Tuesday 8th June 2010

PH Fleet Update: Greg Mansell Versus BMW M6

We say 'thanks for the memories' and an £800 tyre bill...

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Greg Mansell's dad had one of these...

It's easy to shag a set of tyres on a 500hp super-coupe, but we've rarely seen it done with such aplomb as when Greg Mansell shredded the Pirelli P Zero Corsas on the PH fleet BMW M6 at Silverstone.

The M6 was pressed into service by the Beechdean Mansell team for some high speed, mainly sideways passenger laps of the new Silverstone circuit for the benefit of our recent PH competition winners. Greg, who at 22 years old wouldn't be covered by our insurance to drive the M6 on the road (go figure!), gave the car such a good thrashing that smoke was pouring off the brake pads and the tyres had er, 'gone off' within a couple of laps.

The Pirelli P Zero Corsa Asymmetrics which are so sticky on the road were no match for the treatment being meted out, and once all 10 PH competition winners had been treated to their hot lap the rubber was in a truly sorry state.

Greg signs the shredded P Zero

Greg found the experience suitably amusing, so we got him to sign and date one of the rear tyres as a memento of the experience.

Chatting afterwards, it turns out Greg's had a bit of history with the M6, as dad Nigel used to own one himself when the car was first launched.

"We all really liked it," said Greg, referring to himself, his brother Leo and his dad. "There are lots of cars that are really quick, but we were all really impressed by the very good stability at high speed - you know, over 160mph."

I basked for a moment in the new-found knowledge that the legendary Nigel Mansell OBE 'rated' our fleet flagship so highly.

"Of course it's a complete pudding on the track compared to that," said Greg, which might have destroyed the magic of the moment had he not been referring to the family's Ginetta-Zytek LMP1 car sitting in the garage behind us.

Which leaves us only one question, namely what to do with one utterly shagged Pirelli P Zero with the signature of a possible future Le Mans winner on it. So yes folks, it's competition time again!

If you want this unique item of motorsport memorabilia, drop us an email at [e-mail] with 'Greg Mansell' in the subject line, and a name and address in the UK where you'd like us to post it. Entries close on Monday, and the first email out of the PH virtual hat gets it.

(And all we got was a £776 bill for a new set of rear tyres...)

[nsmith1180]

Wow, every cloud and all that.

[Draexin]

"...and address in the UK..."

Bugger.. are you sure you guys can't drop it in the north sea and let the waves carry it to Dutchy-land?

[Stuart]

It is currently sitting in the corner of my office smelling of, well, tyre, and probably quietly poisoning me. It also looks as if someone has set about the middle tread section with a blunt axe. Please win it soon, whoever you are....

[Brewsters]

Hmmm....if I win, can you chuck the other rear in as well? Probably has more tread on than mine...

[turbo-ww]

Brewsters said:

Hmmm....if I win, can you chuck the other rear in as well? Probably has more tread on than mine...

Having seen said tyres I'll bet they haven't.....

[R66STU]

one of my favorite cars.. well actually i like the whole 6 series range.(old and new)

If i win i will put a tuffened bit of glass on the top of it, and make it into a coffee table ha

[petrol_heads36]

Am I missing something here but who gives a flying fk????????????????????

[Altrezia]

petrol_heads36 said:

Am I missing something here but who gives a flying fk????????????????????

Yup.

[L100NYY]

petrol_heads36 said:

Am I missing something here but who gives a flying fk????????????????????

And yet you still posted. Excellent work.

[nadirv8]

I don't know all that much about how the drifting or track driving affects tyres but is it normal to see the centre carved out like that? My local MOT centre would say they're over inflated.

[R66STU]

to answer the above...

the tyres are more than likley run flats, with REALLY hard sides and thicker rubber, the middles do tend to wear like that.

Edited by R66STU on Tuesday 8th June 13:41

[Garlick]

petrol_heads36 said:

Am I missing something here but who gives a flying fk????????????????????

Will you reply similarly to all threads you dislike on PH?

Just curious.

[LHD]

L100NYY said:

petrol_heads36 said:

Am I missing something here but who gives a flying fk????????????????????

And yet you still posted. Excellent work.

Takes all sorts Loon.

BTW, love the Evora ad in C&SC this month.

[ScoobieWRX]

I'd have said over inflated tyres too. I cannot believe even runflats would wear like that without being properly over inflated. Was that done on prupose just to make sure the tyres break traction more easily??

I'd much rather be going round quickly and cleanly to see the cars true colours and real skill of the person driving it rather than indulging in tyre smoking shananigans.

[130R]

R66STU said:

the tyres are more than likley run flats

No they are not

[L100NYY]

LHD said:

L100NYY said:

petrol_heads36 said:

Am I missing something here but who gives a flying fk????????????????????

And yet you still posted. Excellent work.

Takes all sorts Loon.

BTW, love the Evora ad in C&SC this month.

:blushes:

[Johnpidge]

Love the tyres but leave them wrapped on the M6 please and deliver to Isleworth as per email - thank you so kindly!!!!!!

[predding]

Altrezia said:

petrol_heads36 said:

Am I missing something here but who gives a flying fk????????????????????

Yup.

Yup +1 - who's the dummy holding the £800 tyre bill...

Edited by predding on Tuesday 8th June 16:15

[Kazlet]

predding said:

Altrezia said:

petrol_heads36 said:

Am I missing something here but who gives a flying fk????????????????????

Yup.

Yup +1 - who's the dummy holding the £800 tyre bill...

Edited by predding on Tuesday 8th June 16:15

Yup +2

[Chris-R]

nadirv8 said:

I don't know all that much about how the drifting or track driving affects tyres but is it normal to see the centre carved out like that? My local MOT centre would say they're over inflated.

Pressures were correct(ish!)

What you can't see in the pics is that centre section wasn't worn in the traditional sense, instead a whole strip of rubber seems just to have disintegrated and come away from the tyre.