Life has been pretty crazy since I got confirmation that my crew and I were to become part of Team Hankook before Prodrift Round 2, because as well as all the usual preparations which precede a competitive event (with the added complication of a car which is still very new), we also had to get the car painted, new graphics designed and applied, photo shoots to get to (with paint still drying on spoilers!), and of course the official launch. I have to say it’s all been well worth it though, the car looks so good, I can barely believe it’s mine, let alone that I’m going to be rubbing walls sideways at 70mph in it! It really is a credit to all involved, and I just hope that I can repay everyone for their hard work with some great driving in the coming seasons.

The fact that I already knew most of the guys from the team made the whole process of settling in to a new team and car really easy, and I’d like to thank all at Hankook Ireland for making us feel so welcome and for all their help in the last few weeks.

Having lost my Prodrift Pro licence last year due to injury and taking a building/testing year for the MCNSport RX7 FC, we headed to Prodrift Round 2 at the specially constructed Punchestown track to compete in the semi pro class Saturday, after a taking a podium in the same class at Round 1 in Ennis and going on to qualify for the Pro class. The same result again would result in me regaining my Pro license, however, with the great depth of talent in Irish drifting, that’s easier said than done!

Having made some changes to anti-roll bars and rear suspension for Round 2, I basically had to re-learn how to drive the RX7 in morning practice. Once I was comfortable though it felt better than it had in Round 1, with direction changes being a much calmer affair than the snappy transitions in Ennis. We had a problem with the fuel filter clogging up and a subsequent loss of fuel pressure, but taking out the 25 litre aluminium tank and rinsing it out thankfully cured the problem.

The first thing which struck me once I was comfortable with the handling was the performance of the Hankook K110 V12 Evo tyres. In my six years of drifting, I genuinely have never been happier with a tyre. They offer amazing traction, accelerating the RX7 forward so hard that I found it hard to follow other cars in practice, so much so that I actually had to dial some grip OUT of the chassis in preparation for my chase runs in the twin battles! The grip was excellent, but it was the feedback through the tyres which impressed me most. Compared to any other tyre I have used in the past, the communication from the tyre made the car feel very sure-footed, allowing me to have confidence in where the limits of grip were, and therefore push harder. I can’t wait to try these tyres on some of the other tracks in the championship calendar such as Mondello Park.

After practice it was time for qualifying, and a change of rear tyre from 245/40/18 to 265/35/18 to lay down a fast run. In Prodrift, we run a qualifying system akin to that in Formula D in America: Just two qualifying laps with your best one counting, and cars are gridded in championship position. Drifting is a sport where you and your car are pretty much on a knife edge all the time, so just two qualifying laps means that you have to be on the ball. And on the first one, I did every drifter’s worst nightmare, I spun! The extra grip from the 265s caught me out, and on the first transition, as the tyres gripped on the left and the suspension loaded up, I wasn’t ready for the extra force and had a half spin and a score of zero. No pressure for the 2^nd lap, then! We dialled some more grip out, kept cool and put in a conservative lap which got us 8^th place out of about 70 entrants.

And so it was on to twin battle time in the Top 32, and our qualifying positions meant that I was to do battle with my good friend Kieran Stack. Now the fact that Kieran and I had helped each other to prepare our cars in the off season just meant that I wanted to beat him even more than usual! After our warm up lap, in the first battle I was the lead car, and the combination of the RX7 chassis and V12 Evo tyres meant that I opened up a large gap and looked good to take the battle, assuming I made no mistakes. It wasn’t to be, though, as while I was driving around slowly near the start line to cool the rotary engine in the high ambient temperatures, it momentarily lost ignition. I thought it odd, but made my way to the start line. I called a five minute rule and our mechanics scrambled to fix the problem, believing it to be the fuel issue again, but there was no lack of pressure and the problem appeared to be electrical, so that was it, we were out. We since traced the problem to a faulty ECU at MCNSport and the car is healthy again. I was disappointed, but that’s motorsport sometimes. It was only the RX7’s fourth competitive event, so some teething problems are still to be expected.

