Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Grand-Am Spokesman Pat Murphy said today that there were no GT-class tire problems during the Rolex 24-hour car race at Daytona this weekend.

Roadracingworld.com called Murphy after several readers e-mailed that five Dunlop tires had failed in the first couple of hours of the race, which runs on the same road course as motorcycle races held there. Dunlop is the spec-tire sponsor in the GT class, and all entrants are required to use the same model Dunlop tires.

“Did you see the first two hours of the 24-hour?” asked reader and racer Bill St. John in one e-mail. “Five of the Dunlop spec-tire-equipped GT class cars had tires explode. Then it started raining.”

Murphy said that while Grand-Am GT-class racers have had tire problems in the past, those problems were caused by improper camber set-up on the involved cars. Once cars were set-up to camber specs recommended by Dunlop, the problems disappeared, Murphy said.

This year, Murphy said, there were several problems with wheels falling off cars after pit stops, which teams blamed on a new wheel nut system mandated by Grand-Am.

In related news, a Vreeke & Associates spokesperson said today that the advertising and public relations company was experiencing e-mail problems, which may explain why some media outlets received a recent Dunlop press release concerning last week’s motorcycle tire test at Daytona while other media outlets, including Roadracingworld.com, did not.

An e-mailed message from Vreeke & Associates Project Manager Michaela Harrison and the release in question follow:

Sorry for any inconvenience not receiving the press releases we have e-mailed. I am having e-mail troubles and was not aware of the problem until your phone call this morning. I am sending this from another computer to make sure it gets to you. If you need any thing else feel free to contact me.

Michaela Harrison
Projects Manager
Vreeke & Associates


Dunlop Completes Successful January Daytona Tire Test

Buffalo, NY: Dunlop Motorcycle Tires has completed a successful January tire test at Daytona International Speedway, with almost all Dunlop riders posting faster times than they achieved in December.

Dunlop Road Racing Manager Jim Allen said, “We set out to address some serious tire issues we encountered in our December test, and these January results certainly show that we’ve addressed those issues. It also appears that we didn’t have to compromise performance while developing solutions. Nothing is a sure bet at Daytona, but we’re quietly optimistic after this test.”

All six racers in attendance, Honda’s (Miguel Duhamel, Ben Bostrom and Jake Zemke), Kawasaki’s (Tommy Hayden and Roger Hayden) and Yamaha’s (Jason DiSalvo) were able to complete successful full race-distance tire trials. Team Honda’s Miguel Duhamel, Daytona’s winningest active rider, completed 103 laps on his CBR1000RR over the course of the two-day test, more than any other rider on hand.

“The tires were working really well in December, but unfortunately we had that one mishap,” Duhamel said. “Now Dunlop has come out with a tire that’s more bulletproof for Daytona, and that’s the tire I prefer the most. These tires were good for lap times about a full second faster. They ran cooler and my lap times were more consistent for the whole 18 laps that I ran on them. I think the tires will be even better when we come back here in March.”

Jake Zemke, who rides the new CBR1000RR Honda Superbike under the Erion Racing banner, offered similar observations. “Dunlop’s response in providing new tires has been very impressive. These guys definitely had their work cut out for them after the December test and they definitely got the job done. We all put in long runs and nobody had any problems, so I feel they really have a good handle on what’s going on. I went 1:48.2 in December, and I turned 1:47.59 this time. So I went a little bit quicker. I turned the fastest lap I’ve ever turned here at Daytona, and the bike felt pretty good on that lap. And there’s definitely more in there—for sure.”

After a strong showing on his factory Honda CBR1000RR Superbike, Ben Bostrom summed things up by saying, “This was the biggest leap forward in tires ever here at Daytona.”

Having completed testing with his ZX-10 1000cc Superstock machine, Team Kawasaki’s Roger Hayden said, “I’m pretty excited with the way Dunlop came through and got on top of the tire setup for the Superstock class. I think they’re doing a great job and they’re going about it the right way. I felt like I was struggling with grip, but I went 1.3 seconds quicker this time than I did in December. It’s weird the way that works, but it’s making me learn more about how to set up the bike. You’re not going to be able to put a softer tire on every time you’re at a race, so you just have to learn how to run with a harder tire. I have confidence in Dunlop. They’ve shown a lot of support.”

Factory Yamaha rider Jason DiSalvo echoed that thought, saying, “These tests gave me a lot more confidence here at Daytona.”

With all these riders and more, Dunlop will turn out in full force at Daytona in March, the season kick-off for the 2004 AMA road racing season. Dunlop has won the past eleven consecutive Daytona 200 Superbike races, and the company has its sights set on completing the even dozen in 2004.