Tyre News

Maxxis trucks Take Leading Role in Baja Off-Road Racing Game
The Stig' in Pole Position at ETB Fundraiser
New York Scots Honour Sir Tom Farmer
Director Doug Snaps up Photography Prize
ATS Euromaster Secures Conquest Deal with Lloyds TSB Autolease
St Austell Woman wins BF Goodrich Holiday of a Lifetime
Yokohama HPT Re-signs with MK Dons

Maxxis trucks Take Leading Role in Baja Off-Road Racing Game

Maxxis drivers thrive on heart-pounding off-road action and now computer game fans can enjoy the same adrenaline-charged thrills because two Maxxis trucks feature prominently in Baja: Edge of Control.

The new off-road game for Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 was developed by 2XL Games Inc. and is published by THQ. With 1,000 miles of drive-to-horizon landscape, the game captures the intense action and atmosphere of off-road racing events such as the annual Baja 1,000 and features trucks belonging to Pete Sohren and the McMullen & Bell team.

Players build their own vehicles and attempt to conquer harsh desert terrain, including towering mountains and steep cliffs. Just like the drivers who compete in off-road sports, they vie for sponsorship based on their results and work with an advanced support system that includes helicopter and truck crews.

Baja: Edge of Control is available from leading high street and online games retailers.

The Stig' in Pole Position at ETB Fundraiser

First Stop dealership, ETB opened in style with a weekend of fundraising activities and a visit from the original Top Gear 'Stig'. The brand new dealership raised funds for the MS Society and carried out free tyre checks for customers who dropped in.

ETB, part of Bridgestone's First Stop network of tyre dealerships, showcased Bridgestone's stunning Formula One car and simulator. Visitors were invited to have their photo taken with the car and compete to set the fastest lap on the simulator to win Jenson Button's gloves.

Josh Emerson, aged 13, set the record time on the simulator, beating 'The Stig's lap time by three seconds.

New York Scots Honour Sir Tom Farmer

One of the most venerated charitable organisations in New York - which counts Andrew Carnegie amongst its previous members - has bestowed a prestigious accolade on leading Scottish businessman and philanthropist Sir Tom Farmer, CBE, the founder of Kwik-Fit.

Sir Tom received his Scottish Heritage Award from the 252-year-old St Andrew's Society of the State of New York at a glittering banquet in the city on Friday, November 21st.

The Society's 96th President, Fred Bisset, said: "The Heritage Award was created to mark our 250th anniversary two years ago, and is designed to honour exemplary Scots for their contribution to the way Scots and Scotland are observed around the world.

"Sir Tom is renowned as a Scot who has a well-deserved international reputation for business excellence, and his success has enhanced and advanced Scotland's reputation as a prominent and prestigious country in the international community. He is also known as a philanthropist. He has become a symbol of Scottish influence in the world and is a very worthy recipient."

Director Doug Snaps up Photography Prize

When Doug Wyatt, director of Airway Tyres, isn't managing operations at the First Stop dealership in Colchester, he is busy snapping away and indulging his passion outside of work - photography. Doug has recently been crowned East of England runner up in the prestigious nationwide 'Postcards from the Park' photography competition, run by the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Big Lottery Fund and GreenSpace.

The competition encouraged people to capture what they love about their local park. More than 20,000 amateur photographers entered the competition and Doug impressed the judges with his entry entitled 'Rainy Days', which he took at Castle Park in Colchester.

He was presented with his award by Mike McCartney, photographer and brother of Sir Paul McCartney and his photo will be professionally curated for a national exhibition. Doug has been interested in photography since he was a teenager and grew up using nearby Castle Park on regular basis. He enjoys being involved in the community and when he's not at First Stop dealership Airway Tyres, he can be found capturing local scenes.

Doug said: "It was fantastic to meet Mike McCartney and have my hobby formally recognised. My two passions in life are cars and photography. Maybe one day I should try and combine the two!"

Mike McCartney, the main judge, added: "Doug's photo is a wonderful shot, which not only illustrates the high standard this year, but also why so many people love their local parks."

