Michelin video highlights importance of fitting the right tyre

Tyres, observes Michelin, are often seen as black, round objects that keep expensive alloy wheels off the ground – but not many drivers appreciate the benefits of choosing the right tyres for their car and style of driving. To address is, the tyre maker has interviewed several Audi Sport drivers and race engineers to find out why they choose to fit Michelin tyres and why fitting the correct tyres is important from a racing and road car point of view. A video of this interview can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82W_ROmr1JA.

Michelin notes that unlike the tyres used in championships such as Formula 1, the endurance racing tyres are closely linked in terms of size and performance characteristics to those used on high performance road cars. Endurance racing calls for tyres that will last as long as possible while offering high levels of grip in various conditions. This was demonstrated at last year’s Le Mans 24 hour race, during which the No.2 Audi R18 TDI managed to race for 750 kilometres on one set of tyres, and at speeds of up to 330km/h with three Peugeots in hot pursuit.

This year Audi will field two R18 e-tron quattro’s and two R18 ultra prototypes at Le Mans – all shod with Michelin tyres. The two hybrid cars will be driven by last year’s Le Mans winning trio of Marcel Fässler, André Lotterer, and Benoît Tréluyer with Dindo Capello, Tom Kristensen, and Allan McNish in the other car. The R18 Ultra will see Loïc Duval joined by Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas with the other R18 Ultra driven by Marco Bonanomi, Oliver Jarvis and Mike Rockenfeller.

In the video, drivers Allan McNish and Tom Kristensen, and race engineer Howden Haynes share their views and experiences of tyres and talk about how innovation in motorsport benefits drivers with better cars and tyres.