Goodyear and Brabham Automotive have announced a new partnership to collaborate across racing and road car developments. The new partnership both coincides with the return to racing of the Brabham marque and reignites a winning partnership that began in 1965.
When Goodyear launched its Eagle F1 series and Supersport tyres back in April, the company said this branding decision meant Goodyear was coming “back to the track”. Now we know precisely what this means as Goodyear has announced that it will re-enter European and International sportscar racing by developing a new range of tyres for the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC), including the Le Mans 24-hour race.
Dunlop’s long record of success at the Le Mans 24 hours and the Isle of Man TT was continued in 2018, though the tyre brand added victories in other four and two-wheel series too.
After four years of partnership with Bridgestone, Belgian motorcycle brand Saroléa has now selected Dunlop as a technical partner for its Saroléa SP7 electric racing motorcycle. Dunlop comments that the change of technical partner accompanies yesterday’s announcement of the next goal for Saroléa, which is to be recognised as a candidate for future Le Mans 24h and FIM Endurance World Championship (EWC) competition and thus directly compete with the most powerful petrol-powered EWC machines. The switch, adds Dunlop, was a move Saroléa made “to help achieve this goal.”
The new Dunlop Sport Maxx Race 2 has been approved by Porsche as original equipment for the new 911 GT3 RS. The tyre brand will supply sizes 265/35ZR20 (99Y) XL and 325/30ZR21 (108Y) XL to Porsche, both tyres carrying the N1 marking to indicate Porsche homologation.
Dunlop’s Le Mans 24 Hours 2017 is one to remember with records broken, overall race laps led, and overall podiums in addition to the more typical class wins and podiums, in a race with high temperatures testing cars and drivers. Track temperatures exceeded 50 degrees towards the end of Sunday’s race in France’s Sarthe region.
Last year, Dunlop returned to GT racing in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC), taking the Teams’ and Drivers’ titles, five wins and nine podium finishes with Aston Martin Racing. The experience the tyre maker gained, however, is of limited help, as a complete change in tyre regulations was introduced for the 2017 season. These changes place fresh demands upon the tyres used and bring different criteria for Dunlop’s tyre designers and engineers to focus on.
Dunlop has released a new video with senior engineer, racing car tyre development, Vincent van Goor explaining its tyre development ahead of this year’s Le Mans 24 Hours. A record number of LMP2 cars will compete on the manufacturer’s rubber – 22 of the 25 entrants. All of the cars are racing on the La Sarthe track for the first time courtesy of new regulations for 2017. The race starts at 15:00 CEST on Saturday 17 June.
Pirelli has renewed its sponsorship of the Village on the Curves at Le Mans for 2017, as part of the Italian tyre company’s relationship with Porsche Club GB. The Village on the Curve is a camping village located on the Porsche Curves at the French circuit. Porsche owners flock to the village to enjoy the views of the track and community atmosphere.
Earlier this month, Bridgestone’s Nico Thuy commented that the tyre maker was “aiming for great results with our new team partners” during the year’s FIM Endurance World Championship (EWC) series, and during the second round event this goal was realised with a second-place finish. On 16 April, some 75,000 spectators watched the YART Yamaha Official EWC Team finish the 24 Heures Motos Le Mans less than 20 seconds behind fellow Yamaha-backed team GMT 94. The two teams finished 12 laps ahead of the rest of the field.
Bridgestone is upbeat about its first race back in world championship motorcycle competition, after the YART Yamaha Official EWC Team on Bridgestone tyres topped preliminary testing at Le Mans on 28 and 29 March.
FIA World Endurance Championship Porsche teams Dempsey-Proton and Gulf Racing will run on Dunlop tyres in their global campaigns following comparative testing. Both teams have experience of working with Dunlop in the European Le Mans Series (ELMS), where the brand is the sole tyre supplier to the LMGTE class. Both teams will race in the LMGTE AM class of WEC, including the Le Mans 24 hour race.
Pirelli has announced an extension to its Bute Motorsport relationship, becoming the exclusive tyre supplier to the new LMP3 Cup Championship after signing a three-year deal. The new series was officially renamed at the beginning of the year following an exhibition race at Snetterton last October under the Prototype Cup banner. The championship features the Le Mans Prototype 3 (LMP3), developed under the technical stewardship of the ACO and aimed at teams and drivers looking to compete in the Le Mans 24 Hours.
Dunlop continued its success in the LMP2 category at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, with the top seven finishers in the class using its tyres. The adaptability of Dunlop’s tyres was key to this success, as these top seven finishers included chassis from six manufacturers. Signatech Alpine took the victory, having completed 357 laps. The Dunlop tyre range is all-new for 2016 and the LMP2 tyres demonstrated the progress the brand had hoped to achieve; all teams used the same sets for four stints, while several managed to complete five – a feat Dunlop describes as a first in the modern era of sportscar racing.
The developments of Michelin’s endurance racing tyres are on show at this year’s Le Mans 24 hours. The manufacturer said its winter programme, conducted between November 2015 and the FIA World Endurance Championship’s 2016 season-opener at Silverstone, comprised every class, while focusing on making its tyres more competitive against increasingly active competition. Nearly every car competing on Michelin tyres has evolved since last year, the tyre supplier explains.
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