Michelin's participation in the 78th running of the world's most famous endurance race will feature an all-new range of eco-friendly tyres. In addition, Michelin will organise, for the second time, the “Michelin Green X Challenge†which has now become an integral part of the regulations that govern the discipline.
Michelin will contest the 2010 Le Mans 24 Hours in association with its factory partner teams Audi and Peugeot, as well as with a long list of privateer entries competing in all four categories (LMP1, LMP2, LMGT1 and LMGT2).
Le Mans represents a major tour de force for tyres which must be capable of covering distances of up to 700km and beyond, at average speeds in excess of 200kph. To meet this challenge, Michelin's chemists and engineers have developed a new range of eco-friendly aromatic oil-free tyres, a first in endurance racing.
These new Michelin tyres are a genuine technological exploit, since they simultaneously push out the envelope in three performance-related areas by maximising grip in both dry and wet conditions, permitting longer distances to be covered and enabling fuel savings to be achieved.
The Michelin Green X Challenge is a further illustration of Michelin's will to promote motor sport that is respectful of the environment. For the second year running, Michelin will be rewarding the most energy-efficient performances (based on an Energy Efficiency Index, calculated by comparing performance with fuel consumption) not only at Le Mans, but also at every round of the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) and Le Mans Series (LMS).
The past two decades have seen Michelin emerge as endurance racing's most successful tyre manufacturer, thanks to a score of more than 100 wins in the ALMS, six LMS titles and 12 consecutive victories in the Le Mans 24 Hours.
At this year's running of the great endurance classic (June 12-13), where a crowd of more than 200,000 spectators is expected, Michelin will be looking to claim its 19th outright win in the race – and its 13th on the trot – and also defend the wins it secured in all four categories in 2009, while at the same time pursuing its active approach to protecting the environment.
