Michelin targeting 20th Nürburgring win

Less than a week after claiming its 29th victory at Le Mans, Michelin will be looking to showcase the Performance-Made-To-Last qualities of the Michelin Pilot Sport range of tyres yet again when the 2020 Nürburgring 24 Hours gets under way at Germany’s infamous Nordschleife on Saturday.

The 25.9-kilometre Nordschleife, which nestles in the middle of Germany’s Eifel Mountains, is this weekend hosting the 48th running of the Nürburgring 24 Hours which starts at 3pm CEST on Saturday.

“As a race, the Nürburgring 24 Hours is unique, with factory-run GT3s competing alongside much smaller cars, like the Renault Clio and Volkswagen Polo,” says Pierre Alves, the manager of Michelin Motorsport’s endurance racing programmes.

“The track is familiarly known as the Green Hell and probably the most demanding venue anywhere in the world due to its mix of sweeping corners, tight turns, long straights, features like the banked Karrusel, hills and part of the grand prix circuit which offers less grip.

“It’s a hard test for tyres, if only because of the big compressions, and there are even a number of crests where the GT3 cars leave the ground. On top of that, the weather is notoriously changeable in the Eifel Mountains and the sheer length of the track can make tyre choices difficult because it can be raining heavily in one place and completely dry in another. It can also be quite chilly at this time of year.”

Of the 2020 race’s 97 entries, Michelin is working with the majority of the 31 works and semi-works GT3 cars in the premier SP9 class, including Audi R8 LMSs, Mercedes-AMG GT3s, Lamborghini Huracans, Ferrari 488 GT3s, Porsche 911 GT3s and BMW M6 GT3s… These are partners that Michelin equips all-season long in the Nürburgring Endurance Series which takes places exclusively at the German track.

“Our SP9 partners will be able to choose between medium cold weather, medium and medium warm weather Michelin Pilot Sport slicks, along with a full wet and a wet for drying conditions.”

Michelin runners have won the last two Nürburgring 24 Hours and the French firm is this year chasing a 20th victory.

It also holds numerous records for the Nordschleife which is frequently used by car manufacturers to reveal the performance of their models. In 2018, the Porsche 919 Hybrid established a new outright lap record (5m19.546s) on Michelin Pilot Sport tyres in the hands of Timo Bernhard, while a Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2-equipped Porsche Panamera clocked a new Executive Cars record (7m29.81s) as recently last month.