE International’s Baja races,” added Kukainis. ”To have the motorsports legacy of BFGoodrich Tires enables us to reward those who push the limits with an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
The 2010 Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 starts on Nov. 18 in Ensenada and will finish in La Paz, running the length of the Baja peninsula. In 2010, BFGoodrich Tires is commemorating 35 years of winning grip and toughness with SCORE International in Baja racing. BFGoodrich Tires has won the overall four-wheel title in Baja 70 times and the overall SCORE Baja 1000 title 23 of the past 24 years, including a stretch of 20 consecutive victories.
Pirelli Set for All-New French Rally
France’s all-new world championship qualifier, which takes place in the country’s Alsace region from Sept. 30-Oct. 3, is set to be a tarmac rally like no other with inconsistent stage surfaces, narrow and wide sections and temperature variations - all adding to the challenge facing the competitors, more than 60 of whom will use Pirelli’s P Zero asphalt tire.
Based in Strasbourg close to the border with Germany, the bulk of the event’s 20 special stages are contained within hilly forest areas with the exception of Sunday’s runs: a 24-kilometer test through the Bitche Camp military training area, and a 4.10-kilometer blast through Haguenau, Sebastien Loeb’s home town. Loeb - who can land his seventh world title by winning the event - is expected to dominate in his Citroen C4 World Rally Car. An established asphalt specialist, the last time Loeb was defeated on a pure tarmac event was in Spain in October 2004 when he retired due to a mechanical problem.
“We saw in Bulgaria in the summer - a new rally for everybody - that Sebastien was a little bit ahead of everybody,” said Sven Smeets, team manager of the Citroen factory squad. “We really expect him to be up front fighting for the victory in France where he can bring the championship home. There will probably be a little bit of pressure because it’s his home town and people expect him to win but we know his skills on tarmac and Sebastien is never really under pressure.”
Pirelli is the official tire supplier of the WRC under a three-year agreement with the FIA - motorsport’s world governing body. The Italian tire company will supply the hard and soft compound variant of its P Zero tire to all crews in four-wheel drive machinery. The hard compound is designed for hot and dry conditions with the soft version better suited for cooler temperatures and a damp stage surface.
Matteo Braga, Pirelli’s senior WRC tire engineer, says he expects tire compound choice to have an impact on the final result. “Although we expect Sebastien Loeb will be world champion, we know that the weather will be less easy to predict and this will influence the choice of tire compound,” said Braga. “We have seen that the soft compound P Zero tire works well in warm and dry conditions, but in France, there is a chance of some rain so it’s likely we will see more soft compound tires being used on this event. The quantities available have been selected with rain in mind so there is no problem with supply, the only concern is if it rains very hard, which it can do in the mountains.”
Tire regulations set out by the FIA don’t allow for a specific ‘rain’ tire, nor do they allow the insertion of artificial ‘cuts’ into the tread pattern to provide extra grip. The measures were all designed to ensure the tire could be used on a wide variety of asphalt and in different conditions to ultimately control costs. “It means drivers will face a compromise if it rains and maybe won’t be able to push at 100 percent,” continued Braga.
P1 and P2 drivers can select from a quantity of 24 hard compound P Zero tires and 22 soft compound P Zero covers on Rallye de France. However, they cannot exceed 36 tires for the entire event. All other four-wheel drive crews can select from 20 hard compound tires and 16 soft compound tires but are restricted to a total of 25 for the duration of the rally. Crews in the Junior World Rally Championship will use the RX tire, available in 16- and 17-inch diameters.
Rallye de France is the fifth event of the season for the Pirelli Star Driver program, a joint initiative between Pirelli and the FIA. It gives the opportunity for five promising young talents, Nick Georgiou, Peter Horsey, Hayden Paddon, Alex Raschi and Ott Tanak, to contest six rounds of the World Rally Championship in identical Pirelli-backed Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution Xs. As well as counting as round 11 of the main WRC, Rallye de France is also round eight of the Production Car World Rally Championship, for two-liter turbocharged Group N cars, and round nine of the Super 2000 World Rally Championship, which uses normally aspirated two-liter cars. Pirelli supplies its hard and soft compound P Zero tires to both support championships, thereby underlining the performance and efficiency of the Italian rubber on a wide range of machinery. Rallye de France features 351.80 competitive kilometers over 20 special stages. Action gets underway at 8:43 a.m. local time on Oct. 1 and the final stage around Haguenau town center is set to begin at 1:36 p.m. on Oct. 3.
