Goodyear, FIA and ETRA join forces towards sustainable racing

Ahead of the 2022 Goodyear FIA European Truck Racing Championship (ETRC) season, Goodyear, the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) and European Truck Racing Association (ETRA) are all focusing on driving sustainable racing actions.  

Manuel Vidal, FIA Truck Racing Commission President: "FIA’s approach is to have motorsport acting as a laboratory for sustainable mobility. In line with this, a couple of years ago the FIA Truck Racing Commission developed a sustainability roadmap that is now being implemented. The first milestone, the introduction of 100% renewable HVO biodiesel to the FIA European Truck Racing Championship, was reached last year. Today, we are delighted to welcome Goodyear joining our journey. The extreme constraints of truck racing mean that tyres are one of the key aspects of this discipline and their relevance to the road haulage industry proves that motorsport can serve a greater purpose.”

These efforts are brought together by the FIA under three key pillars: climate action, technology and innovation, and sustainable practices. After becoming carbon neutral in 2021, one of the major milestones within FIA’s environmental strategy is to reach net-zero carbon emissions in 2030.

Goodyear FIA European Truck Racing Championship organiser ETRA has worked with its shareholder, the ADAC Mittelrhein and FIA to develop and implement plans to reduce its carbon footprint and promote green technologies. The sustainability strategic pillar is at the heart of the truck racing championship and all are committed to support meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement.

Georg Fuchs, ETRA Managing Director: “In 2021, FIA ETRC became the first FIA-regulated championship to switch to 100 percent sustainable fuel, which supports the championship’s goal to become a leading platform for sustainable technologies in the road haulage industry. Goodyear and ETRA have been closely working together for a long time in driving results for the teams. We look forward to further intensify our efforts to contribute to the circular economy and the move towards sustainable transportation by extending the truck racing life beyond the races.”   

Maciej Szymanski, Marketing Director Commercial Europe, Goodyear: “We’re excited to work with the FIA and ETRA in taking the Goodyear FIA European Truck Racing Championship to the next level of sustainability this year. Therefore, we are now introducing Goodyear’s advanced retreading program within the Goodyear FIA ETRC. Testing in extreme racing conditions has contributed to the development of Goodyear’s advanced and robust carcass technology. Moving forward, we will further extend the service live of racing casings in hi-quality and select retreading programs for on-road applications. This is a good practice of Goodyear’s circular economic model without compromising on quality or performance. We look forward to increasingly link our sustainability efforts in the championship to how we support commercial vehicle fleets across the region.

For many years, Goodyear’s established retreading program for truck tyres is already implemented by leading European transportation companies supporting them to cut overall tyre bills by 10%¹ and extend tyre life by an additional 150%¹. As brand-new title sponsor and long-term exclusive tyre supplier, Goodyear is highly committed to leverage the FIA ETRC as a testing and innovation platform to continue paving the way for the commercial vehicle sector towards efficient circular economy practices and lowering emissions.

Sustainable racing and on-road innovation

The data retrieved in extreme racing conditions has already contributed to Goodyear setting the standards on durable and versatile low emission and rolling resistance tyres. As an example, the entire FUELMAX ENDURANCE range has an EU tyre B label for fuel efficiency, bringing the fuel efficiency known from highway operations to state roads.  

During demanding racing conditions, heat-generation and deformation are critical parameters. Equally in on road applications, lowering the heat generation in the tyre is key to increase fuel efficiency and decrease emissions. While limiting deformation will further contribute to extending the tyre service life with the learnings incorporated Goodyear’s innovative carcass technology. 

End to end carbon footprint reduction 

 

Goodyear Truck Racing tyres are produced by using renewable electricity sources like hydro, wind, solar or geothermic biomass power. On a wider scale, Goodyear has adopted a number of company-wide initiatives both globally and specific to the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) region. Its overriding target is to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. All Goodyear plants across Europe and Turkey already use 100 percent renewable energy, and this milestone will be reached by all facilities across the total EMEA region by the end of 2022. The company adopted a zero waste to landfill policy in 2006.

On the product side, Goodyear aims to develop a 100 percent sustainable material tire by 2030, and has already released a demonstration model using 70 percent sustainable material.

On the operations side, three-quarters of fleets identified carbon footprint reduction as an important issue in last year’s Goodyear Sustainable Reality Survey. Four out of five surveyed large fleets stated they will have sustainability KPIs in place by autumn this year. It is therefore clear that environmental concerns are key to the future of the industry.

As the official tyre supplier and title sponsor of the European truck racing series, Goodyear has an important role to play in supporting the championship’s extensive efforts to improve even further on the championship’s environmental credentials. The new Goodyear FIA ETRC will continue to be an important proving ground for taking the lead in the development of sustainable on road mobility solutions.

1 Based on internal analysis, comparing the use of a new Goodyear tyre versus a new Goodyear tyre that is regrooved, retreaded and regrooved a second time.

2 Based on internal data