Bridgestone Motorsport’s Turkish Grand Prix Report

Vodafone McLaren Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton won a thrilling and dramatic Turkish Grand Prix where Bridgestone’s Potenza tyres took on the challenge of Turn Eight and enabled a wheel to wheel dice for the entirety of the 58 lap race in searing hot temperatures at Istanbul.
Hamilton led team-mate Jenson Button across the line with pole-sitter and long time race leader Mark Webber finishing third after an additional pit stop following contact with his team-mate Sebastian Vettel.
Hiroshi Yasukawa – Director of Bridgestone Motorsport, says
“This was a very exciting race so congratulations to Vodafone McLaren Mercedes and Red Bull for such good performance. The Istanbul Park circuit enables fantastic racing, with difficult corners and interesting gradient. We have been able to prove the strong performance of our tyres in front of a world audience and I think anyone who watched the race will agree about the excitement we saw. Many Bridgestone guests from Turkey and even from South Africa were part of this tremendous spectacle and we are very happy for Bridgestone customers and dealers to have enjoyed this.”

Hirohide Hamashima – Bridgestone Director of Motorsport Tyre Development, says
“Today we saw a real Turkish delight in Istanbul. The pace at the front was exceptionally close on both compounds of Bridgestone Potenza and this provided exciting racing. Our tyres performed well on one of the toughest corners in motorsport, despite the forces they are put under by this season’s ever improving aerodynamics and heavier cars. Our primary concern is always safety and we are proud to have provided safe tyres for this race. We also supply tyres which allow good usage by many competitors. The race’s fastest lap set by Petrov’s Renault on the soft compound on the penultimate lap, and the Red Bulls and McLarens were so very close all race. This will be one of Bridgestone’s many Grands Prix which I will remember for a long time.”
Stats of the Day

Bridgestone Potenza Driver Tyre Strategies
Rd.7 – Turkish Grand Prix

In 2010, the tyre regulations stipulate that the two dry tyre specifications must be visibly distinguishable from each other. At the Turkish Grand Prix, the soft (option) compound Bridgestone Potenza tyres were marked with green bands on the sidewalls. The wet weather tyres were also marked with a green line in a central groove.

www.bridgestonemotorsport.com

UN MALLORQUÍN ENTRE LOS MEJORES DEL MUNDO

DSC_7404

Este fin de semana se disputado el Rally de Portugal, prueba puntuable para el Campeonato del Mundo, donde ha participado el piloto mallorquín Toni Dezcallar dentro del apartado de coches clásicos.
Compartiendo parrilla con el mítico Juha Kankkunen, el equipo Balear formado por Toni Dezcallar y Tomeu Fluxá a los mandos de un Mitsubishi Lancer Turbo, han sorprendido por su gran resultado, quinto clasificado de la general y primero de clase.
Corriendo sobre rocas y arena, el Mitsubishi Lancer ha sufrido la dureza de uno de los rallyes más duros del Campeonato del Mundo, una prueba de máximo nivel que el equipo Mallorquín ha afrontado con el objetivo de aprender y descubrir donde está el límite para afrontar otras pruebas internacionales.
Tras algunos problemas mecánicos, el equipo Dezcallar-Fluxá ha mejorado sus resultados en cada especial y haciendo frente a grandes pilotos como Jesús Ferreiro ha conseguido hacerse un hueco entre los mejores finalizando el Rally de Portugal en quinta posición.
Dezallar comentaba al final de la jornada de hoy:
"Estamos muy contentos con el resultado, el coche se ha comportado muy bien y Tomeu me ha dado la confianza necesaria para enfrentarme a una prueba de este nivel. Estamos ilusionados con participar en el Campeonato de Europa la próxima temporada y esta prueba ha sido muy importante para poder poner en marcha el proyecto 2011."

DSC_7098

Toni Dezcallar
Piloto Rally Clásico
Reina Constanza, 19 esquina Jeroni Pou        07006 Palma de Mallorca
Tel. 0034 971 291 321          Mov. 0034 616 99 26 87

Bridgestone Motorsport’s GP2 Series Report Istanbul

Pastor Maldonado (Rapax) and Dani Clos (Racing Engineering) both took race wins in Istanbul on Bridgestone’s medium specification dry tyre.
Due to the limited use of this venue during the year, the track was extremely green at the start of the weekend and gradually improved with every session run. Such track evolution affects tyre performance with more sliding and low grip shown in the early sessions meaning that the tyres don’t work as well as they do
when the circuit rubbers-in.
Saturday’s 32 lap feature race was dominated by Maldonado who started well and got ahead of pole sitter Davide Valsecchi (iSport International) by the first corner, crossing the finish line 19.5 seconds clear of the Italian driver. Sam Bird claimed the third step of the podium for ART Grand Prix, his first podium of the series. Maldonado set the quickest time on lap 15 having pitted and changed rear tyres four laps earlier.
Sunday’s 23 lap sprint race was led from start to finish by Clos, his maiden win in the GP2 Series. Luiz Razia (Rapax) finished second having started from fourth, and Giedo van der Garde (Barwa Addax) took third after lining up fifth on the grid. Clos was awarded the point for fastest lap.
Maldonado is now at the top of the drivers’ championship standings with 27 points, followed by Clos on 23 and Razia on 20. Rapax extends their lead in the teams’ championship with 47 points, Barwa Addax Team remaining in second place now on 34. Racing Engineering is in third position with 25 points. The next venue for the GP2 Series will be Valencia where Bridgestone’s soft compound dry tyre has been allocated for the fourth round, taking place on 25-27 June.

2010 GP2 Series. Round 3. 
Round 3 Istanbul Park, Istanbul Turkey.30th May. 
Sunday Race.
Dani Clos (ESP, Racing Engineering) celebrates his victory on the podium. 
Photo: Glenn Dunbar/GP2 Media Service.
Ref: _G7C4905.jpg

Quote from Hirohide Hamashima – Director of Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development
“Saturday’s race was very entertaining with many overtaking manoeuvres. Pastor Maldonado started well from second on the grid and he pushed the tyres very hard, however he managed them well to finish with such a lead. Some drivers experienced blistering on the front rights due to the severe nature of the circuit and the long triple apex turn eight. However, we do not believe that lap times were dramatically effected because of this, and degradation was reasonable. On Saturday the track conditions were not so improved, there being less grip than expected. On Sunday the tyres showed a similar appearance to race one and were consistent, the track improving only slightly. Congratulations to both race winners for applying their previous knowledge of racing in GP2 here at Istanbul Park.”

www.bridgestonemotorsport.com