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.
Dunlop will supply tyres to 27 cars across all four Le Mans classes in 2016, more than any other year in the millennium. The supplier will transport more than 6,000 tyres using ten trucks; more than 80 personnel will provide fitting, engineering and support. Each class has different regulations and requirements and consequently different tyre specifications.
Dunlop and Aston Martin Racing describe the test of the manufacturer’s GT tyres for the first time in November in Bahrain as “a key turning point for both parties.” Dunlop committed to a full GT class development programme and Aston Martin began a return to lifting trophies. Le Mans is of great importance to both companies who are proud of their respective success there: Dunlop has 34 overall victories, more than any other tyre manufacturer, and Aston Martin took GT class wins in 2007and 2008 and the GTE Am class win in 2014.
Dunlop’s 2016 MSA British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) tyre range has been developed to meet the championship’s two major requirements. First, the two specifications of dry tyre in soft and medium compounds need to handle nine different tracks (as well as an additional hard compound for Thruxton’s abrasive surface). And secondly, they need to handle the wide variety of temperatures across its ten rounds.
Aston Martin Racing’s entries in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) have switched from Michelin to Dunlop tyres for the 2016 season. The team evaluated Dunlop’s motorsport tyres over the winter and, under a new technical partnership, the Dunlop rubber will now be supplied to the Aston Martin Racing Vantage GTE cars.
Next year will be the 50th anniversary of the 1-2-3 finish achieved by the Ford GT at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and to mark the occasion Ford is returning to the endurance race with an all-new vehicle bearing the Ford GT name. At a recent press conference, Ford shared that it will work towards this goal with Michelin as its exclusive tyre technology partner.
Pirelli has confirmed its deal to sponsor the Village on the Curves at the Le Mans 24-hour race will continue as part of the Italian tyre firm’s agreement with Porsche Club GB. The Village on the Curves is a camping village located on the well-known Porsche Curves, formerly known as the Porsche Owners International Village. Porsche Club GB and Pirelli maintaining a significant presence at this point on the circuit in 2014.
Strakka Racing will switch to running Dunlop tyres on its S103 for both Le Mans and the remainder of the FIA World Endurance Championship. The team is testing the Dunlop rubber, used by all other entrants in the WEC LMP2 category at Spa this week and will again at the Le Mans Test Day later this month.
The Michelin shod Audi Sport Team Joest and the Dunlop supplied Jota Sport teams were among the class winners at the 82nd Le Mans 24H. The race was won outright by the LM P1 class No. 1 Audi R18 e-tron Quattro was driven by Marcel Fässler, André Lotterer and Benoît Tréluyer – their third victory as a trio – in front of 263,300 spectators over the weekend of 14-15 June.
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