Tire Championships Secured, Michelin Looks to Help Technical Partner Teams Triumph, Too
With the American Le Mans Series Tire manufacturer championships locked up for an 11th consecutive year, Michelin looks to help its technical partner manufacturers, teams and drivers claim their respective titles as the 2010 season heads into the final event, the 10 Hour/1,000 Mile Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta on Oct. 2.
“We are pleased that Michelin has clinched the 2010 ALMS tire manufacturer championships in both of the open classes of ALMS competition,” said Silvia Mammone, Michelin Motorsports manager. “Now, the challenge is to help our technical partners clinch their respective championships. In the Prototype classes where it is one Michelin technical partner vs. another; it is our goal, as always, to offer all of our technical partners the tires and technology they need to perform at their best.”
In the top LMP1 prototype battles, Michelin technical partner Audi, winners of the 2010 24 Hours of Le Mans will try to wrestle victory on this side of the pond from Michelin technical partner Peugeot, winners of the 2009 Petit Le Mans, the 2010 ALMS season opening Twelve Hours of Sebring and the recent 1000km at Silverstone, the opening event of the new Intercontinental Le Mans Cup.
Meanwhile in the LMP2 class, the ALMS championship battle rages between another pair of Michelin technical partners, the defending ALMS champions from Highcroft HPD Racing and the rapidly emerging Muscle Milk Team CytoSport Porsche RS Spyder.
All three Michelin ALMS full season prototype technical partners have savored victory in 2010; the defending champions Highcroft have three overall victories while the Muscle Milk Team CytoSport Porsche RS Spyder owns a pair of overall race wins and a class win at Sebring.
Also tasting victory for the first time in 2010 is the third Michelin technical partner team, the Drayson Racing Lola Judd, which claimed its first pole at Mid-Ohio and backed that up with the pole and overall race win at Road America. Each of the three teams also has at least one overall race pole.
Michelin has also clinched the ALMS tire manufacturer championship in the fierce GT category. Michelin and its technical partner teams from Flying Lizard Porsche (4) and Risi Competizione Ferrari (3) have scored seven wins in the eight races to date, but the GT driver, team and manufacturer championship battles are still incredibly tight as the pair of BMW Rahal Letterman Racing cars have combined for one win and 10 podiums to create a three-way championship battle heading into Petit Le Mans.
“The competition at Petit Le Mans will be intense and Michelin is determined to provide our technical partner teams with the right tires for every condition they may experience during the 10 Hour/1000 mile race,” said Karl Koenigstein, Michelin ALMS technical team leader. “Road Atlanta is a very fast, very demanding track and we need to provide both high levels of grip and cornering while delivering the extended wear for which Michelin is known.”
In the new LMP Challenge class, where all entrants compete in identical Chevrolet powered Oreca chassis with single specification Michelin non-proprietary racing tires, the championship battle finds Level 5 Motorsports and Scott Tucker and Green Earth Team Gunnar and Gunnar Jeannette in a virtual deadlock in both the team and driver championships heading into the final race. Both teams have four wins apiece.
“Providing our Michelin non-proprietary tires to the new LMP-C class has proven to be a great success,” said Koenigstein. “The LMP-C teams have found very good performance and exceptional endurance all season long. They are going faster and using fewer tires than expected and that means we have delivered performance and value to that class as well.”
Merrick Rally Champ Dies on Perth Course in Hankook MSA Scottish Rally Championship
The local rallying community has been left stunned by the death of Scottish champion Jimmy Girvan, who took his 2008 crown in Galloway, on Saturday’s Colin McRae Forest Stages in Perthshire.
The 56-year-old Inverness driver was fatally injured when his Subaru Impreza left the forest road and crashed into trees on the second stage of the final round of the Hankook MSA Scottish Rally Championship.
His co-driver Mike Ramsay was treated in hospital for injuries, which were not serious.
The rally was immediately abandoned by the organizers, Coltness Car Club.
The decision was universally endorsed by his fellow competitors, among them leading local drivers David Bogie, Jock Armstrong and Mike Faulkner.
