Two steps beyond

Michelin and Goodyear have sliced up the FIA World Endurance Championship and become sole tyre suppliers to individual classes within it, but with very different targets

- ANDREW COTTON

The FIA has continued its path to reduce competition in the face of cost control measures and in the FIA WEC awarded Michelin the Hypercar tyre deal, while Goodyear was granted the LMP2 sole supplier contract. Naturally, both manufacturers have been tasked with providing tyres that fit the FIA’s performance targets and while Michelin has a parameter for Hypercar that is all new, Goodyear has been given the job of coming out of open competition and running tyres significantly slower than in 2020.

The criteria was laid out in the tender and both companies submitted bids, but the manufacturers on which the FIA increasingly relies insisted Michelin be awarded Hypercar, while Goodyear provides tyres for the customer racing LMP2 class.

With both tyre makers secure for three years and an option for a further two, the sands have shifted slightly under the feet of the rule makers as the Hypercars made their debut at Spa early in May and tyre peformance was one of issues.

Michelin’s task has not been easy, developing a tyre for a car that, until late on in 2020, did not exist. Under the original tender, tyres developed for the first race would have to suffice for the last race of the 2025 season but, with the deal safely secured, the tyre company now has three defined stages of development, and can enact them when it chooses.

There is a further complication, though, in that the LMH hybrids are four-wheel drive, while the Glickenhaus that will debut at Portimao in June will be rear-wheel drive, and the tyres on the 007C will be similar to the ones used for LMDh, which will be used in the Hypercar class in the WEC, and the top class in IMSA in the US.

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