Toyo Open Country A/T II tyres remain in roadworthy condition after five days of Stadium Super Truck torture.
Toyo Open Country A/T II tyres fitted to 10 trucks competing in the debut of the Toyo Tires Stadium Super Trucks (presented by Traxxas) at the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide all remained in roadworthy condition following practice, qualifying and racing over five days and two circuits.
Since arriving in Australia in mid-February the trucks have endured a full day of driver familiarisation and practice in Mallala, practice and qualifying rounds on Thursday and racing on Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the Clipsal 500 track last week.
The control tyre for the Australian debut of the series, the Open Country A/T IIs did not suffer any punctures, functional damage or excessive wear during the rigours of Stadium Super Truck competition.
Stadium Super Trucks place mechanical components under extreme stress. Competitors lock up their brakes into corners, drift and ‘three wheel’ through turns and race at speeds of over 200km/h onto jumps that launch trucks 10 metres in the air and nearly 70 metres down track.
The Adelaide Parklands track is a street circuit: bumpy with tight turns, high kerbs and omnipresent concrete walls. The unique super trucks layout adds an additional challenge – a narrow chicane and five large jumps. Stadium Super Truck racing at the Clipsal 500 included multiple roll-overs, collisions and heavy landings.
Stadium Super Trucks series creator, owner and top seeded competitor Robby Gordon was impressed by the resilience of the tyres.
“It’s amazing that a stock Toyo tyre can handle this kind of punishment,” Mr Gordon said.
“Stadium Super Trucks make 650 horsepower and the racing is brutal on tyres. These are the same tyres we practised with, and they will run through four days of on-track activity.
“I would put the Toyo tyre above any off-road tyre out there. The Open Country M/T is what we use in the desert because it has bigger nobbies, but if you’re going to do more driving on the street, the A/T II is definitely the tyre package you want.
“It doesn’t matter what it is, any place, anywhere, Toyo is a better tyre. As far as reliability goes, I have gone through three Dakars now without a single flat,” he said.
Toyo Tyres Australia Limited technical manager Steve Burke said post-race inspections offered no evidence of the tyres needing to be replaced.
“Looking at the tyres, they were all still very much in roadworthy condition. I daresay they had another race or three in them,” said Mr Burke.
“I haven’t seen many motorsports that push tyres as hard as Stadium Super Trucks and I was blown away after I saw what they were doing with them. You could take the tyres off the race trucks, put them onto your street car, pass a road worthy inspection and drive safely on a highway or effectively off-road.”
The same off-the-shelf tyre as used by Stadium Super Track racing, Toyo's Open Country A/T II is available now in 32 sizes with an expanding range – most available in a light-truck construction.
