ERJ Round-up: Racing Rubber

ERJ staff report (TP)

Weekly round-up from the world of racing – reports on the global racing tire market ... Cooper Tire ... Pirelli

The global racing tire market will grow at a CAGR of 8.6 percent over the period 2013-2018 according to Research and Markets in its "Global Racing Tire Market 2014-2018" report. The firm's research also presents the vendor landscape and a corresponding detailed analysis of the top five vendors in the market.

Ex-Formula One star and BBC F1 commentator, David Coulthard, attended the third round of the 2014 FIA World Rallycross Championship, as an ambassador for Cooper Tire – leaving Norway last month with a "new-found appreciation for the sport". Whilst in Hell, near Trondheim, 13 time Grand Prix winner Coulthard also managed to catch up with another familiar face from the Formula One world. Jacques Villeneuve is a competitor in the inaugural World Rallycross series with Albatec Racing. Cooper Tire has a three-year deal as sole tire supplier to the FIA World Rallycross Championship until the end of 2016.

Nico Rosberg extended his Formula One championship lead by winning the German Grand Prix, using a two-stop strategy with one stint on Pirelli's P Zero Red supersoft followed by two stints on the P Zero Yellow soft tire. It was the first time that Rosberg had ever finished on the podium at the German GP. The frontrunners on the grid all started on the supersoft tire, which was around a second per lap faster than the soft tire.
More to follow ...