14/05/2008
IS THAT A V8 SUPERCAR TYRE IN YOUR RUBBER MAT?
During 2008 the teams in the V8 Supercar Championship will use around 7,000 tyres in competition and testing. Where do these tyres come from and where do they go when the teams are finished with them, well the Orrcon Insider went on a mission to find out.
All drivers and teams use a controlled specification of Dunlop tyre that is constructed at the Dunlop factory in Nogoya, Japan. This is the same factory where the tyres for the 125cc and 250cc World Motorcycle Championships are manufactured.
When the calendar for the V8 Supercar Championship is announced around September each year the Dunlop personnel in Australia, led by Dunlop's Operations Manager V8 Supercars Kevin Fitzsimons, begin to map out a plan for the factory.
Generally there is an eight-week gap between when a batch of tyres is ordered to when it is finished on the production line. The Dunlop factory will produce a run of between 1000 to 1800 tyres per month.
During the first production run, normally conducted in November, the tyres that will be used in pre-season testing and the opening three events will be manufactured. All of these tyres are manufactured in the same conditions and once enough tyres are made for a particular event they are all shipped to Australia together.
So that takes care of how they are made, but what about how they are allocated to each team?
Approximately ten days before each race meeting V8 Supercars Australia provide Dunlop with an official entry list that indicates the number of cars competing and the amount of tyres that will be required. In a three-sprint race round each car is allowed to use up to 16 tyres.
Dunlop personnel will arrive at the circuit to set up two days prior to the cars hitting the track.
If you are in the pit area the day prior to the race meeting you will see hundreds of tyres laid out on the ground. These tyres are all individually bar coded to enable Dunlop staff to provide a ‘sets’ report for the Touring Car Entrants Group of Australia (TEGA) officials who randomly allocate who gets what set number. By having the TEGA officials decide who gets what set of tyres it eliminates the theory of Dunlop providing special sets to its sponsored teams or drivers.
Each tyre is then hand stamped with the identification symbol for that event and the car number before being fitted onto rims by a member of the Dunlop crew. The teams then fill the tyres with nitrogen to their preferred pressure.
Once the cars hit the track Dunlop has two engineers based in pit lane, Kevin Fitzsimons and Noel Kelly. These two guys oversee each team’s tyre wear etc and are on hand to discuss any issues with the tyre technicians.
During the event Fitzsimons and Kelly scan radio communications from the majority of the teams so they can hear if anybody has a potential tyre issue. This allows the pair to check in with the team and offer timely advise where required.
Any tyres that have been damaged across the weekend or are no longer required by the team will be scanned into the ‘scrap’ program to take the tyre out of a team’s tyre bank. This ‘scrap’ program ensures the team’s limit of 120 dry (slick) tyres and 48 wet tyres per two-car team are adhered to. This also allows the Dunlop staff to locate any tyre within the system simply by entering a bar code into their system.
In general the longest distance teams will use a tyre is 250 kilometres, which is generally at the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide.
The majority of tyres used in racing are used at some point by a team in testing or practice at another round. The exception to this rule are the tyres used at the Bahrain and Perth rounds because the sand surrounding these circuits mix with the rubber when the tyre gets hot, the tyres used at these venues don’t provide consistent feedback to teams in testing.
Once the tyres are deemed unusable or have been placed in the ‘scrap’ program Dunlop has a company that deconstruct the tyres. The rubber from the tyres are recycled for use in various products, at the moment a lot of the rubber is being used for mats and children’s playground equipment. Much of the steel from the tyres is being recycled and shipped back to Japan ensuring the there isn’t a lot of waste theses days.
So the next time you see a rubber mat just think – it could be a V8 Supercar tyre you are walking on!
In other news………
FROSTY AND RICHO APPEARANCES AT FPR RACE CENTRE
Orrcon drivers Mark Winterbottom and Steve Richards will be making regular appearances at the FPR Race Centre to sign autographs for their fans.
They will be at the race centre tomorrow from 9:30am until 10:00am so if you are in the Campbellfield area drop in to see the guys.
The FPR Race Centre is located at 4/40 Glenbarry Road, Campbellfield.
Over the coming months the drivers will be appearing during the week following a round on the following days - Wednesday June 11, Wednesday July 9, Wednesday July 23 and Tuesday July 29.
WHERE TO NOW FOR WA?
With the current contract for Barbagallo Raceway to host the Western Australian round of the V8 Supercars due to expire in 2009 talk was rife about the future of the sport in the West last week.
Last Friday the WA Government committed to do all that is possible for the sport to remain in the state following the expiration of the current contract date.
The Government will appoint a consultant to investigate the feasibility of a new world class facility in Perth or the complete upgrade of the existing Barbagallo Raceway to an international standard as part of an over-arching motorsport precinct.
CENTRIX LEADS THE WAY IN TIPPING COMPETITION
After four rounds in the inaugural Orrcon V8 Supercar tipping competition the Centrix team leads the way on 1142 points. Two Dogs Racing was the round winner in Western Australia finishing four points ahead of Centrix for the round.
My team is in 30th position on 1086 points.
NEXT ROUND
June 7 – 9
Sandown International Raceway
Melbourne, Victoria
Is there a question you’ve always wanted to ask about V8 Supercars or something you’ve wanted to know? Drop the Insider an email at insider@orrconracing.com.au
Til next time - Keep it out of the sand trap!
