- New agreement signed by Vredestein Tyres’ parent, Apollo Tyres, applies to FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 2025 being held in Saalbach, Austria, from 4 to 16 February 2025
- The Championships is a bi-yearly flagship ski event in the winter-sports calendar, attracting millions of viewers globally
- Collaboration will raise the profile of award-winning Vredestein winter tyres, including the recently expanded Wintrac Pro range
- Wintrac Pro is offered in 11 new dimensions; range now encompasses 120 sizes for 17- to 22-inch rims
Apollo Tyres has signed a new agreement for its Vredestein premium tyre brand to become the Official Main Sponsor of the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 2025, being held in Saalbach, Austria from 4 to 16 February next year. Building on a successful partnership with the flagship event in 2023 in Courchevel and Méribel, France, the new sponsorship deal will enhance brand recognition and drive further awareness of award-winning Vredestein winter and all-season tyres. The agreement was brokered by Infront, the event’s exclusive marketing partner.
Held every two years, the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships is widely considered to be one of the premier competitions for alpine ski racing globally. It welcomes around 600 of the world’s best male and female athletes from over 75 nations to compete across the core disciplines: Downhill, Super G, Giant Slalom, Slalom and Combined.
As well as attracting elite-level skiers, the Championships have been devised to ignite enthusiasm for winter sports and inspire new generations of skiers. To date, the Championships have been hosted by 12 different countries across Europe, North America, South America and Asia.
Throughout the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 2025, the Vredestein brand will feature prominently on the bibs of athletes for selected events and on banners lining the competition courses. Branding will also feature on the official leaderboard and on the flower ceremony backdrop for selected events, which will be used during the opening ceremony and for the winners’ presentation following the conclusion of each event.
“The FIS Alpine World Ski Championships attracts hundreds of millions of viewers from around the world, who tune in to marvel at the pinnacle of alpine skiing,” explains Benoit Rivallant, President Europe, at Apollo Tyres. “This makes it the perfect platform for us to showcase the Vredestein brand, as well as signal the high-performance capabilities of our winter and all-season tyre ranges.
“This latest agreement is part of a broader commitment to major sporting events around the world, from skiing and motorsport to football and running, engaging with enthusiasts who appreciate premium quality, performance-focused products.”
Additional sizes launched for highly acclaimed Wintrac Pro
Apollo Tyres recently expanded its award-winning range of Vredestein Wintrac Pro ultra-high-performance (UHP) winter tyres, adding 11 new options including four completely new sizes. The Wintrac Pro is suitable for a variety of vehicles, including the Peugeot 3008, Volkswagen ID5 and ID Buzz, and Tesla Model Y. The Wintrac Pro portfolio now encompasses 120 different dimension options, for rims from 17 to 22 inches.
Certified with the ‘Three Peak Mountain Snowflake’ symbol, indicating compliance with EU winter tyre regulations ECE R117 for use on snow and ice, the Wintrac Pro offers superior standards of all-weather cornering grip, short stopping distances and impressive control at high speeds. Selected tyres in the Wintrac range are also now available with a ‘Y’ speed rating, making them appropriate for use at speeds of up to 300 km/h (186mph).
Developed by Apollo Tyres’ global R&D team in the Netherlands, the Wintrac Pro features a sophisticated patented compound with high silica and resin content for excellent traction in wet, snowy and icy conditions. The tread pattern incorporates sharply angled centre grooves and shoulder sipes to ensure consistent cornering response in challenging conditions. Equal pressure distribution across the tread optimises traction on snow, while horizontal sipes in the central area facilitate progressive braking and acceleration.
In response to the growing popularity of performance-focused EVs, Apollo Tyres has upgraded several sizes of the Wintrac Pro to better manage key characteristics of modern plug-in cars – for example their increased weight compared to equivalent combustion-engine cars, and the fact that they can deploy maximum torque from lower speeds. Selected tyres in the range now have an ‘XL’ load index, meaning they can cope with significantly higher vehicle mass, and the speed index has been increased by one rating for seven of the available sizes.
Yves Pouliquen, Group Head of Sales and Marketing at Apollo Tyres commented: “The winter performance tyre segment is highly competitive and one that brings very significant technical challenges, such as creating a tyre that can perform just as well at very high speeds on a dry autobahn as on a snowy Alpine pass. The insights we gain from developments in this segment help us deliver new innovations and maintain leadership the other categories in which Vredestein products have a competitive edge.”
Amsterdam, 25 January 2024
Anicecommunication Media Relations Apollo Tyres & Vredestein Italy
