The FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) season concludes with two consecutive races on the Bahrain International Circuit, and Goodyear says it is looking forward to the challenges that lie ahead in the desert. The circuit layout may be the same, but the different race duration will bring interesting challenges for the LMP2 prototype category teams, all racing on Goodyear tyres.
Goodyear’s inaugural FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) campaign in 2020 was the prelude to a new era for the brand in the series. Goodyear is an official championship partner supplying every car in the LMP2 prototype category this season, which begins at Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium, on Saturday 1 May with a six-hour race. In its comeback season to top-level motorsport, its first action at this level in two decades, Goodyear’s tyres were victorious in Shanghai and Bahrain, and achieved a memorable double podium at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Goodyear’s return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans was marked by two podium finishes and a flyover by the Goodyear Blimp during the race. British squad JOTA finished second in the LMP2 class, while French outfit Panis Racing crossed the line in third. LMP2 is the only category at Le Mans with open tyre competition and Goodyear supplied five of the 24 cars entered. The manufacturer says its two podium finishers are testament to the performance and durability of its tyres.
Goodyear is looking forward to recommencing the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) season this weekend at Spa-Francorchamps. The tyre manufacturer’s partner teams, Jota Sport and Jackie Chan DC Racing are currently second and third in the LMP2 standings. The former has finished on the podium in the last four rounds, while Jota took a memorable win at Shanghai in November. They will be joined by an additional Goodyear-shod car from Algarve Pro Racing. The Portuguese team usually competes in the European Le Mans Series (ELMS) but will step up to the world stage this weekend.
Goodyear will make its debut as a tyre supplier to the European Le Mans Series this weekend. The manufacturer is working alongside top teams in the LMP2 and LMGTE classes at the season-opening 4 Hours of Le Castellet. Goodyear’s latest tyre technology will be fitted to five front-running LMP2 prototypes and every car in the LMGTE field throughout the ELMS season. The brand’s entrance into the series follows last year’s fitments to LMP2 winners in the FIA World Endurance Championship. However the weekend will mark the first time that LMGTE cars have raced on the Goodyear Eagle F1 SuperSport race tyres. Having been delayed by the pandemic, the series will run over five races until November.
European Le Mans Series (ELMS) LMP2 racing team, Algarve Pro Racing has made Goodyear its tyre technical partner. The reigning Asian Le Mans Series Champion has already demonstrated race-winning pedigree and a deep understanding of how to maximise tyre performance. Goodyear says the partnership will allow it to receive valuable technical feedback on a variety of European tracks.
Goodyear has taken its first win since its return to international motorsport in 2019 at the third round of the 2019/20 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) in Shanghai. The Jota Sport Oreca of Roberto Gonzales, Anthony Davidson and Antonio Felix da Costa won after a race-long battle with its sister Goodyear-shod Jackie Chan DC Racing car of Ho-Pin Tung, Gabriel Aubry and Will Stevens. The Jota Sport triumph marked the first Goodyear win in an FIA World Championship race since Michael Schumacher and Ferrari in the 1998 Italian Grand Prix.
Although active within North America, including as exclusive tyre supplier to NASCAR’s top three series, the Goodyear name has long played second fiddle in motorsport to Dunlop in other parts of the world. This will change on Sunday, with the brand’s return to global motorsport at Silverstone. Goodyear says that after 12,000 kilometres of testing at seven circuits, it is “well prepared” for its comeback.
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.
United Autosports won, while TF Sport claimed the GTE class win at the 4 Hours of Silverstone on Dunlop tyres. Both teams were making their class debuts in the series; all teams opted for the medium option in the cool conditions.
Dunlop-shod Signatech Alpine became 2016 FIA World Endurance (WEC) LMP2 champions at 6 Hours of Shanghai, the penultimate round of the championship, having finished fourth. The race was won by G-Drive Racing, also on Dunlop rubber, in its second consecutive victory. Additionally the ByKolles CLM claimed its first win of 2016 in the LMP1 Privateer class.
Rebellion Racing has claimed the endurance trophy for LMP1 privateer teams with two races remaining at the 6 Hours of Fuji. All teams used Dunlop’s medium compound tyre with some using strategies involving four stints. Rebellion has worked with Dunlop to develop tyres and the partnership has resulted in strong on-track performance. The Imperatori, Kraihamer and Tuscher driver line-up took another class win this weekend in the Rebellion R-One.
The fifth and penultimate round of the 2016 European Le Mans Series (ELMS) at Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium saw Dunlop drivers claim all three podium positions, maintaining its 100 per cent success for the season.
The FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) season midpoint race provided more exciting racing and wins, podiums and championship improvements for several Dunlop teams. The six hour race brought reasons to celebrate particularly for Aston Martin Racing who now lead the GT Manufacturers’ Endurance Cup, and the new-for-2016 RGR Sport team who won their home race. Showers during the race added to the race tensions but gave all three classes the opportunity to use the versatile Dunlop intermediate option.
The fourth round of the FIA World Endurance Championship takes place at the Nürburgring circuit on 24 July. The six hour race follows the double-points Le Mans 24 Hours where Dunlop saw considerable success in the LMP2 class. The tyre supplier adds that it gained valuable experience with partner teams in LMP1 and LMGTE.
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Clement Marin
Clement Marin
Clement Marin
Goodyear