SCORE Journal - The Official Publication of SCORE Off-Road Racing
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/668518
REFINING THE RACE TIRE As BFGoodrich was winning races and gaining the respect of the SCORE racing community, the company had been working on improving the race tire even further. "BFG had been focusing on a pure racing tire for the ever increasing size, demands and weight of the Trophy Truck and Class 1 vehicles," said DeAngelo. "The Baja T/A became the Project T/A and then moved into the Baja T/A KR, which was conceived for the pure racer. The Baja T/A KR was the product platform for BFG's ambition to continue to win the overall SCORE Baja races." The Baja T/A KR was the preferred racing tire for many SCORE racers and champions for more than 10 years. As improvements in racing vehicles demanded larger diameter tires, tougher sidewalls, and more durable tread compounds, BFG continued modifying and learning more from the teams they worked with. After 10 years, BFGoodrich began testing the Baja T/A KR2, which had major improvements to what teams were already using. "Frankly, we needed to make a change from the decade-plus-old Baja T/A KR," said Chris Baker. "We had constantly made incremental improvements as we learned more and as new technologies (materials, tire mechanics) could be incorporated. But the design had reached its limit. Trophy Trucks, in particular, had become so fast and so reliable that the amazing toughness of the original KR design was simply not enough. In an era which drivers are actually trail- braking in the desert, driving Trophy Trucks almost like sports cars in some cases, we had to fundamentally change our approach from simple survival to unbreakable, with significantly upgraded performance in handling, braking, driving, and torque capability. To do that, we had to start from scratch." The time and effort BFGoodrich spent racing and testing within SCORE has changed the way other tire manufacturers look at their product development. This remained consistent in the company's good times and bad. "Constant development is expensive and you only do as much of that as you have to do in order to stay ahead of the pack," said Baker. "A terrific anecdote from our past involves Frank DeAngelo, who made an effort to keep BFG's R&D corps from backing off the gas in the early days of the KR development. When motorsports research was cut short, Frank was in charge of carefully monitoring all tire testing activity in the desert. He would often ride with drivers who were testing the product. When a substantial improvement in toughness was observed during a given test, Frank would often grab the wheel from the DURING THE SCORE BAJA 2000, DAVE ASHLEY AND DAN SMITH WON THE 2000-MILE RACE ON BFG'S BAJA T/A RACE TIRE. 017 SCORE JOURNAL