Dunlop - Winning in a race that never ends
Dunlop prepare for a mammoth 200+ race season.
This month, the work of the Dunlop Motorsport team will be seen by hundreds of thousands of spectators as the high profile World Championship seasons for both car and motorcycle racing springs into action. These events are high profile, but just represent the pinnacle of Dunlop’s extensive motorsport footprint spanning a diverse mix of circuit and off-road competition.
Dunlop tyres are chosen by competitors in the World Endurance Championships for car and motorcycle, by leading teams in the MXGP motocross world championship and are used by every competitor in the Moto2 and Moto3 Grand Prix series.
With the car endurance calendar restarting with the Sebring 1000 miles in Florida, MXGP kicking off in Argentina and Moto2 and Moto3 in Qatar during March, even the first full racing month of the season shows the impressive scale and breadth of Dunlop’s international motorsport programme.
After March, various European and National Championships spring into life, such as the British Touring Car Championship, German VLN Endurance Series and the European Le Mans Series.
For Dunlop Motorsport Director, Ben Crawley, the focus is on building on the 2018 results: “Last year’s European Le Mans Series Championship was the 10th in a row won on Dunlop tyres and we also scored our 8th consecutive Le Mans 24h win in the LMP2 category. However, we always push forward and will be introducing new tyre developments this season to support our loyal customer teams”
On two-wheels, Dunlop has increased its investment in the World MXGP championship. The Husqvarna and Standing Construct KTM teams have chosen to switch tyre supplier for the 20-round motocross season. On the roads, many teams are expected to choose Dunlop after lap-record setting success in the 2018 Isle of Man TT.
Tony Duffy, Operations Manager for Dunlop Motorsport, explained how the team cope with increased demand from teams wanting race winning tyres: “Every weekend from early March to late November features a major race with competitors choosing Dunlop tyres. We meticulously plan our service operation to ensure the off-track support matches the on-track performance. We will send 40 trucks and over 90 staff to over 220 race events this year. It doesn’t stop in November. There are races outside of Europe and many test sessions where we will test our specifications for 2020. It’s the race that never ends”
In addition to the contemporary racing championships, Dunlop is also servicing over 100 different Historic races this year. Dunlop is one of the few tyre manufacturers that still manufacture the correct period tyres for vintage and classic racing and have just reintroduced ‘old’ sizes to cater for the growth in historic motorsport.
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