HOW TO MAKE A RACING TYRE: Goodyear and Dunlop give an exclusive tour of iconic motorsport tyre factory

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Home Finance Reviews Under The Hood Motorsport Business Profiles Archive Related Tags: Goodyear, Dunlop, Goodyear and Dunlop, Tyres, Goodyear and Dunlop Tyres, How to Make a Tyre, How to Make a Racing Tyre, Motorsport, Innovation, under the hood HOW TO MAKE A RACING TYRE: Goodyear and Dunlop give an exclusive tour of iconic motorsport tyre factory By: Danny Hewitt Ref:A00103 Published: 26 February 2013 GOODYEAR AND DUNLOP has given Motortrades Insight a rare and exclusive tour of its motor racing tyre factory in Birmingham, where a 350-strong workforce make tyres for some of the world's most prominent championships.The tyres are used all around the world and some of the company's major races include the World Endurance Series, Moto 2 and Moto 3, Isle of Man TT, British Touring Car Championship, Le Mans 24 Hour, Nurburgring 24 hour, European Le Mans Series (ELMS), IDM, Bol d'Or 24 hour. "These are just a handful of the races we cover," explained Goodyear and Dunlop's Kate Rock. "We are always looking for opportunities to expand our business and to provide a tyre service to teams in a range of international racing," explained Ms Rock. "Our main focus is on endurance racing within Europe and our association with the European Le Mans Series continues to be a focus for us as a business."Motortrades Insight below reveals a secret closely guarded for years: the step-by-step process of HOW TO MAKE A RACING TYRE. Below: A range of raw materials that make the compound of a tyre are stored, ready for processing. These consist of a range of polymers, natural rubber, silica and black carbon. Goodyear Dunlop Tyres

A variety of 'secret' ingredients that make the compound of a tyre are stored here. These ingredients are put in the mix in small quantities and they can give a competitive advantage when in a racing environment. Goodyear Dunlop Tyres

The mixed compound comes off the mill, is cooled and is stacked ready to be extruded. Goodyear Dunlop Tyres

This is a Banbury Mixer. This is what mixes all of the compound ingredients together at a high temperature. Goodyear Dunlop Tyres

This is the top of the Banbury Mixer, where the ingredients are weighed and placed on the conveyor belt before going through the hatch and into the Banbury Mixer. Goodyear Dunlop Tyres

Operators manually weigh the ingredients on the Banbury Mixer conveyor belt. Goodyear Dunlop Tyres

Operators prepare the compound for batching. Goodyear Dunlop Tyres

The compound is stacked in sheets. Goodyear Dunlop Tyres

Scrap compound is stored and is recycled into the flooring for children's playgrounds. Goodyear Dunlop Tyres

The tyres are ready for curing after stage three of the tyre building process. Goodyear Dunlop Tyres

This is a Tread Extruder. It creates the compound into a tread that is then applied to the carcass. This is where multi-tread compounds can be produced. A multi tread compound is where a soft and hard compound can be used in one tread to give optimum performance across the tyre tread. Goodyear Dunlop Tyres

Once extruded the tread is put onto a barrel. Goodyear Dunlop Tyres

This machine prepares the Jointless Belt which is a combination of Kevlar and rubber. This is later wrapped around the tyre. Goodyear Dunlop Tyres

This is bead wire which creates the bead in the rim of the tyre. Goodyear Dunlop Tyres

Completed beads are ready for further manufacture. Goodyear Dunlop Tyres

These are completed carcasses which is the inner part of the tyre / The operator builds the carcass using a range of materials, these include plies, breakers and chaffers. The ingredients of these components include steel and aramid. Goodyear Dunlop Tyres

The operator prepares tread compound for application to the carcass by coating it in a special resin. Goodyear Dunlop Tyres

The operator creates the outer layer of the tyre by applying tread compound to a base. Goodyear Dunlop Tyres

The machine automatically applies the Jointless Belt (Kevlar) to the top layer of the tyre. Goodyear Dunlop Tyres

This machine consolidates the carcass with the top layer of the tyre ready for curing. Goodyear Dunlop Tyres

The operator applies components ready to complete the full carcass. Goodyear Dunlop Tyres

The raw tyres sit on racks before the curing process. Goodyear Dunlop Tyres

The tyre comes out of its mould after being cured at a high temperature. Goodyear Dunlop Tyres

This is the inside of the curing mould. 'Bladders' are filled with hot water or nitrogen and cook the tyres from the inside. Goodyear Dunlop Tyres

Meanwhile, an operator builds authentic vintage tyres for those classic car owners who wish to have their tyres produced in the same way they were made when their vehicles were new. Clients include Her Majesty The Queen. Goodyear Dunlop Tyres

The 'Grandfather machine' is used to make authentic vintage tyres. Goodyear Dunlop Tyres

Once built tyres are checked for balancing and round on a conveyor machine. Goodyear Dunlop Tyres

Tyres are checked for their balance and the heaviest part of the tyre is highlighted so that fitting becomes easier. The heaviest part of the tyre will go opposite the valve. Goodyear Dunlop Tyres

These pictures show Goodyear Dunlop UK's tyre stores. They can hold up to 50,000 tyres at any one time and use a SAP system to store each tyre so they know exactly what goes where. Each tyre is fully labelled and clearly traceable from its outset. Goodyear Dunlop Tyres

Decals are stuck onto the side wall of the tyre to provide Goodyear and Dunlop with brand exposure. Goodyear Dunlop Tyres

The tyres are sent to teams throughout Europe with Goodyear and Dunlop's race-support trucks providing tyre management data at race weekends. Goodyear Dunlop Tyres

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