Dunlop double in ALMS a sign of “relentless development”

American Le Mans Series drivers on Dunlop tyres took two victories from pole position at Lime Rock this weekend in the Le Mans Prototype (LMP) class and the GT category in the gruelling 2h45m race. Sanjay Khanna, managing director, Dunlop Brand EMEA, stated: “Dunlop focuses on endurance racing to build longer lasting tyres for road performance.

“Many of these technologies, including our compound and construction design, are inspired by the learnings from this racing programme. Our recent successes are a result of relentless development towards endurance and performance in our Motorsport design and manufacturing centre. I’m proud of the team’s success, and there is further investment planned to sustain, and build on, this success”

In the fastest LMP class, the Lola-Mazda of Chris Dyson and Guy Smith won by nearly 20 seconds. In GT, the BMW M3 of Joey Hand and Dirk Muller took the win by a similar margin.

Hand, Muller, Dunlop and BMW is proving a dominant combination in the GT class this year, this victory being their third consecutive win, and keeping them in the lead in the manufacturer, team and driver championships. Bobby Rahal, team principal, added, “It’s another great day for BMW and Rahal Letterman Lanigan. Dunlop did a super job for us again”

Dunlop has been BMW’s Official Technical Partner since the launch of the M3 GT2 program, and the investment in tyre development at Fort Dunlop in Birmingham has, according to Dunlop, contributed towards the partnership becoming a major force globally in endurance racing. The partnership has achieved podium finishes in the Le Mans 24 hours and the Nürburgring 24 hours this year.

The American Le Mans Series resumes at Mosport, Canada, on 24 July. The next round of the Le Mans Series in Europe is at Silverstone on 11 September.

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