Tyres land for new Formula 5000 car

Asian tyre maker Giti has already been named as the tyre supplier for the category, with the first batch of testing rubber – measuring an impressive 410mm across for the rears – now in the country and ready to be fitted to the prototype.

“Giti is a big company, Singapore based, with huge road tyre manufacturing facilities in both China and the USA – and with a growing presence in motorsport,” said FT5000 boss Chris Lambden.

“They decided they liked what we are doing and, in cooperation with their Australian agent Russell Palmer agreed to develop the tyres for us – you only have to look at these first sets of tyres to see what a superb job they’ve done already.

“It ticks off another box as we get closer to having the prototype car ready to run.

“Some of the external engineering involved has taken a bit longer than I’d originally hoped and we’ve also made a couple of small but significant changes since we revealed the basic car. But I’ve seen what’s coming and I think people are going to like it.

“The overall approach among all the technical partners involved has been ‘do it once, do it right’ – that’s really the only way to go, even if it does take a little longer and holds back the introduction of our product.”

The new-for-2017 category is hoping to bring back the glory days of ‘big-banger’ open-wheeler racing in Australia and New Zealand.

There will be a number of ‘warm-up’ races throughout the middle of next year, with the first full season planned across the 2017/18 summer.