Teams from the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) will take to the track for ‘Prologue’ pre-season testing at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya tomorrow. One of the most significant moments of this anticipated public test session will be the return of Goodyear to international competition.
With the 6 Hours of Bahrain, the current FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) season drew to a close. Reflecting on an “amazing season of racing,” Dunlop has congratulated Aston Martin Racing and Vaillante Rebellion for their class victories. Both raced on Dunlop tyres in open tyre classes; Aston Martin Racing won the FIA World Endurance Trophy for LMGTE Am Teams and Vaillante Rebellion won the FIA World Endurance Trophy for LMP2 Teams. Each of the teams began the event leading the standings and both claimed race victories in Bahrain to secure the crowns.
Dunlop is preparing for the final three World Endurance Championship events of 2017, with 6 Hour races in Fuji, Shanghai, and Bahrain. In LMP2, the teams will have the medium and medium-plus options for the remaining three rounds. Although the class is open in terms of tyre competition, all teams have chosen to compete on Dunlop tyres. Tyre choice in the GTE class will vary across the three available compounds depending on manufacturer and track. This is the first year with the GTE Pro class tyre restrictions in place which necessitates double stinting, and combined with the extreme conditions of the final three tracks, will make set-ups particularly critical.
The global Dunlop Motorsport organisation has taken part in the World’s Biggest Coffee Morning – dubbed Dunlop’s Fastest Coffee Morning in recognition of the participation of sporting stars – to raise funds and awareness for Macmillan Cancer Support, the brand’s corporate charity. The events taking place today (Friday 29 September) included contributions from Drivers and team members from the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship, FIA World Endurance Championship and European Le Mans Series.
Some of the closest World Endurance Championship racing of the season was witnessed at the 6 Hours of Mexico, as Dunlop supplied the tyres to the winners of all three classes in which the brand was present. In addition all three steps on a GT class podium were claimed by Dunlop drivers for the first time since the WEC was formed in 2012.
The World Endurance Championship’s mid-season break is nearly at an end, but while many were taking advantage of the summer break, tyre supplier Dunlop conducted a test in the USA focussed on 2018 sportscar tyre specifications. The manufacturer states the findings will help its designers refine the models before track testing resumes after the current season.
Dunlop is by no means the only tyre maker present in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC), and following the weekend’s 6 Hours of Nürburgring race in Germany, Michelin reports that its partners were able to “benefit fully from the performance potential of their tyres” thanks to low track temperatures of between 19°C and 26°C.
The latest round of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) has delivered Dunlop more good news. After a successful Le Mans 24h race, the racing teams who selected Dunlop tyres enjoyed success in the latest WEC round, the Nürburgring 6h.
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 will follow its successes in the first round of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) with round two in Belgium this Saturday. Spa’s infamous microclimate means that teams need to prepare for all conditions, Paul Bryant, international event manager at Dunlop Motorsport, explains: “Spa has always been one of the most unpredictable events of the year. We have been able to analyse the data from the Silverstone race and can work with our teams to improve the performance of the car and tyre packages. That’s particularly valuable in LMP2 where, due to the newness of the cars, our pre-season knowledge is limited.”
Jota Sport number 38 Jackie Chan DC Racing was the first new generation FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) LMP2 race winner at the 6 Hours of Silverstone on Dunlop’s tyres. The number 31 Vaillante Rebellion and TDS Racing completed the podium. Jean-Felix Bazelin, director of operations, Dunlop Motorsport, said: “It was the first race of the year with the new regulations in LMP2 with much more power and more downforce, and cars with relatively little mileage and data so we have all learned more this weekend and will improve for the next race.”
The Italian Autodromo Nazionale Monza hosted the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) pre-season test, the first opportunity for fans to see all the 2017 competitors and for teams to gather data before the season begins in two weeks’ time. In around 14 hours of track time, teams worked on set-ups to optimise their new tyre and car combinations; the 14 cars covered 2268 laps – a total of 13138 km. Wet weather on Saturday evening and a damp track on Sunday gave teams opportunities to work with the intermediate and full-wet tyre options.
Aston Martin Racing’s two titles at the 6 Hours of Bahrain FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) season finale came in its first season working with Dunlop. In total Dunlop-shod vehicles won five times this year in the WEC. Following prior successes in the prototype category, Dunlop chose to take on an FIA World Endurance GTE Partnership this year with the Aston team, and will seek to provide more championship standard tyres through a testing programme started in September. Xavier Fraipont, managing director, Dunlop Motorsport and motorcycle EMEA, said the tyre manufacturer is “developing new technologies for both LMP and GT with an intensive schedule of evaluation until the start of the 2017 ELMS, VLN and WEC seasons.” Tyres & Accessories caught up with Fraipont after the end of the 2016 WEC season, beginning the conversation by asking how Dunlop was able to achieve so much in endurance racing this year.
Aston Martin Racing has claimed two titles at the 6 Hours of Bahrain FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) season finale in its first season working with Dunlop. Nicki Thiim and Marco Sørensen won the FIA World Endurance Cup for GT Drivers, while the team was victorious in the FIA World Endurance Trophy for GTE Pro Teams.
The finale of the 2016 FIA World Endurance Championship is held at Sakhir International Circuit in Bahrain, with the drivers’ title still to be settled during Saturday’s six-hour race (19 November). The drivers’ and GT manufacturers’ FIA World Cups, along with the LM GTE Pro and Am teams’ and drivers’ FIA Endurance Trophies will also be contested.
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