09/12/2005 The ContiChampionContact car tire is on its way

Frankfurt/Hanover, September 2005. Continental is celebrating the FIFA Soccer World Cup 2006TM with a special tire. In the run-up to this mega-event, the ContiChampionContact will be available from your tire dealer and will be found on VIP vehicles and shuttles.

Here you can download the press release as a doc-file (58 KB).

Franz Beckenbauer and Wolfgang Niersbach will be using it – as will Sepp Blatter and Brazil's soccer legend Pele when they come to Germany for the FIFA World Cup 2006™. That’s because the official team and organizer vehicles at this, the greatest sporting event of the decade, will be equipped with the special tire – the ContiChampionContact – designed by Continental, one of the event’s sponsors.

Here you can order or download the picture from the top right corner...

Originally the soccer tires were meant only for official use. In the run-up to the event, the tire was to be shown in specially designed displays at tire dealerships merely to underscore the company's role as a sponsor. Now, however, Continental AG has reversed its  decision. "Every car-driving sport enthusiast will be able to purchase the ContiChampionContact, decorated with stylized soccer balls on the sidewalls, at tire dealerships," ensures Ralf Hoffmann, European Brand Marketing Manager. Eight sizes are to be produced, basically in sizes of 16, 17 and 18 inches. "We’re holding our breath how drivers will react to the decorated sides."

With this striking design, the ContiChampionContact will show the link between Continental and soccer. Soccer balls are vulcanized into the tire alongside the company logo. The tire developers have used the tire tread pattern from the successful sports tire – ContiSportContact 2. Its asymmetrical tread pattern conveys at first glance lots of grip and spurting power – characteristics needed in getting ahead on the turf.

The tread produced very good results in tests carried out by big-name car magazines. Journalists from "auto", "motor und sport" (issue 06/2005) and "ADAC motorwelt" (issue 03/2004) awarded the high technology tire the citation "particularly recommended."

Car manufacturers and tuning companies also show a penchant for outfitting their vehicles with the ContiSportContact 2. New vehicles from Porsche, BMW and Mercedes Benz, for example, roll off the production line on sports tires from Hanover.

Even before the Confederation Cup got under way, the tire caused quite a stir when a large quantity disappeared from the Conti plant in Korbach. Individual tires were then offered on the Internet. Ralf Hoffmann thus cautions: "The ContiChampionContact will not be delivered to retail outlets until January 2006. Drivers must thus assume that any tires offered for sale before the end of the year are stolen goods."

The Continental Corporation is a leading supplier of tires, brake systems, chassis components, vehicle electronics and technical elastomers. In 2004 the corporation realized sales of EUR12.6 billion. At present it has a worldwide workforce of more than 81,000.

The Tires division is an Official Partner of the 2006 FIFA World Cup GermanyTM. Further information is available at www.conti-online.com and www.ContiSoccerWorld.com.