Le Mans 24 Hours: A full house for Michelin at the 2018 Le Mans Test Day
Michelin topped the timesheets in all four classes at the end of the official 2018 pre-Le Mans Test Day. In LM P1, rookie Fernando Alonso caused a stir by po...
Michelin looking to add to two decades of unbeaten Le Mans success
11/06/2018
Michelin has won the Le Mans 24 Hours every year since 1998, in association with Audi, Porsche, Peugeot, BMW and Bentley. This time around, the French firm is targeting a record 21st consecutive victory in France thanks to its latest-generation endurance racing tyres which combine performance with longevity. Its partners topped the timesheets in all four classes at the recent pre-race Test Day.
“This year, the pit stop regulations have changed and permit the changing of tyres while cars are being refuelled,” says Jérôme Mondain, the manager of Michelin Motorsport’s endurance racing programme. “As a consequence, fitting new tyres will cost the teams less time, which will probably prompt them to fit fresh rubber more frequently during the race.
“At the same time, though, all the cars have a maximum tyre allocation for the 24 hours, so our partners will need to run double or triple stints at the very least. Our Le Mans tyres are capable of taking this in their stride, however, because they are designed for quintuple stinting in LM P1, quadruple stinting in LM P2 and triple stinting in LM GTE, with no fall-off in performance and with no detriment to safety. It will be down to each team to establish its own strategy.”
This year again, all the LM P1 cars are racing on Michelin tyres, including the eight new non-hybrid prototypes that are up against Toyota Gazoo Racing’s two TS050 Hybrid. “The tyres for the all-wheel drive hybrid and rear-wheel drive non-hybrid cars are different. The weight distribution of these cars is different, too. The rules compel us to provide all the non-hybrid teams with the same-spec tyres.”
In LM GTE Pro, where no fewer than six carmakers (Porsche, Ford, Ferrari, Corvette, Aston Martin and BMW) will be chasing victory, all the teams have chosen Michelin tyres for the classic French race. Porsche and Ford are both fielding four cars in their bid to thwart Ferrari, Aston Martin and Corvette, while BMW is back with a brace of new M8s. All 13 cars in LM GTE Am have opted for Michelins, as well, including the Porsche, Ferrari and Aston Martin entries that stand out as the weekend’s favourites.
The competition promises to be particularly fierce in LM P2 where only a quarter of the field will be on Michelin tyres. “We are making our comeback at FIA WEC level in this class for which we have developed a new range of tyres designed to be both competitive and consistent.”
The recent Test Day on Sunday, June 3, gave teams their first chance of the year to find their marks around the famous 13.626km circuit. The best time of the day (3m19.066s) was the work of Fernando Alonso in the N°8 Toyota TS050 Hybrid/Michelin, although the Spaniard was only 614-thousandths of a second clear of the N°3 non-hybrid Rebellion/Michelin, which points to an exciting battle for supremacy. Porsche/Michelin topped both the LM GTE Pro an LM GTE Am orders, while Michelin-equipped Oreca-Gibsons clocked the two quickest efforts in LM P2.