Initial signs are that Avon’s 2006 GT tyre could help competitors break British GT lap records this season.   Development has been on-going throughout the close season as engineers look to perfect the new tyre compounds for the coming season. The most recent test (2 February), involving teams from the GT2 and GT3 categories, at Donington Park illustrated just how far Avon have come in just a few intensive months of R&D.

Incredibly, despite an ambient temperature hovering around freezing, TracksSpeed’s team manager Piers Masarati, who was testing a Porsche 911, managed to set a time 0.7 seconds quicker* than last year’s pole position for the GT3 category.

After the test, Masarati commented: “These new Avons are just fantastic to drive on, I am amazed that we have managed to go that much quicker with such a low ambient temperature. Some of the drivers who were out on them for the first time were convinced the tyres must be very soft to grip so well in the cold, but at the end of a 60 lap test they showed hardly any signs of degeneration!

He added: “Our new drivers Matt Harris and Miles Hulford both had a go in the car and they were both impressed with how it felt on the new rubber.”

The 2006 Avon British GT Championship kicks off at Oulton Park circuit in Cheshire on Easter Weekend (15th-17th April).