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Yokohama ADVAN Launches New Project |
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Monday, 30 April 2007 |
Drivers in the new International Formula Master Series have given Yokohama ADVAN great reviews after the teams’ official shakedown at Monza this week.
The tyre manufacturer will be the official supplier for the brand new Series, which aims to combine great racing, famous, international venues, TV coverage and affordability.
“We have been supplying tyres for the F3 Macau GP for 25 years and German F3 for 2007 so we have a good base to start from,” said Yokohama Europe Marketing Manager Kazuyoshi Sekiguchi, who also oversees ADVAN’s involvement in the FIA World Touring Car Championship. “This formula, however, has a new size of tyre which we never made before and a new compound, which is a bit softer than the F3.
“The tyre sizes are 230/560R13 for the front and 280/580R13 for the
rear which are bigger than F3 tyres and have more capacity to bring out
the performance of the softer compound.
“We have had a lot of good feedback from the drivers at the Monza
shakedown this Thursday and Friday, especially for the consistency. In
testing at Vallelunga earlier this year we did 72 laps on the 4km
circuit and from the beginning to the end there was only one-second’s
difference in lap times. That is a very high standard.”
IFM driver, Rahel Frey, was suitably impressed after testing the rubber
at Monza and finishing third in the times. “These were quite short runs
but the tyres warmed up as usual and after that they were amazingly
constant,” said the Jenzer Motorsport driver. “By the fourth lap they
got to their optimum and they stayed the same for lap after lap after
lap. There was no noticeable drop off.”
ADVAN also received praise from the Series founder, N.Technology, which
is pleased with the way the tyres compliment the Formula S2000 race
car. “The car uses very well the tyres because the setting of the car
is very, very balanced,” said N.Technology’s Chief Executive Officer,
Andrea Müller. “For sure, both tyres and chassis and suspension work
together in the correct way to give consistency for the endurance.”
IFM will make its racing debut alongside the WTCC in Valencia, Spain on
19 May. It will then follow the championship to all its subsequent
European meetings.
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