DUNLOP ULTRA X COMES FIRST AGAIN
DUNLOP ULTRA X CONVEYOR BELT SELECTED FOR
THE ZANDVOORT MOTOR RACING CIRCUIT
In the world of professional motor racing, driver and crowd safety is put before all else. So when the owners of the internationally famous Zandvoort Circuit in The Netherlands were looking for the best way to keep tire barriers safely in place they turned to Dunlop Conveyor Belting for help. The result was the installation of more than one and a half kilometers of 1200mm wide Dunlop Ultra X3 conveyor belt. According to Dunlop’s Country Manager for the Benelux, Wouter van Laar, there were four very good reasons for the choice. “Dunlop Ultra X is far stronger than conventional rubber conveyor belt because it is three times more rip-resistant, five times more resistant to tearing and has far superior resistance to impact. It is also fully resistant to the effects of ozone and UV light so it will not deteriorate over time like conventional belts. It is easily the most advanced, strongest rubber conveyor belt on the market”.
Another extremely important consideration was the fact that safety marshals, other personnel and potentially even spectators could come into physical contact with the rubber. Unlike nearly all of its competitors, Dunlop Ultra X is entirely manufactured in The Netherlands and is fully compliant with the European Union’s REACH (Registration, Evaluation, and Authorisation of Chemical substances) regulation EC 1907/2006. These regulations were introduced to protect human health and the environment from the risks that can be posed by chemicals and “substances of very high concern” used in the manufacturing process. These include those believed to cause various forms of cancer. Sadly, most conveyor belt manufacturers seem to ignore the regulations. Manufacturers located outside of EU member states (such as those in Asia for example) are not even subject to the regulations so they are free to use unregulated raw materials. Being entirely safe to handle therefore gave Dunlop Ultra X yet another major advantage. This is not the first time Dunlop conveyor belts have been chosen for use as safety equipment. For example, they have also been used for similar purposes at the Monza circuit in Italy. The Zandvoort circuit is one of the shorter tracks on the professional calendar with a circuit length of 4.3 kilometers. It is highly regarded by drivers as being a real ‘old school’ track with very fast, banked, challenging corners, shaped by the contours created by the natural dunes. The owners have spent four million Euros bringing the circuit in line with the extremely strict safety requirements demanded by the international motor racing authorities including a number of alterations to the track and everyone at Dunlop Conveyor Belting is delighted to play their part in such a great success story.
