AQUAPLANING and Bald Tyres

Yokohama Racing Tyres: DAY OUT AT SNETTERTON 300 CIRCUIT.

Yokohama Racing Tyres

Yokohama Racing Tyres
Yokohama Racing Tyres

Yokohama Racing Tyres

To be truthful, I am not a mad follower of motor racing ! It probably has something to do with the fact that in the whole of West Yorkshire, we do not have a race circuit. The nearest one is Croft in North Yorkshire, and I have visited this track a few times in the recent past.

Of course, I live in North Yorkshire, and I have visited this track a few times in the recent past. So to see various motor racing events. The last one was a British BMW championship meeting through Kumho tyres.

It came to me with great pleasure ! So when I was invited to a race meeting in Snetterton, Norfolk, UK,. The race meeting was a good four-hour drive from my beloved Yorkshire. But never the less, I decided to do the round trip in the day and set off at 5.30 in the morning. The day was going to be red hot ! You could just tell, and I was looking forward to watching the cars perform. Especially on the Yokohama Racing Tyres that we sell in Halifax to our customers.

I arrived early because the roads were quiet due to the fact that it was Sunday morning

I met the Yokohama Racing Tyres UK guy, Paul Cox. Paul was to be my guide ! Shyly, as I have said, I know little about the motorsport circuit. Although I love the atmosphere that these events can generate,. I took my camera to take some shots of the cars. Especially with the Yokohama racing tyres fitted. This is always a sign of a good tyre company, and the research and development that these companies gain is invaluable when it comes to developing tyres for the regular cars that we use in our daily lives.

Paul turned out to be a very knowledgeable guide, having competed in motorsport racing himself for a good many years and now helping to coach his son to become a race car driver at the age of seventeen. The racing today was to be the British F3 and GT championships, and when I arrived, it was a lovely sunny day and the crowds were already building up.

British F3 has always been one of the proving grounds for future F1 drivers, including 2009 World Championship winner Jason Button. Some of the drivers competing on that day are expected to become future F1 stars, including Kevin Magnussen and Daniel Riciardo, so watch out for those names.

The weekends of racing also included the BRDC Formula 4 Championships: Yokohama Racing Tyres

Including up-and-coming stars on the show, I could not wait.  These cars run on 2-liter Ford Duratec engines and develop 175 braking horsepower (BHP). They are supplied with a Cosworth engine management system and are operated with a 6-speed Sadev transmission system that works from a paddle shift. Yokohama Racing Tyres are the suppliers of wet and slick compound tyres, which was the main purpose of my visit.

Paul was really enthusiastic about showing me around. So, I was very impressed with the politeness of the drivers. Including the guys in the pits ! Allowing me to take pictures at will. He also knew many of the drivers. Introducing me to a couple of them in between their busy schedules. One of the drivers was Jon Minshaw the owner of the famous Demon Tweeks motor parts store. Consequently, taking time out between changing driver’s midway through a race.

Yokohama tyres fitting area was most impressive. Yokohama Racing Tyres

Paul also introduced me to the YOKOHAMA TYRES UK tyre fitting team fully equipped with fitting machines and wheel balance’s all ready for the action, in fact when we were there they had already fitted in excess of  a hundred slick tyres due to the hot sunny weather the slick tyres give a better grip, than tyres with a tread on them.

One of the other drivers that I saw was Sir Chris How, who has only recently changed from cycling to the British GT Championships and is said to be a “natural” at motorsport, making 2014 his debut year in the Nissan Academy Team known as RJN. Also in his year of racing was Rick Parfett Jr., son of his famous namesake from the band Status Quo, whom I incidentally saw live at Leeds First direct Arena, last December with my wife Michelle. Rick the elder often watches his son race but was not there on this day.

After watching a great day of racing and talking to many of the pit guys, I thanked Paul for a great day out and headed for my long drive back to Yorkshire, looking forward to my next race meeting later this year.

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