For Sunday’s Pro competition we had the luxury of taking it nice and easy, parking the car at the Hankook stand and meeting and chatting to people about the RX7, as well as doing some passenger rides in the Prodrift Academy fleet cars. I have to say that I was humbled by all the support and comments from people about the car, and every time you looked somebody seemed to be taking a photo of it. It seems to be really after striking a chord in the drift community, with support from all over the world on the various blogs and social media sites such as facebook and instagram.

We’re now busy preparing for some drifting on the streets of Dublin city centre, which should be just a little bit fun!!!

I’d like to thank Hankook Tyres, MCNSport, my crew, and all our other sponsors for all their hard work and help recently in making the RX7 what it is. Until next time…

Hankook Tyres Ireland have today announced their title sponsorship of the 2012 Down Rally. Organised by the Rathfriland Motor Club, on Saturday 7th of July the 2012 Down Rally will take place for the first time on closed roads.

Eight stages comprising of 70 competitive miles will test a large entry of competitors on what is just one of three closed road events included in the 2012 calendar for the Carryduff Forklift MSA NI Rally Championship. The event will also act as a round of the Fiesta Sport Trophy Ireland.

Commenting on the announcement, Hankook Ireland managing director said “Hankook Ireland is delighted to be associated with the Rathfriland Motor Club as title sponsor of the Down Rally. We are very pleased for Andy Gilmore and the Club that they have been granted a license to run their Rally as a closed road event this year.”

Rathfriland Motor Club’s Andy Gilmore, who is Clerk of the Course for the rally commented:

“We are delighted to welcome Hankook on board for this year’s rally. Along with Niall Murray, Hankook have put a huge amount of effort and support into rallying and all types of Motorsport over the past number of years, not just in northern Ireland, but throughout Europe. It is an honor for us to have Hankook as our title sponsor, we look forward to working together for the benefit of the brand and the rally”.

Based in Castlewellan, rally fans can look forward to central service area and ceremonial start & finishes in the heart of the town. The surrounding 8 competitive tarmac stages will test Irelands premier Rally Teams on what promises to be one of the most exciting events of the 2012 Championship.

For further information on the 2012 Down Rally log onto Rathfriland Motor Club or www.hankook.ie.

Driving the MCN Sport prepared Mazda RX7 FC, Fitzgerald will join new team mate & Cork neighbour Alan Lenihan beneath the Hankook canopy from the second championship event at the famous Kildare venue.

Battling for a place amongst the Pro Class, Fitzgerald will be hoping that he can repeat his performance from the season opener in Ennis where he ended Saturday on the Semi Pro podium and progressed into the all important Pro Class battles.

Commenting on the announcement Mike Fitz explained how he is looking forward to joining Ireland’s most accomplished drifting team.

“The day I went to see my first ever drift event in Ireland, the cars which impressed me most were Team Hankook cars. Since then, I have watched the team maintain a strong presence in the sport and admired their professionalism. Now in 2012 I’m absolutely thrilled to be able to say that I’m a Team Hankook driver, and I’m confident that the combination of the MCN Sport RX-7 FC and the Hankook K110 V12 Evo tyres, will be a force to be reckoned with”.

Hankook Ireland Managing Director Niall Murray also expressed how he is looking forward to Mike joining the team:

“We have always admired Mike and his drift team, not just on track but also as an ambassador amongst the whole Irish tuning community. His popularity and professionalism have been instrumental in his addition to the team and we look forward to working closely with him during 2012 both on and off the track”.

Fitzgerald and the MCN Sport team will work closely with the Hankook technicians to extract the maximum performance from his new tyres, the ultra high performance Hankook K110 V12 Evo.  The typically abrasive surface of Punchestown will test the team on their Hankook debut  and hankook.ie will be there along the way to ensure fans are kept up to date throughout the competition.

To keep up to date on all of the action and for further event information, fans can log onto www.hankook.ie and www.facebook.com/hankook.ie.