ATS Euromaster Secures Conquest Deal with Lloyds TSB Autolease

ATS Euromaster has secured a major conquest deal with Lloyds TSB Autolease, the UK's second largest contract hire fleet in the car and van sector. The new three year agreement sees Lloyds TSB Autolease adopt a completely new policy with Michelin tyres being fitted as replacements across its fleet. These will be fitted predominantly through ATS Euromaster's nationwide network of 470 service centres and fleet of mobile service vehicles.

Steve Phillips, Deputy Operations Director at Lloyds TSB Autolease, says: "What came out very clearly through the tendering process was ATS Euromaster and Michelin's willingness to work in partnership with us to deliver a quality service that really adds value to our customers.

As part of the contract, ATS Euromaster's 24-hour Customer Service Centre in Aston, Birmingham, is responsible for handling all authorisation requests for new tyres from Lloyds TSB Autolease customers. This uses the company's efficient online authorisation system to communicate in real-time with individual ATS Euromaster centres to keep the turnaround time for all vehicle maintenance to an absolute minimum. These online authorisations are proven to aid compliance with a customer's specified tyre policy, offering complete control over brand fitment and expenditure.

ATS Euromaster is also supplying Lloyds TSB Autolease with a monthly suite of management reports which highlight tyre spend, fitment policy adherence rates and key trends across the fleet.

St Austell Woman wins BF Goodrich Holiday of a Lifetime

Debbie Elson from Roche in St Austell, Cornwall is really in the holiday mood having won a £10,000 holiday competition offered by high performance tyre brand, BFGoodrich. In fact Debbie and her family will be jetting off to the sun in Gran Canaria just as the rest of the country is looking at the remains of the Christmas turkey! Her BFGoodrich prize fund will enable the family to start a two-week sunshine holiday on 27 December.

Debbie, who has worked at the Eden Project since it was opened over seven years ago, is naturally delighted with her substantial win: "I saw the publicity for the BFGoodrich tyre holiday competition and went into W.A.Allen & Son's depot to complete an entry form. I was stunned to be informed that I had won and had a hard job deciding whether to take the stunning Canadian trip or the vouchers. We had been thinking about a Christmas New Year holiday and the win quickly made up our mind!"

Debbie received her prize vouchers at Allen's BFGoodrich tyre depot on Saturday 15 November where Barney Feely, BFGoodrich account manager for the region, presented her with her holiday vouchers.

Yokohama HPT Re-signs with MK Dons

The UK distributor for Yokohama and ADVAN high-performance tyres, Yokohama HPT Ltd (YHPT) has continued its relationship with local soccer team, the MK Dons for the 2008/9 season. Building on a successful partnership last season, Yokohama HPT will again be a partner to the team, which is based at the impressive stadiummk just a stone's-throw from YHPT's Milton Keynes headquarters.

Last season was the first for the partnership between Yokohama and the MK Dons, which YHPT saw as a valuable opportunity to support its local community. And it turned out to be an inspired decision; the team was promoted to League 1 of the Football League and in addition, claimed the coveted Johnstone's Paint Trophy by the end of the season. In addition, Yokohama HPT was proud to see the Japanese company's logos displayed around the 31,000-seat stadium throughout the season, as well as enjoying the opportunity to support the team in person, along with a selection of guests and VIPs.

MK Dons Chairman Pete Winkelman, said; "Yokohama HPT has been a solid supporter of the club since our move to stadiummk and we are proud to be associated with this global brand with a cutting-edge reputation."

Commenting on the news, Yokohama HPT Ltd Managing Director, David Seward said; "We are delighted to be partners to the MK Dons for the second year running. Last season, our first with the team, proved extremely successful for us, with the opportunity to not only expose the local community to Yokohama branding but also, actively support the MK Dons as they worked to secure the Double. "I'm sure that with a manager of Roberto's stature, the club will rise to even greater heights, which I know is their ambition. We are keen to support our local team, as I'm sure is all of Milton Keynes and we look forward to cheering the MK Dons on during another successful season."