ERJ Round-up: Racing Rubber

ERJ staff report (TP)

Weekly round-up from the world of racing – reports on Avon Tyres ... Hankook Tyres ... Kumho

Motorcycle road racer Sam Smith is racing in the 2014 Mini Twin Championship (BMCRC) in the UK. Out of the 14 races that he started this year on Avon tyres he has clocked up a total of six wins, 10 podium finishes and set a ThundersportGB Mini Twin lap at Donington. Smith is currently third in the riders’ standings with 16 races left. Next round of the series takes place at Rockingham, UK on 26-27 July.

Belgium's Maxime Martin celebrated his maiden Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM - German Touring Car Masters) victory at the Moscow Raceway on 13 July. Hankook Tyres is the DTM's exclusive tire partner. Martin used Hankook’s ultra-fast Ventus Race Plus option tires and "controlled the race right from the start. In the second half of the race he switched to the baseline Ventus Race slicks and brought home a clear victory".

By taking outright victory in the second of Auto GP’s two races at the recent Imola meeting in Italy in June, 27-year-old Michela Cerruti became the first woman to win a senior International single-seater race since 2008, when Danica Patrick triumphed in the Indy Japan 300. Kumho has been the sole tire supplier to Auto GP since 2012 and, "in recognition of its role as an F1 feeder series (previous champions include current Lotus F1 Team driver Romain Grosjean), is this year providing tires very close in specification to those used in Grand Prix racing".

More to follow ...