TYRES: Hankook has sights on Nurburgring 24-hour victory

Tyre manufacturer Hankook has serious plans to climb onto the winning podium spot with the German HEICO Motorsport team at this year's Nurburgring 24-hour race.

The assault will come in the form of a HEICO Mercedes-Benz SLS GT3 AMG wearing Hankook's new Ventus motorsport tyres. The car will contest the second round of the VLN endurance racing series at the Nurburgring in preparation for the 24-hour race on May 19-20.

HEICO and Hankook have seen podium finishes before: In the 2010 Nurburgring 24-hour when a Hankook Ferrari F430 GTC driven by Australian GT champion Allan Simonsen took second place, and at the Dubai 24-hour when two HEICO Motorsport Mercedes-Benz SLS GT3s wearing Hankook tyres finished in second and third places.

HEICO team boss Norbert Bruckner said that pre-season testing at the Portimao circuit in Portugal saw a "consistently high level of performance" of the tyres, which is seen as a promising start for the 2012 season.

Hankook is no stranger to the race circuit and is entering into its second season as the exclusive tyre supplier to the German-based DTM touring car championship, as well as securing control tyre agreements with the Italian Superstars and Swedish TTA Racing Elite League touring car series.

The company has also announced that it will be the exclusive tyre supplier to the Formula 3 Euro Series. In 2002 Hankook was chosen as the official tyre partner for the Italian F3 series, followed in 2005 by the German F3 championship. Four years later Hankook became official partner for Japanese Formula 3.

The first round of the Formula 3 Euro series and DTM championship will take place at Hockenheim on April 27.

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