From a press release issued by Dunlop’s PR agency, 10 days after the Daytona 200:

Dunlop Dominates Daytona


Buffalo, NY: Dunlop, Official Tire of Daytona 200 Week, dominated the 2003 edition of the prestigious Daytona International Speedway event. Dunlop-equipped motorcycles won all of the major AMA races held at the World Center of Racing, on the dirt and the pavement.

“Dunlop has a long history of success at Daytona,” said Mike Buckley, Vice President, Motorcycle Tires. “We have been very fortunate to be associated with some of the best teams and riders in the history of this great event.”

Two-time defending Supercross champion Ricky Carmichael is defending his title valiantly. On a muddy one-line track, Carmichael carved through ruts and lappers to win his fourth consecutive Daytona Supercross. The victory marked his seventh since the series began in January and Carmichael is well on his way to a third Supercross championship in 2003. So devastating was Carmichael’s victory at Daytona that he lapped all the way up to third place. While competing tire manufacturers showed up with highly specialized tires for Daytona, Carmichael competed on a standard D773 tire.

Multi-time 250 Grand Prix champion Rich Oliver started the AMA road racing season off just the way he likes it: on the podium. Oliver turned in 18 laps of perfection when he took yet another 250 Grand Prix race win on Dunlop tires. For Dunlop, Oliver’s victory marks 23 wins out of the last 25 250 GP races at Daytona.

In Supersport action Dunlop swept the podium with Kurtis Roberts, Jamie Hacking and Miguel Duhamel all taking their Dunlop D208GP-shod 600 machines to a nail-biting finish. Roberts’ 600 win is Dunlop’s 15th in 18 AMA Supersport races at Daytona. Tommy Hayden followed suit, winning the Superstock race on Dunlops aboard his factory Kawasaki 636 to post Dunlop’s 11th 750-class win at the Speedway.

Racing in the rain-delayed Daytona 200 was also an all-Dunlop affair. Dunlop-sponsored factory Honda road racers Duhamel, Ben Bostrom and Roberts finished the 200-miler with only 0.155 second separating first and third. The win marked Duhamel’s fourth Daytona 200 win: 1991, 1996, 1999 and again in 2003. With the 2003 Daytona 200 victory, Dunlop has won an amazing 13 of the last 16 Superbike races at Daytona.

“We’re very proud of our longstanding relationship with Daytona International Speedway, and our unrivaled racing record at this, the World Center of Racing,” said Goodyear Dunlop Tires North America, Ltd., Vice Chairman and President Jim Galoppo. “Dunlop has become synonymous with motorcycle racing in America, and our commitment to support racers at all levels, from amateur to professional, has never been stronger.”

Dunlop Motorcycle Tires have won more AMA National championships in virtually every category of racing than any other tire manufacturer, including all 16 AMA 600 Supersport titles, and the last 13 AMA Superbike championships in a row. In AMA motocross and Supercross competition, Dunlop has long been a dominant force, winning 67 national championships in the past 23 years.

For more information on Dunlop tires, go to www.dunlopmotorcycle.com