Whether in the drift scene, truck racing, sprinting or long-distance driving, MEYLE is active wherever vehicles and vehicle parts have to withstand the highest loads.
The company has been involved in the “Super Sports Car League” since 2019: MEYLE is a technical cooperation partner for the ADAC GT Masters team T3 Motorsport. The team around the young drivers Maximilian Paul and William Tregurtha will contest their premiere season with a more than 580-hp Audi R8 LMS GT3. T3 Motorsport’s programme to promote young talent will also receive professional support from the Hamburg-based spare parts manufacturer. An Audi RS3 LMS TCR and a VW Scirocco Cup will be used as part of the NES 500 and 24H Series. “Team T3 Motorsport is the ideal partner for us to meet our demand for better parts and solutions and to develop and test durable and high-performance products. We are delighted to have found a strong and committed cooperation partner who places the same high demands on quality and longevity,” says Marc Erdmann, engineer from the suspension and steering division at MEYLE and in action at the race track.
The manufacturer takes the technical cooperation literally and makes the claim: “We are more than a financier”. Rather, the focus is on the transfer of technical know-how: through the performance analysis of the vehicle components in racing use, MEYLE gains valuable insights for its own further development. In return, the racing vehicles are equipped with high-quality parts. In addition, MEYLE engineers support the T3 Motorsport team in all racing operations on the racetrack.
Technical cooperation partner: MEYLE parts in stress tests
In motorsports, top performance is demanded of all vehicle parts: They have to withstand particularly high loads – and they have to be extremely reliable. Just fractions of a second on the race track decide whether you win or lose. This is why it is so important that even the smallest component can guarantee high performance. T3 Motorsport relies on MEYLE’s manufacturing expertise. The Dresden team’s race cars are fitted with high-quality parts such as the MEYLE-ORIGINAL wheel speed sensor, the MEYLE-PD brake discs, the MEYLE-HD water pump or the MEYLE-ORIGINAL ignition coil, which can deliver top performance even under the toughest conditions.
Steering parts taken under the magnifying glass
In addition to the technical data recorded during the race weekends, the subjective feedback of the racers is an important aspect for MEYLE engineers. The factory-fitted ball joints, especially in the VW Scirocco Cup, showed conspicuous features when driving over curbs in curves, which led to an early end of the race. On the basis of feedback from T3 Motorsport, MEYLE engineers tested the originally used ball joint and optimised the weak point. They developed and optimised the design of the pin in the ball joint, which is already produced in small series in the company’s own production facilities and installed in the racing cars. It will be used for the first time at the NES 500 Endurance Racing Series. The declared aim: to prevent failure of the supporting joint and finally to score important championship points. “With MEYLE, we have experts at our side who apply their expertise and understanding exactly where the parts are to be subjected to maximum stress. And I can confirm that without exception. Due to the high quality of the installed parts, we are able to score important points during the races,” says Jens Feucht, Managing Director of T3 Motorsport GmbH.
MEYLE not only contributes to the technical equipment of T3 Motorsport racing cars. With every kilometre covered on the race track, the engineers collect large amounts of data and essential findings, which flow directly into the development of new parts and part optimisation. The flexibility and short production cycles of the Hamburg-based company enable a prompt reaction to the current spare parts demand in the open parts market. MEYLE AG currently offers more than 24,000 automotive spare parts from the product groups steering/steering, drive-train, brakes, suspension/damping, cooling/filters, rubber-to-metal parts, liquids, electronics/sensor technology as well as engine/gear for passenger cars, LCVs and trucks.
“Rolling test laboratory”: from the race track to the road
For consumers, quality and durability are paramount. Every single part of a vehicle must withstand the greatest stresses and strains – at best without being damaged. This applies not only to the race track, but also to daily road traffic. Repairs cost time and money – and often also worries. For this reason, quality-conscious drivers rely on high-quality parts. MEYLE customers, in particular, benefit here from the use on the race track. All components are calculated, tested, further developed and adapted to the daily requirements of road traffic. Because only if vehicle parts can withstand extreme conditions can they also offer drivers maximum safety on all roads worldwide
