The changes gripping an important UK motorsport industry

Often the only time they hit the headlines are when scraps of rubber are sent flying in all directions after a failure. In other words, tyres are not always the most interesting of subjects aside from when something goes wrong. Yet tyres have increasingly become a hot topic in national motorsport in recent months, for very different reasons.

The announcement in October that Avon Tyres owner Goodyear was beginning a consultation process about closing the Melksham manufacturing site – potentially resulting in a loss of jobs and the famous name disappearing – caused shockwaves in certain corners of the sport. Then it emerged that other tyre makers such as Yokohama were undergoing a restructure and reassessing their rubber ranges, which in turn created further uncertainty. And this all followed a period when some tyres had been in short supply.

But, before examining the impact of Goodyear’s decision and the wider changes in the industry, it is important to consider the challenges manufacturers have faced over the past few years. And, inevitably, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a major role.

“With COVID, not many people went out and about so not many people were buying tyres,” says Toyo Tires UK technical director and European motorsport manager Alan Meaker. “Shipping costs were very high for containers from abroad and there was a shortage of containers and shipping delays because of COVID. If you were bringing stuff in from Japan and China, it affected a business with delays and costs – container prices peaked at around $18,000 (£15,000) but have now dropped back to near pre-COVID levels.”

Meaker says that Toyo was “just about” able to fulfil all of its orders during this challenging time, when obtaining the required stock from the Asian manufacturing sites was so tricky, but there were shortages elsewhere. And, amid all these difficulties, manufacturers were taking a moment for some inward reflection.

“With COVID and the Ukraine war, it’s made everyone have a real good look at what their core business is,” continues Meaker. “Every tyre manufacturer has got to make money and the process and time is about the same to produce a large tyre as a small-inch tyre and there’s obviously more money with a larger-inch tyre. From a motorsport perspective, there are a lot of cars out there using tyres that are going to be stopped – the 13/14-inch tyre availability is getting less and less.”

Avon supplies niche tyres to several championships which now face tough decisions

Photo by: JEP

One brand seemingly following this trend of scaling back its smaller-diameter product range is Yokohama. It has been “constantly reviewing motorsport activities” and long-standing head of UK motorsport Mark Evans is no longer working for the company, with the change in approach resulting in some organisers looking elsewhere.

“We had a number of championships with the Yokohama A048R as the control tyre, which was a very good tyre that’s been in production for a long time – it’s very much a mainstay of a lot of our championships,” explains 750 Motor Club competitions secretary Giles Groombridge.

“It led to us needing to look around to see what else was suitable and available in the market, and where there was a long-term commitment to manufacturing smaller size tyres. Classic Stock Hatch, Clio Sport, Cup 200 and Ma7da are all moving to Toyo Tires’ R888R – they seem to be keen to continue manufacturing that tyre.”

"The Avon situation is far more concerning because those tyres are far more niche. For a lot of the Yokohama tyres being used there are alternatives, but there’s not always alternatives to Avons" Giles Groombridge

And those 750MC categories are far from alone in joining Toyo’s ranks for this season. The Scottish Motor Racing Club and MG Car Club are among other organisers to have entered new agreements with the brand.

“The core market [of the R888R] is club racing, which has helped us gain other championships,” says Meaker. “I’ve club raced for years, so I try to understand it from a club racing point of view. We’ve got a product that is durable and reasonably priced.”

Meaker says the majority of these new agreements are three-year contracts in a bid to offer stability.

“It’s stable then for the clubs and stable for us as well, so we know what the estimated sales will be and so we can get stock in,” he adds. “It’s got to work for all parties – the tyre manufacturer, the championship and the competitors.”

While the 750MC has been able to fairly easily replace some of its Yokohama deals – Toyo is far from the only one to expand, with other Asian manufacturers such as Nankang and MRF also increasing their UK presence in recent years – Groombridge says the potential Avon closure could pose a greater problem.

“The Avon situation is far more concerning because those tyres are far more niche,” he says. “For a lot of the Yokohama tyres being used there are alternatives, but there’s not always alternatives to Avons.”

The 750MC’s Clio championship is among the series changing tyre supplier this year

Photo by: Steve Jones

Meaker adds: “It’s caused a lot of turmoil – I get a lot of phone calls saying, ‘What can you fit on this, what can you fit on that?’”