Current Valvoline National Forest Rally Champions Owen Murphy and James O Brien recently scored a superb win in the Hankook Mitsubishi Evo 9 on the latest round of the Valvoline National Forest Championship based in Mallow Co Cork. The six stage rally was hosted by Cork Motor Club and a compact route included three stages (repeated) at Bweeng, Mount Hilary and Peter’s Hill.

Owen was fired up for this event before the start, Owens Motor Club CMC host this event so he wanted to win it & add his name to the Jim Walsh Cup. Owen said before the start second 3 times on this event beaten by the 200^th of a second once “I think this is my day”.

On the first stage Owen said he needed controlled speed, in fact Owen thought the engine was down on power he was second on this stage, 3 tenths of a second behind Colin Britton , Pat O Connell was just 6 tenths of a second behind the battle was on.

Owens idea that his car was a little down on power however was wrong when he posted a time 5.7 seconds quicker than Pat O Connell on stage two, Owen said things seem to be going well now that was a good stage for us I think I was a bit rusty on stage 1 .

Murphy was 1.2 seconds quicker than Britton on stage 3 and now had a 7 second lead Pat O Connell was hanging on in third a mere 2.3seconds adrift. Owen said its half time we are ahead but it’s a small lead but we are in the lead. The car is good and the Hankook tyres were great in there.

On stage 4 Owen thought he had a puncture and lost a little time, however he did get a puncture for the last mile or so of stage 5 there was no time to think about it so he drove as hard as he could and posted another fastest time 1 second up on Pat O Connell and 5 up on Colin Britton.

So the last stage beckoned Owen knew he had to hold it all together he had a 6.6 second lead over Pat o Connell who was a further 2.2 seconds up on Colin Britton. Owen felt confident but on edge he did not want to be second again now was the time and all was going well till on the approach to a chicane the layout was slightly different to the first time

Owen hit the bale one mighty flake but kept the booth to the floor there was a fine dent to show he was trying hard and Co driver James O Brien described it as a bad bale soggy and wet. Owen and James had done enough to claim a famous victory by 6.3 seconds over Colin Britton and a further second behind was Pat O Connell.

Owen Murphy was over joyed at the finish finally he had won this rally the one he dreamed of winning for years  the one he was second on 3 times. Owen said what a day and what a battle with Pat and Colin great competitors we pushed really hard all day.

Thanks to James who was once again spot on with the notes, thanks to TTeC Rally Prep for a great car and I mean a great car, thanks to my sponsors in particular Hankook we tested their tyres to the limits and beyond today and they performed brilliantly. Thanks to my service crew, my parents, Ciara and everyone who helped us on the day.

Photo Credits, Ger Leahy

This was Gary Paffett’s weekend. After his first place in qualifying on Saturday, the Brit went on to win the race at his home track of Brands Hatch on Sunday in front of an enthusiastic crowd. With this dominant lights-to-flag victory at the tradition-steeped circuit in the south of Great Britain, the Mercedes-Benz driver extended his margin in the drivers’ standings to 25 points from Bruno Spengler.

The BMW driver, who had started from third place, overtook Christian Vietoris (Mercedes-Benz) in front of him right away after the start and looked set for a safe second place. However, just before the finish, Spengler significantly slowed down due to a broken front splitter. He was still able to bring his slight margin over Mike Rockenfeller home.

The Audi driver, who had set a fantastic lap time with 41.020 seconds in qualifying, wasn’t able to overtake the handicapped Spengler anymore and eventually crossed the finish line in third place. Reigning DTM champion Martin Tomczyk (BMW) ended up fourth to score his best result of the season to date.

At the 1.929 kilometres long track, the shortest circuit on the DTM schedule, the Hankook competition tyres once again showed a perfect performance. The small stones thrown onto the track by the cars after running over the kerbstones were the biggest challenge for the Ventus Race. “Of course, there is a theoretic possibility for these stones to work their way through the surface of the tyre during the race, which could lead to loss of pressure”, Hankook’s race engineer Michael Eckert explained. But the Hankook tyre also mastered this task, showing its usual consistent and fast performance and didn’t have any problems with the edgy and partly damaged kerbstones either.

