The 2011 season can now start for the team Rowe Racing: The racing team powered by the lubricant manufacturer may from now on count on the strong support provided by tyre manufacturer Dunlop. A development partnership has been agreed and Dunlop will hence equip the two Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 of the team with specifically manufactured high-performance tyres for their participations in the endurance races.
The engagement provided by Dunlop clearly exceeds the role of a tyre supplier:
The premium manufacturer based in Hanau/ Germany will produce a number of specific tyres for the two gullwing race cars. The target is to achieve the maximum performance in the combination of tyres, track, drivers and car. The driving of the pilots will thereby be incorporated just as the different racing strategies. Dunlop will support Rowe Racing hereby with a small team of development and service engineers who will closely cooperate with the crew of Rowe Racing and ensure the technical support regarding tyres issues at the races on-site.
“We are really happy about this privileged partnership which in this configuration and degree is close to the equipment of the high-quality works teams. As everyone knows, the tyre choice can often decide a race. Our cooperation with Dunlop will thus increase our competitiveness from the very beginning”, informs Hans-Peter Naundorf, Rowe Racing team manager.
Michael Bellmann, head of the Dunlop motorsport department adds: “Dunlop has been developing series production and racing tyres at the Nordschleife since decades. The current GT sports cars as well as the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 play an important role hereby as they are close to production and offer perfect possibilities to transfer the technology all around tyre grip from racing to standard production. We have been working together with Hans-Peter Naundorf since eleven years already and I am really happy to pursue our cooperation with him within the team Rowe Racing now,”
For the first time ever, Rowe Racing will run the current motor sport season 2011 itself. The reorganised team managed by Hans-Peter Naundorf will enter two brand new Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 race cars for the races of the VLN endurance racing championship and for the 24h Race at the Nürburgring. In addition to the two regular drivers of the previous season, Alexander Roloff and Marco Schelp (both from Berlin), former DTM driver Hubert Haupt as well as Klaus Rader (both from Munich) and touring car professional driver Roland Rehfeld (Blankenfelde/ Germany) have joined the team.
