The ADAC Nürburgring 24-hour race is the biggest and toughest race in the world. The long-distance event of the year is held on the Pentecost weekend (May 17 to 20) on the 25 kilometre combination of the Grand Prix circuit and the famous Nordschleife. Throughout the 180 competing teams, numerous front-running contenders rely on Dunlop racing tires.
“After last year’s pole position was achieved on Dunlop (in the new format of the top 40 qualifying), we are aiming to repeat our 2010 overall victory,” says Alexander Kuehn, Manager, Dunlop Motorsport Germany. “In 2012, our development partners ROWE RACING held the lead for a long time before a technical issue. In recent months, we have been able to introduce further successful development steps into our tires that will have a positive impact on the performance of our partner teams. “
In 2012, Dunlop was the tire manufacturer with the most class wins in the race.
All AMG Gullwings to wear the distinctive Flying D with pride.
In the strongest class SP9 (for GT3 vehicles) each of the seven Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 are relying on Dunlop for this race. Black Falcon have entered three cars, while Dunlop development partners ROWE RACING have four SLS AMG GT3 entries. One of the ROWE cars will be particularly eye-catching. The Dunlop Art Car by ROWE RACING has a special “125 Years Dunlop” design, and carries the start number 125.
It is not the only distinctive design in the field. The BMW Z4 GT3 from Walkenhorst Motorsport has a special Dunlop design, selected by employees of car dealerships.
Adding more diversity to the Dunlop front-runners are the GT Corse team Ferrari 458 and the Subaru works team with the Dunlop-shod Subaru GVB that aims to defend the title in the class SP3T.
The tire has to tackle the ultimate challenge in the Green Hell
The Nürburgring Nordschleife is unique: 33 left turns, 40 right turns and long high speed straights, dips and compressions. The drivers christen it the Green Hell, as it is the hardest, most challenging and longest race track in the world – not least because of the many different types of asphalt over the long lap.
More than 4,000 tires for the 24-hour race
Dunlop provides a service for the 24h Nürburgring professional teams as well as for the ambitious privateers. “Our tire range is as diverse as the range of cars in the race,” says Alexander Kühn. “We stock over 4,000 tires in the ‘Dunlop Village’ in the paddock so that we can provide our Dunlop teams with a wide range of different tires and tire specifications.”
The logistical effort is enormous. A total of 14 trucks are in use for the transport. In addition to participants in the 24h-race, Dunlop is also the partner of the Renault Clio Cup and the Trophy from MINI.
Source : Dunop