Gary Paffett (Mercedes-Benz): “We were on pole position, we have won the race – this was a fantastic weekend. We were able to control the race from up front and especially from the middle of the stints with used tyres, we were considerably faster than the opposition. We were able to do very long and fast stints without the tyres starting to wear.”

Bruno Spengler (BMW): “I had a good start and immediately moved up into second place. The car was running fantastically and the Hankook tyres were very good and consistent. From the start of the stints till the end, I was able to push. The consistency of the tyres is very important to score a good result at Brands Hatch.”

Mike Rockenfeller  (Audi): “I coped very well with the car and the tyres. It was a great race: I had a very good start, two good pit stops and at the end even the chance to overtake Bruno. But he simply didn’t make a mistake. Now, I am going home a happy man and I am looking forward to the next race at Spielberg.”

Northern Ireland driver Marty McCormack and Irish co-driver David Moynihan have been called up to drive the Hankook PS Engineering Ford Fiesta for the forthcoming Corsican round of the IRC. Following an injury to Swedish driver Patrick Flodin during a training session, the Irish duo will represent PS Engineering and Hankook Tyre for the teams first IRC outing of 2012.

Via MaxRally.com

British driver Marty McCormack has landed the biggest opportunity of his career, driving for the PS Engineering team on the Tour de Corse later this month.

McCormack will take the seat in the Norwegian team’s Ford Fiesta S2000 which had been reserved for Patrik Flodin. The Swede has been forced out of the event after breaking his collarbone while out training over the weekend.

McCormack is the reigning British Junior Rally Champion – and the first driver to win a round of the BRC outright in a two-wheel drive car for more than a decade, when he won last year’s International Rally Northern Ireland in a Citroen DS3 R3. The 27-year-old also won the IRC 2WD category on last month’s Circuit of Ireland Rally, despite not having competed since last season.

PS Engineering owner Petter Solber said: “Talk about bad luck for Patrik,” said Solberg. “But he is recovering every day now, so things are looking promising for having him back for Ypres. In the mean time, I am convinced Marty will be a great driver for the team, and I’m very happy he could join the team on such a short notice.”

Flodin added: “This is really just unlucky. I hurt my collarbone first while out running, but only found out later that an operation was needed. I’m in recovery now, and everything is looking good for the Ypres Rally.”

Flodin is expected to add the IRC season-closing Cyprus Rally to his programme at the end of the year to maintain his contract of six rallies with PS Engineering.

The DTM is and remains the most popular international touring carseries. In total, 142,000 spectators celebrated the season opener at the Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg, 71,000 fans established a new record crowd for a DTM season opener on Sunday.

After an action-packed race,Gary Paffett claimed victory, securing the sixth straight race win for Mercedes-Benz at Hockenheim. Having started from sixth place, the Brit overtook his compatriot Jamie Green for the lead on lap 15 and was the first to cross the finish line after 182.960 kilometres. With his second place, Green completed the 1-2 forMercedes-Benz.Mattias Ekström was the best-placed Audi driver in third place. The fastest driver from qualifying was in front until the fifth lap, but was then overtaken by the considerably quicker Mercedes-Benz drivers Paffett andGreen after having locked up under braking. After a great qualifying on Saturday, DTM-returnee BMW had plenty of misfortune in the race. Dirk Werner, who started third, dropped back after a collision and eventually finished 17th.

Reigning DTM champion Martin Tomczyk and Bruno Spengler retired after collisions. The onlyBMW driver to score points was Andy Priaulx in sixth place.The newly developed Hankook tyres had a successful premiere on the first race weekend. The Ventus Race,significantly bigger and wider compared to last year, provided a top performance in qualifying and in the race.The construction of the new tyres mastered the high kerbstones, taken at top speed, in an equally convincingmanner as in 2011. In spite of the high track temperatures, the Hankook tyres provided all drivers with plentyof grip, consistency and safety at the highest level.

Gary Paffett (Mercedes-Benz): “It was a sensational race. At times, we were more than 20 seconds ahead ofAudi, the result is incredible for Mercedes. The Hankook tyres were fantastic. Because they are wider and bigger, they provide massive grip. They were incredibly stable and consistent, in spite of a long final stint, we didn’t have any problems whatsoever.”