The 2-wheel drive competitors - including the Port William crew of Fraser Wilson and Steven Broll - had already completed the stage by the time of the accident.
In a statement, Coltness Car Club said: “We are deeply saddened and shocked at this tragedy and wish to extend our heartfelt sympathy to Jimmy’s wife, family and wide circle of friends. Jimmy was an ebullient and popular member of this close-knit sport and was regarded as a superb ambassador for motor sport. We will all miss him terribly.”
Jimmy Girvan won the Scottish championship twice: first in 1990, and again in 2008, when he secured the title on the Merrick Stages Rally alongside Haugh of Urr co-driver Kirsty Riddick.
Riddick co-drove Jimmy in 2008 when they won the Scottish Championship title in a Subaru Impreza N10 and Kirsty recalled: “Jimmy was the most naturally-talented driver I have had the pleasure to compete with, and had a wicked sense of humour to go with it.
Over four seasons there was never a cross word between us, we finished every event we started, and I have only good memories from our time together. Winning the Scottish Rally Championship in 2008 was the proudest moment of my life, and - am glad to have shared that with him. Jimmy was a colourful character who made a huge impact on so many people, and will be missed all the more for doing so - least not by me.”
The new Scottish Rally Champion, David Bogie (Dumfries) had some epic battles with Jimmy Girvan over recent years: “He was a good rival and we had some very close battles,” said David, “he was a very determined and very consistent driver. He was always the first to come across and chat.
It was obvious he loved his rallying. The best battle we had was on the 2007 Merrick. At the finish we tied on identical times. On the first stage we set the same time. On the second stage we set the same time, so the tie-decider would be our third stage times. He just pipped me by a second on that one and won the rally.”
Andreucci Triumphs in Sanremo with Pirelli
After winning in Monte Carlo at the start of the year, Pirelli has also won the prestigious Rally Sanremo, round 10 of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge.
Paolo Andreucci drove his Peugeot 207 Super 2000 to victory Saturday in the demanding asphalt event, held on narrow and twisty mountain roads in Italy’s Imperia province Sept. 24-25. In addition to the testing terrain, Andreucci and Pirelli also had to master changing weather conditions. While the rally finished in bright sunshine, rain fell over the rally route on Friday afternoon and again prior to the grueling 44-kilometer Ronde stage, which took place under the cover of darkness on Friday night and is one of the longest in international rallying. Armed with a supply of Pirelli’s P Zero tires, Andreucci had little trouble negotiating the slippery mountain passes as he flew to victory alongside co-driver Anna Andreussi. A total of 32 Super 2000 cars were entered on the event: a record for Rally Sanremo.
“Our Pirelli tires performed faultlessly in a hugely wide range of conditions,” said Andreucci. “Whether it was damp or dry asphalt, we managed to have a consistent level of traction and grip, which was a key to victory. The flexibility of the Pirelli rubber meant that even when our tire choice was not perfect, we were able to perform at our best. This goes to show the effectiveness of Pirelli’s products under all circumstances. Everyone at Pirelli has worked very hard to refine the tire specification, and this is the well-deserved result.”
Andreucci and Andreussi have reinforced their lead of the Italian Rally Championship with this latest victory and they are now in a position to win the title on the next round, the Costa Smeralda Rally, in October. Unlike the World Rally Championship, which Pirelli supplies on an exclusive basis under a three-year agreement with the FIA, motorsport’s world governing body, IRC regulations permit open tire competition, which means Pirelli is able to test its products against rival manufacturers. For the second time this season, Pirelli has beaten the opposition to follow up its victory on Rallye Automobile Monte-Carlo in January when Mikko Hirvonen took victory in a Pirelli-shod Ford Fiesta S2000.
Pirelli also claimed two more Italian titles: the Italian Junior Rally Championship with Albertini-Fenoli (Renault Clio R3) and the Italian Production Car Championship with Perego-Pizzutti in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution. “It’s been another excellent performance from Pirelli in conditions that were far from easy,” said Terenzio Testoni, Pirelli’s Motorsport Product Manager. “The opposition was stronger than it has ever been and conditions were extremely variable, but once again Paolo made the right choices to ensure (even) more success for Pirelli.”