Unsurprisingly, there is still a lot of uncertainty over what may happen over the coming months regarding Avon. What Goodyear – which bought the Cooper Tires group that owned Avon in June 2021 – has made clear is that all existing Avon contracts will be honoured, and that does not just apply to this year. Officially, the consultation into the closure is still ongoing and there are currently no indications of an imminent halt to production. In fact, the original terms of the process state that the closure would occur by the end of 2023 so there is, in theory, still plenty of time for manufacturing before then.

Yet even if the Avon brand does disappear, it does not necessarily mean the end for all of its product ranges. Just last week came confirmation from parent company Goodyear that it will be reintroducing its historic 1970s and 1980s Formula 1 tyres, along with F2 rubber and developing an all-weather Appendix K tyre for 1960s/70s sportscars – all areas currently catered for by Avon.

Nevertheless, the Historic Sports Car Club has sensibly taken some precautions. It has rewritten the regulations for some of its categories to allow alternative tyres to be used in the event of further sudden upheaval or supply problems.

“In this vacuum, other manufacturers are looking at the UK market, but we really don’t know the full extent of what’s going to happen in the future,” says club CEO Andy Dee-Crowne, who believes American company Hoosier is among those looking to increase their UK involvement. “We’ve relaxed some of our tyre rules in the event we can’t get hold of tyres, and we will allow other types of tyre, subject to approval. We can therefore move quickly to a new supplier should circumstances mean no tyres are available.”

But Avon’s current business extends far beyond the world of historics, with its crossply tyres a mainstay of Formula Ford 1600 competition, and work is also under way here to ensure a suitable solution for the future is found. The British Racing & Sports Car Club runs the National and Super Classic FF1600 categories, as well as the Formula Ford Festival, and its chairman Peter Daly says the club is “engaging with other companies” for 2024 and beyond.

“There’s been no shortage of alternative suppliers,” he says. “As well as getting the same performance [that needs to be considered], its durability, cost and the manufacturing supply chain has to be right.

“What we’ve got to be careful of is we’ve got to try and avoid changing the performance of the tyre that gives it more grip and increases the speed of the cars and starts to wear the tyre quicker. If you can run two or three meetings on the same set of tyres, that’s ideal. You’re starting to risk the cars more with better grip, so you’ve got to look at the big picture.

Several important factors must be considered when choosing a replacement tyre for Formula Fords, closely associated with Avon for so many years

Photo by: Steve Jones

“It’s not a simple decision made over a couple of pints of beer – it’s got to be part of a five-year plan. But we’ve found nothing to worry about. It’s not insurmountable and I’m confident, with the team at the BRSCC, we will deal with it. There’s never a shortage of new companies wanting to knock on doors.”

It’s a similar situation at Caterham, another long-term Avon customer. Discussions are continuing with alternative suppliers, although Caterham’s chief motorsport and technical officer Simon Lambert says that the potential demise of Avon is a “huge shame”.

“We’ve had a great relationship with Avon over the years,” he says. “They’ve developed some fantastic tyres for us but there are other options out there. We’re still talking to a small number of tyre manufacturers – we’re fortunate in that we take a lot of tyres so have a nice purchasing power. But for much more niche model cars, there’s not the choice. We will find a way but the world is moving on and the tyre world is changing – we’re potentially going to have to look at larger tyre sizes [for the longer-term future].”

Compromises will be needed, and those wedded to the idea of competing on a specific tyre might have to accept a situation where they must change size or not race at all

And that last point is a significant one. Given the growing shift towards larger, more profitable tyres, the whole motorsport community may have to adjust accordingly. Lambert says that such a shift would mean additional work on the suspension to ensure that it can cope with the different demands, while the wheel itself would also likely need to be looked at to see if any weight could be saved to mitigate the heavier, larger tyre.

With this shift in tyre diameters in mind, Meaker says that compromises will be needed, and those wedded to the idea of competing on a specific tyre might have to accept a situation where they must change size or not race at all. But, for now, there is still a lot of optimism, both in terms of new deals being made off the back of significant enthusiasm for club motorsport from competitors and that solutions to the likely Avon demise can be found.

But it’s worth considering the longer-term future, too. While efforts are well under way to decrease the environmental impact from cars, with alternative power sources and more sustainable fuels, tyres could soon be firmly in the spotlight. Greater sustainability and durability may be demanded and that could also have an impact on what is available. It seems that tyres could well continue to be a significant topic for many years to come.