Giti Tire has revealed its involvement in the British Truck Racing Championship 2018, both as sponsor of Team Oliver Racing and through their global competition truck tyre, the Giti Race-Tuned v1.
The announcement came at the CV Show by which time two events had taken place at Brands Hatch and Pembrey. The team secured pole position and an exciting win in the very first race of the season and has already amassed a host of podium finishes and valuable Championship points.
Team Oliver Racing will be running two inhouse race prepared trucks throughout the series, with British and European Truck Racing Champion Stuart Oliver driving a bonneted VOLVO VNL and Martin Gibson, Manager EU Testing Centre & Motorsport UK for Giti Tire behind the wheel of a SCANIA P1100.
Both trucks weigh in at well over five tonnes each and produce in excess of 1,100 BHP.
The season comprises a further seven races, including the famous Nürburgring 33rd ADAC Truck Grand Prix, which takes place in front of over 200,000 spectators on June 30th and July 1st.
The venture marks Giti Tire’s first involvement in truck racing in Europe and is part of the overall strategy to use extreme motorsport conditions to improve their everyday tyres through research and development.
The Giti Race-Tuned v1, which is available to purchase by any team in the 2018 Championship, is sized at 315/70R22.5 and has been specially designed with an even pressure distribution and footprint optimisation assuring competition cornering and braking performance.
Design features include unique outside and inside shoulders, two longitudinal grooves and advanced sipes shape, orientation and distribution, while the racing compound has a special polymer for better grip, distinct functional resin for better handling and CB/silica blending for increased tear resistance.
Tony McHugh, TBR Sales and Marketing Director UK at Giti Tire, said: “The launch of the partnership with Team Oliver Racing and the introduction of the Giti Race-Tuned v1 into European competition will take the business and our credibility to a whole new dimension, not just in terms of the R&D learnings but proving our tyre build credentials to a massive, devoted audience.
“The footfall across all three days of the CV Show was larger than any we have witnessed in the past, and some of this success must be down to the racing truck we displayed on our stand. This has allowed us to introduce many fleet operators to our entire portfolio which in turn has amassed a high number of quality sales leads, so the partnership is already delivering massive benefits.”
Over 20 Giti tyres were on display with the stand split into six core areas comprising combi-road, long haul, regional, mixed service, urban and winter.
There was also a high level of interest in the Giti GTL925 high cube trailer pattern in size 445/45R19.5, which made its event debut at CV Show 2018. The tyre allows high cube trailer fleets to maximise a vehicle’s inside loading volume of up to three meters height while still respecting the total vehicle height of four meters allowed across Europe.
Available also in 435/50R19.5, both tyres are M&S marked to indicate good all-season traction and braking properties. A seven-rib tread pattern ensures regular wear while optimised rolling resistance achieves a B label rating confirming good fuel economy.
To meet the increased demand for fitting on 10-ton two-axle trailers, both sizes of GTL925 are being upgraded to load index 164J and will be available shortly.