Mattias Ekström (Audi): “Of course, when starting from pole, you want to win. But our pace wasn’t enough,Gary and Jamie were in a class of their own. The tyres lasted very well, Mercedes has the same and was considerably quicker.Apparently, they have done their homework better than we have.”

Andy Priaulx (BMW): “Today in the race, it was better than in qualifying. The car ran impeccably, the tyres were great throughout the race. That gives us self-confidence for the future. I was really impressed by the Hankook tyres, they are very consistent and support my driving style. I enjoyed driving with them.”

Norbert Haug, head of motorsport (Mercedes-Benz): “The Hankook tyres have passed their litmus test. It is anew tyre dimension, good work has been done and apparently, we have understood the tyres well and got the best out of them.”

During the second round of the SUPERSTARS and GT SPRINT INTERNATIONAL SERIES in 2012 the premium tyre manufacturers acknowledged Ventus line of race tyres showed what they are made of: In dynamic fights for podium finishes during the second race of the highly competitive SUPERSTARS SERIES the Ventus slicks were challenged not only by high sided kerbed F1 track but also had to withstand oil streaks and car parts strewn on the track after tussles. Yet Hankook’s high-capacity circuit race tyres provided the drivers with consistently high performance, maximum safety and perfect handling, resulting in a well balanced field and top lap times of 1’49.461 (SUPERSTARS) and 1’45.234 (GT SPRINT).

Hankook’s excellence in performance is increasingly being recognised by race participants. During a Hankook media talk SUPERSTRAS drivers Vitantonio Liuzzi (former F1 pilot), 2010 Italian and International Superstars champion Thomas Biagi, former A1 Grand Prix contestant Ananda Mikola, Max Pigoli (Italian Superstars Champion 2006) and Rookie and Imola podium finisher Andrea Boffo explained they are particularly impressed with the Ventus’ high level of performance and consistency throughout the races.

Race tyres require sophisticated technology including optimal ground contact for grip, lateral stability and durability also in extreme driving conditions. Being able to trust the tyre quality is a crucial factor for every driver. Hankook therefore is committed to continuously invest in R&D to develop race tyres that provide drivers with the highest quality, offering strong handling and durability in all racing conditions as well as guaranteeing maximum grip and safety on the track.

The SUPERSTARS and GT SPRINT INTERNATIONAL series will be on the grid again on May 20^th at Donington Park/UK.

The legendary Enzo & Dino Ferrari International Racetrack will host the Superstars & GT Sprint International Series, racing exclusively on Hankook racing tyres, on Sunday April 22^nd.  World-class drivers such as former Formula 1 pilots Vitantonio Liuzzi, Mika Salo and Gianni Morbidelli will tackle the difficult circuit, also known as Imola, on Hankook Ventus racing tyres. The extremely technical race track with its many changes in direction requires outstanding driving skills and maximum tyre performance. A spectacular race-weekend is to be expected.

As one of the few major international circuits to run in a counter-clockwise direction, Imola holds a special appeal for the natural difficulties of the scenic landscape that are condensed into the circuit. On a total length of 4,9 kilometers  9 right-hand and 13 left-hand curves as well as top speeds of up to 330 km/h demand the most of drivers, cars and tyres alike.  Sharp brake maneuvers force the pilots to use all the kerb available and place special strain on the tyres. Hankook’s successful racing tyres, Ventus F200 will be used as slicks respectively the Z207 as rain version; two extremely high-capacity tyres that combine perfect handling, safety and consistency into optimum performance on any racing track.

The cars on the starting grid in the Superstars International Series by premium manufacturers Audi, BMW, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Jaguar, Lexus, Maserati, Mercedes and Porsche will be tuned versions of those available for sale, with V8 engines capable of supplying more than 500HP.The extremely powerful and heavy super sports cars entering the races are particularly challenging for tyres. Entertainment will be alsobe guaranteed by the International GT Sprint Series, open to GT2, GT3 and GT Cup cars.