As a part of its dedication to accelerating the usage of sustainable applied sciences within the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, Bridgestone Americas (Bridgestone) has developed an all-new race tire with a sidewall made with pure rubber derived from the guayule desert shrub. Bridgestone made the competitors debut of those Firestone Firehawk alternate race tires made with guayule on the Massive Machine Music Metropolis Grand Prix in Nashville 5-7 Aug. (Earlier publish.)
Bridgestone is utilizing racing to display the efficiency of pure rubber by growing an all-new race tire with a sidewall made from guayule. Guayule holds promise instead crop for America’s drought-stricken desert southwest and a home supply of pure rubber.
Bridgestone is utilizing racing as a proving floor to display the efficiency of this rubber materials, which it has been closely researching for greater than a decade. Guayule is grown and processed on the firm’s R&D services in Arizona and made into the Firestone Firehawk alternate race tires at its Akron, Ohio, race tire manufacturing facility.
Firestone Firehawk race tires with sidewalls made with guayule-derived pure rubber have been launched on the Indy 500 Pit Cease Problem in Might 2022 as a primary look earlier than debuting in competitors because the alternate race tire on the Massive Machine Music Metropolis Grand Prix. Bridgestone plans to include guayule pure rubber into extra of its race tires in 2023.
Guayule is a warmth tolerant, woody shrub that thrives in America’s desert southwest. The shrub could be farmed with present row-crop tools, serving to to save lots of prices for farmers.
Bridgestone believes guayule rubber has the potential to have a constructive financial impact whereas aiding in lowering the power and different environmental impacts related to the transportation of rubber sourced abroad.
Bridgestone launched its guayule analysis initiative in 2012 when it broke floor on a guayule processing and analysis heart in Mesa, Ariz. At this time, the corporate operates the analysis heart in Mesa, in addition to a 287-acre guayule farm in Eloy, Ariz.
Thus far, Bridgestone has invested greater than $100 million in its efforts to commercialize guayule, attaining main milestones reminiscent of producing the primary tire containing guayule-derived pure rubber in 2015 and continued growth of its guayule molecular breeding program. Bridgestone goals to commercialize use of guayule rubber in tires by 2030.
