Ski World Cup and Bridgestone

The Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cup kicks off the new 2012/2013 season with the giant slalom events in Sölden, Austria on 27th-28th October.

As last season, Bridgestone will be main sponsor at Sölden and a total of 37 World Cup Alpine Ski events in eight European countries from October 2012 to March 2013, in support of the Bridgestone range of winter tyres.

Bridgestone added surprise at the opening in Sölden with the unveiling of a striking statue of a downhill skier made of tyres. Artist Mirko Siakkou-Flodin worked with 45 Bridgestone tyres to evoke the skier’s strength, determination and muscle tone in full skiing motion.

“We wanted to dramatize the close association between the control and performance of Bridgestone winter tyres and top-level Alpine skiing” said José-Enrique Gonzalez Director Consumer Products and Sales Support, Bridgestone Europe.

The 2-metre high, 500 kilogram statue will appear at several FIS alpine skiing events this winter. Bridgestone will also add to its sponsorship branding package on bibs, start huts and gate flags with high-visibility panels on course and in the finish area and local marketing programmes in support of the Bridgestone winter tyre line-up.

Half-Greek, half-German, Mirko Siakkou-Flodin is renowned for his action art and “scrap” sculptures, and has been working with automotive parts for many years. In 2009 he created a 3-metre tall galloping horse tyre sculpture, now standing in Dubai.

Time to change over to winter tyres
Alpine Ski displays the same performance values as Bridgestone winter tyres: control, balance, safety and grip, and the championship season opens as the time for changing over to winter tyres approaches in Europe. Winter tyres are specially designed to provide more grip and safety in cold and frozen conditions. They use compound materials that remain soft and supple in colder temperatures and tread designs with sipes for added “edge effect” and grip on ice and snow.

Benefits in above-zero temperatures
On ice or snow covered roads, this difference in grip potential is even more striking. Bridgestone internal testing as well as tests conducted by a third party1 show that on snow, the braking distance for a summer tyre can be almost three times longer than a winter tyre! But winter tyres are not only more effective than summer tyres on frozen surfaces, they also provide better grip and safety in all winter conditions.

This is why, Bridgestone, as a tyre manufacturer, strongly recommends changing to winter tyres not just when snow falls but already when cold weather strikes.

1 Test conducted by independent test center for Bridgestone. Track: compact snow, Speed: 35kmh to 5kmh, Tyres: 225/55 R16 95W Bridgestone premium (summer) and 225/55 R16 99H XL Bridgestone lamellen (winter), Vehicle: Audi A4 Berline. “Test World”, Ivalo, Finland, 04/2009.