Brands Hatch/UK, May 20th, 2012 – Daniel Juncadella defended his leading position in the Formula 3 Euro Series at Brands Hatch, although the Spaniard only scored one second place as the best result from the three races. For Raffaele Marciello, however, things were going really well. The Italian scored a pair of wins and moved up to within one point from leader Juncadella in the drivers’ standings of the world’s toughest junior single seater series. “That was an excellent weekend for me. The Hankook tyres quickly built up a lot of grip and were incredibly consistent throughout the distance”, the Italian said after his strong performance. Spaniard Carlos Sainz jr. remains third in the drivers’ standings.
This year, Hankook is supporting the young racing drivers in the Formula 3 Euro Series with the Ventus high performance competition tyres. In the process, the premium manufacturer can rely on its many years of experience in international single-seater racing. In 2002, Hankook was already the official tyre partner of the Italian F3 series, three years later, the company also supported the German F3 series and in 2009, it also came on board as the tyre partner in the Japanese Formula 3 series. “We are happy to support this class for young talents, which has been the stepping stone into the top league Formula 1 and the start of a great career in motorsport, with our know how”, says Manfred Sandbichler, Hankook Tire Europe’s motorsport director.
After the successful debut in the DTM in 2011, Hankook has extended its commitment to other motorsport categories as well and has become the official tyre partner of the Italian Superstars and GT Sprint International Series for this year as well. The top-class Italian series, organised by FG Group, are racing at legendary circuits like Monza, Imola and Spa. The undisputed highlight will be the finale at Sentul (Indonesia). “The most popular Italian series with top drivers and a large fan community are the perfect platform to display the potential of our Ventus Race. As a motorsports country, Italy perfectly suits our motto Driving Emotion”, sais Manfred Sandbichler.
The Swedish TTA – Racing Elite League is racing with Hankook Ventus tyres from this season as well. “With our involvement in the Swedish touring car series, we want to increase our presence in motorsport in the Scandinavian market. Moreover, the philosophy of the TTA of steadily fine-tuning the cars with innovative materials and designs, perfectly matches our own corporate strategy”, Manfred Sandbichler sums up. The specially developed touring cars look like “real” road-going cars, but underneath, they have high-end materials and powerful engines under the bonnet. The street races in Göteborg in a former harbour area that has been turned into a circuit are the highlights for the TTA – Racing Elite League.
