Zandvoort: Cooper Tire preview

Cooper Tire and A1 Grand Prix Race Into Second Season

FINDLAY, OHIO, September 29, 2006 - COOPER TIRE & RUBBER COMPANY (NYSE: CTB) is set to start its second season as the official tire supplier to the A1 Grand Prix this Sunday in the Netherlands.

Cooper Tire produces slick tires and treaded rain tires fitted to 16-inch wide racing rims for all 23 of the countries participating in the World Cup of Motorsports. Because the cars and engines are the same for each team, strategic use of the Cooper-A1 tires can decide a race.

Designed to run at very high temperatures, the Cooper-A1 tire's distinctive blend of compounds create a soft and tacky tire to provide an incredible level of grip by literally sticking the car to the track. Cooper Tire has also designed a grooved wet weather tire to handle even the most severe weather conditions but with a construction that provides enough resilience to endure a full race distance.

Cooper Tire will continue to support and supply tires to the series through its Avon Tyres Racing operation based in Melksham, Wiltshire, UK.

"We were confident entering last year that our Cooper-A1 racing radials would meet and exceed driver and team expectations," said Julian Baldwin, vice president of European operations and managing director for Cooper Tire & Rubber Company Europe Ltd. "We fully expect to continue that high level of performance this year while also gathering data that is crucial to technology developments for our consumer tires."

A1 Team France was the overall winner of the inaugural season with A1 Team Switzerland taking second and A1 Team Great Britain finishing third.

-credit: cooper tire