at the 24-hour race at Nuerburgring
No.4 in overall rankings, No.3 in class
Team “Hankook H&R Special Springs“ from Alzen Motorsport, driving Porsche Cayman-based Racing-Coupé, finished 4th out of 230 cars
Hankook’s racing tires ensured optimal grip in very challenging racing conditions
Hankook’s racing tires showed durability, handling and cornering in most extreme racing conditions. Endurance racing is strategic testing ground for next generation ultra high performance tires By the end of 2009, Hankook Tire will take part in the Le Mans 24 hour race in France, the Daytona 24 hour race in USA and the SPA 24 hour race in Belgium
Team “Hankook H&R Special Springs” from Alzen Motorsport, driving a Porsche Cayman-based Racing-Coupé, finished 4th out of 230 cars (157 finishers) at the 24-hour race at Nuerburgring (Germany) in front of 200,000 spectators. At the event, a major fixture on the international motor racing calendar and one that is watched closely by the global automotive industry, Hankook Tire hosted more than 200 partners and guests from all over Europe in its lounge. They were welcomed by the Hankook Group’s CTO & CPO, Hwi-Joong Kim. He was accompanied by Hankook’s CMO Hyun-Shick Cho, the CSO & CFO Hyun-Bum Cho, along with the head of the European Hankook operations, Seung-Do Jin, to celebrate the upcoming opening of its new, €500 million production facility in Hungary, Hankook’s first in Europe, later this month.
The ambitious team with its technical partner Hankook Tire, the fastest growing European tyre manufacturer, started from position six after qualifying with their fastest lap in 8:51:31 minutes. The 2007 race in "Green Hell" marked the 24-hour spectacle’s 35th year.
The “Hankook H&R Special Springs” team consisted of lap record holder and experienced circuit specialist Uwe Alzen and Porsche-Carrera-Cup drivers Christian Menzel and Chris Mamerow. Team boss Juergen Alzen also climbed behind the wheel. The team’s newly developed car has a 3.9 litre turbo boxer engine that throttles over 520 HP to the asphalt through custom made Hankook racing-slicks and intermediates (type F 200), and rain tires (type Z 207) size 310/680 R 18 at the front and 330/710 R 18 at the rear.
The fourth place finish in this year’s 35th Nuerburgring 24-hour race is a “victory for future customers,” Hankook Tire today announced. The statement came from the Korea-based global tyre manufacturer, whose sales of technologically enhanced ultra-high performance (UHP) tires grew by 21% to US$68.4 million in the first quarter of 2007 on the back of impressive industry comparative reviews and partnerships to supply premium automakers, such as Audi.
Hyun-Shick Cho, CMO of Hankook Tire, said, “We take a strategic approach to motor sports partnerships and concentrate on endurance racing, using the events as proving grounds for our high performance technology. We are fortunate to have an exceptional racing partner in Alzen. A fourth place finish is a superb result and a huge victory for future Hankook Tire customers, who will benefit from better durability, handling and cornering tested under the extreme racing conditions witnessed over the last 24 hours.”
Hankook Tire will take part in the three other 24 hour classics by the end of 2009: the Le Mans 24 hour race in France, the Daytona 24 hr race in USA and the SPA 24 hour race in Belgium.
Race Report for Hankook H&R Special Springs
The 230 racing cars hit the road at 5 p.m. on 9 June and the race ended at 5 p.m. on the 10th. After a great start, the ‘Hankook H&R Special Springs’ team with driver Uwe Alzen took the leading position between laps 7 and 10. The team’s fastest lap was lap 18, at 9.02.928 minutes. At 11.05 p.m., a cooling water hose broke and, following a 35 minute repair, the Porsche fell to 11th. However, the “Hankook H&R Special Springs” team fought its way back up the leaderboard to finish in 4th place after the gruelling 24 hour endurance test.
Speaking after the team’s top four finish, Juergen Alzen said, “We had ambitious goals for the 24-hour race at the Nuerburgring. Considering our problems with the cooling water hose, we achieved a very respectable result. Altogether, we are very content with our car and especially with our tyres. We have had crazy conditions this year – but Hankook’s tyres gave us brilliant grip on wet and dry surfaces.”
