Dunlop boosts GP effort

Tyre firm Dunlop has announced a major investment in new technology at the Fort Dunlop plant in Birmingham, to deliver MotoGP successes.

The money covers manufacturing technology, including advanced tyre building machinery for the bespoke rubber needed for MotoGP, with a new machine to contruct the body of tyres ina new way and to bring flexibility to the design and production process by applying different elements and components to different areas of the tyre.

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Track surfaces are mapped using satellite navigation, from which the findings are fed into the computer, so the machine can build tyres accordingly, for example to match the number of left and right handed corners on each lap. In 2006 Dunlop race tyres were used by the Tech 3 team of Carols Checa and James Ellison, with Checa leading the challenge for improvement. Meanwhile Dunlop also supplied tyres to the winners of the British, German, French and American Superbike championships, the World Enduracen champions, and much of the 125cc and 250cc grid. For 2007, the Tech 3 team has signed Makoto Tamada.