Continental's 'African Summer' Series of Events Brings the 2010 FIFA World Cup to the Nordheide

HANOVER, GERMANY – July 9, 2010: As an Official Sponsor of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, Continental organised a technically challenging event to inform visitors of the performance capabilities of the new high-tech tyre ContiSportContact 5 P.

The driving trials were skilfully tied in with the company's commitment to football sponsorship, with the most thrilling World Cup matches being transmitted as part of a public viewing for up to 400 guests at the Contidrom, Continental's test centre in the Nordheide region of Germany. The company had invited well over 2,000 guests, who were subdivided into 13 groups and were thus able to personally experience the finer points of the new product in terms of grip and steering precision, as well as the tyre's particularly well-balanced driving characteristics - with an exciting World Cup match rounding off the day.

Extensive driving trials demonstrate the high safety reserves of premium tyres

The individual aspects of the driving trials were designed to highlight the safety-relevant aspects of the new super sports tyre. Braking tests on wet asphalt, for example, demonstrated the clear distinctions between this tyre and a cheap import from East Asia. A vehicle fitted with Continental's new tyre and braking from a speed of 80 km/h (50 mph) will stop a good car's length before one fitted with a competitive product.

The driving trials on the fully soaked wet handling track also showed that the new ContiSportContact 5 P was as effective on vehicles with front- or rear-wheel-drive as on those with all-wheel-drive.

The aquaplaning circuit served to compare the driving performance of a new Continental tyre (tread depth approx. 8 mm) with that of Continental tyres where the tread depth had been reduced to 3 millimetres. "This driving test is particularly important to us for two reasons - firstly, as tread depth diminishes, there is a disproportionate reduction in aquaplaning safety, which is why we have for years recommended 3 millimetres as the absolute minimum tread depth for summer tyres; in our opinion, the legal standard of 1.6 millimetres is far too little. Secondly, we want to highlight the additional Tread Wear Indicator (TWI), which becomes visible when the tread depth is worn down to 3 mm, to ensure that motorists can identify the recommended time to replace their tyres" explained Alexander Lührs, Press Officer at Continental.

Balanced grip on dry asphalt when driving close to the limit is traditionally one of the strong points of Continental tyres, so taking on the full five kilometres of the dry handling course at cornering speeds of up to 160 km/h (100 mph) is an obligation, rather than a choice. The racing taxi events were a particular highlight here, with a Porsche 911 2 S, an Audi R 8 and a racing Touran taking part, driven by professionals with guests as co-drivers - and all taken right to the limit.

Rounding off the series of driving events were trips along the off-road course, which required maximum skill and concentration in vehicle handling.

And anyone who then went on the guided Road Book Tour through the nearby Serengeti-Park Hodenhagen was able to experience giraffes, gnus, lions, monkeys and rhinos at first hand.

Over 2,000 enthusiastic visitors at 13 events

In all Continental invited almost 2,500 guests to its African Summer. These included the entire professional team of the German Bundesliga football club Hannover 96, who came along after their training session to try their hand at many of the driving challenges. This provided a welcome change of scene and gave them the opportunity to pick up a few safety tips from the tyre experts. Trading partners from Germany, Austria and Switzerland accounted for the largest group of participants, whilst around 100 journalists from Europe, Russia, the Middle East, Asia and the United States had ample opportunity to put the new tyre through its paces; they were also able to see for themselves Continental's very visible presence at all the World Cup matches and judge the global effectiveness of the company's commitment to World Cup sponsorship.

"The 'African Summer' series of events provided us with the best way of presenting tyres and football together and also publicly demonstrating our commitment," said Lührs. "We were, however, keen to ensure that the event was highly informative and demonstrated the special characteristics of our new top product, together with our commitment to football, in the most effective way." Positive feedback from the guests about the exciting driving programme, combined with the live transmission of the World Cup matches experienced in a large group, is enough of an incentive to repeat this initiative in the future. At the same time, according to Lührs, the 'African Summer' events already provide something of a foretaste of 2014 - when once again the ball will be rolling worldwide at Continental, with the company's announcement this year that it would be acting as an Official Sponsor of the 2010 FIFA World Cup Brazil.