Dunlop 2012
OK California riders…we all know the turmoil Dunlop has hadon the West Coast this last year. . rest assured, Dunlop hasn’t beensitting idle and they have a plan to move forward….On the distributor side,Steve Brubaker from RTS will be handling all the AFM race tire service. It willtake him a bit to get to up to speed with our market, finding out who is whoand what inventory levels to stock, but he is ready to kick ass and wants toearn your business. Dunlop is serious about being #1 and as you’ll read in abit, there is some incredible product with great pricing headed our way. Let’s face it, we all want to be on Dunlopsand in the past, pricing or availability has been a problem. Dunlop is out tofix both those issues.
For 2012, Dunlop has a huge release of US tires coming ourway. On the DOT side, there is a new GPA front, a 190/60 rear (soft and med) alongwith an updated 190/55 GPA rear. I rode on the GPA front all last yearand it is a great tire, fast and wears great. The new GPA front is a step upfrom that.
Slicks-Dunlop has new US made NTEC slicks, front and rear.The rear is a 200/55/17 and that tire has already proven to be just as fast asthe UK versions in WERA Endurance and will soon be introduced in AMA racing. Alsoin the works is a 190/55 which will be even lower cost. Rears are available in a Soft, Med, and a Med+(similar to a 6680) is coming shortly for more durability. The front is a125/80 and same as the rears, a fast tire. The front will be available in asoft, medium and medium+.
There will be a big supply of UK tires this year, same rearcompounds, updated front compounds. Therumors are totally false that they are discontinuing these tires. They have1000’s of these in the USwarehouse ready to ship.
Pricing-OK, here’s where it gets good. Pricing is going tobe very competitive. The USAslicks or DOTs are $399 per set, the190/55 USAslick and DOTs are only $339 per set. For racers, they have full contingency, theyare not backing out like others we have seen recently.
In the next 4-6 weeks, I’ll be testing ALL of these tires atall the tracks, so we’ll know what tires/compounds work at each track and I’llreport with how testing is going. Since mid-late last year, there has been aton of testing on the East Coast and all of these tires are showing they canrun the pace.
Interested? If you want to get exact pricing and see whatSteve at Race Tire Services can do for you, contact him so he knows who you areand what product you’ll need. You can getinfo or order online at www.dunlopracing.com or email steve@dunlopracing.comfor questions or he can call you back if you give your number. He was really helpful when I spoke with himand he genuinely wants to help us and fix the problems of the past. Plus his first racing license 25 years agowas with the AFM, so I think he has a soft spot for us
Ken
