Bridgestone will stop manufacturing kart tires December 31 2023.
Discuss…
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What no more “Bridgestone Rocks” as a nick called them? I liked that hard tire. I think that’s what Jim Hall put on his 100cc karts when Nick and me were learning.
Bridgestone make all kinds of compounds for Karting though.
It could be a good thing for the domestic tire brands in the US at least.
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James, Domestic tire brands?? In other words Hoosiers.
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Yeah Hoosier… maybe Burris too?
Being from the other side of the pond, it always perplexed me why Hoosier were not used more widely in karting in the US… But that has changed over the last decade or so.
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Oops Burris slipped my mind.
I don’t know if things have changed since I last checked, but the American importer of Bridgestone Tires was also an importer for a chassis brand as well as having major ties to a significant kart sanctioning body in the U.S. . I wonder what kind of effect this news will have on the distributor and kart organiztion in question, if that relationship still exists?
Besides a few oil/fuel companies, and smaller companies like Keihin carburetors, the only large, multi-faceted, international corporations I can think of off the top my head, that also have a connection to karting are: Bridgestone, Briggs and Stratton, Rotax (owned by BRP), Yamaha, and Honda, and Honda and Yamaha don’t seem to be as closely involved to karting as they once were.
Bridgestone’s decision in pulling out indicates how small kart racing factors into the overall business structure of a company as large as the Japanese tire manufacturer, (something which they alluded to in their press release). If that’s the case, this might be a very bad omen for what may be in store for karting with Briggs and Stratton, considering their current struggles.
I heard tale of a proposed merger between Hoosier and Yokohama where Hoosier retains stake and domestic manufacturing.
The new offshoot is going to be called, “HoosierMama”! 
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I’ve heard there have been a lot of QC issues on the B’stones lately. Can’t imagine the tiny niche market of karting really factors into their big picture.
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Good riddance. The new compounds are delaminating left and right within the first two sessions.
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