Michelin

As expected, competitors faced a challenging cocktail of tricky stages, loose and buried stones, and conditions that combined rain, fog and mud. The MICHELIN LATITUDE Cross S2 took all these difficulties in its stride, however.

For MICHELIN, the 6 Hours Spa was an extremely important event since it served as an opportunity to validate its latest 2013-generation endurance racing tyres and prepare for June’s fast-arriving Le Mans 24 Hours. It was a case of ‘mission accomplished’, since MICHELIN runners went on to claim pole position and victory in all four [...]

Michelin says the tyre range for the premier LMP1 class aims to provide teams with a high level of performance over long periods of time and has been developed with characteristics of individual race cars in mind.

The total number of Goodyear tyres sold in the Asia Pacific region increased by four per cent to 5.1 million tyres in the last three months, while operating income increased by 25 per cent to $84million Australian, a record for the first quarter.

Meanwhile, Michelin reported that its first quarter earnings were down 8.1 per cent to $6billion Australian, compared to the same time in 2012.

From 2014, the LMP1 prototypes competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) will race on new MICHELIN tyres (31/71-18). These new covers will replace the 36/71-18 (front) and 37/71-18 (rear) tyres used in the discipline’s premier class at the moment. Although significantly narrower and lighter (weight saving: 4kg per set), the new solutions will [...]

As if that wasn’t sufficient, Sébastien OGIER (Volkswagen Motorsport) chose an unexpected aggressive tyre choice for Day 1. The championship leader opted for the soft-compound MICHELIN LATITUDE CROSS S2 for Thursday’s qualifying stage and then again for the opening day’s stages.

The 2013 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) kicked off with today’s 6 Hours of Silverstone which saw AUDI/MICHELIN win the British round for the second straight year, this time with Kristensen, Duval and McNish. The N°2 R18 e-tron quattro was chased across the line by the N°1 sister car of Lotterer/T réluyer/Fässler (+3.462s) to score [...]

MICHELIN launched its new Hybrid tyres at Le Mans in 2012. They are in reality a ‘treadless’ intermediate (front: 36/71-18 / rear: 37/71-18) which is only available for the LM P1 prototypes. This MICHELIN innovation allows drivers to run in damp or wet conditions, and even on patches of dry asphalt, in the place of conventional ‘patterned’ intermediates.

The Championship, which starts next year, will see drivers compete in electric race cars on street circuits around the world with organisers hoping it will promote interest in electric vehicles and sustainable driving.

According to Brand Finance, Bridgestone is the top ranked global tyre brand and came in 254th position on the list. The tyre manufacturer received an AA minus rating and its brand is valued at 4.5 billion dollars.