Michelin Draws New Roadmap For Future Hypercar & GTP Tyres

ShareFacebook, Twitter, Google Plus, Pinterest, Email

Posted in:

28 October 2024, 4:58 PM

French tyre constructor Michelin has worked up a new development and production timeline for its new Hypercar and GTP tyre range, following the decision earlier this summer to push back its introduction by a year to the start of the 2026 season.

Initially, Michelin’s new FIA WEC Hypercar and IMSA GTP class tyres were set to debut in 2025, but a combination of supply chain issues and a reduction in testing time due to poor weather earlier in the year prompted it to delay.

This decision – which will see the new tyres debut at the 2026 running of the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona – has bought Michelin sufficient time to refine its new compounds and produce enough stock in time for off-season testing next year.

“The decision to delay was taken prior to the development test that we did (at CoTA) on the 27th of July,” Michelin’s sportscar operations manager Pierre Alves told DSC. “We knew at the end of July that we would not be able to achieve a new range before 2025.

“The main reason is simple. One of the suppliers we used for a new material that we want to introduce was not ready to provide enough product for the WEC championship. It’s a big production for both championships, and the supplier said the quantity is too much. So we knew it would be difficult to be ready and we cannot introduce a product that is not sustainable.

“The current range works very well in both championships,” he continued, “so we’ve postponed. And we feel that while it would be feasible to produce just two compounds for 2025, it would decrease the performance of the tyres dramatically.

While it would be feasible to produce just two compounds for 2025, it would decrease the performance of the tyres dramatically

“Across IMSA and WEC, we race at so many types of circuits in very different climates. We don’t want to bring new tyres that go faster, we want tyres that are safer in terms of warm up and more consistent, and this what we are achieving.”

This new material forms a key part of Michelin’s ambitious target to produce slick tyres for the WEC and IMSA made from more than 50 per cent sustainable materials. Alves wasn’t able to disclose what the new breakthrough material is when asked by DSC, though he did reveal that the new material is “used for the composition of the tyre compound.”

Alves also reiterated that the new material should allow Michelin to hit its aforementioned goal and stressed the importance of launching the new sustainable range in both IMSA and the FIA WEC at the same time. “We won’t just produce these tyres for one championship,” he said.

Feedback from testing to this point has been positive, with the recent run at CoTA over the summer attended by the majority of the LMH and LMDh manufacturers producing impressive results.

“It was remarkable,” Alves said. “This new product increases the endurance of the tyre, but not the grip and we achieved similar performance levels to the tyres we are using this year, with the increase in sustainable materials.”

Development work on the new range is not yet complete though, in part because Michelin lost a lot of track time in Europe earlier this year when its major test back at Portimão was washed out.

This new product increases the endurance of the tyre and we achieved similar performance levels to the tyres we are using this year

“The conditions were so bad it wasn’t even useful as a wet tyre test, because if we were racing it would have been red-flagged,” explained Alves. “So we have to do another development loop to make sure the tyres are ready for Daytona in January 2026 and February 2026 for Qatar.

“We are working very hard on a schedule,” he added, “We have planned to do a wet development test in Paul Ricard this month, and we have invited all the teams and OEMs. We will also stay on the Tuesday after the Bahrain WEC race, with all the teams on site. That will be a slick loop.

“After that, we plan to complete another loop in Qatar in 2025, and we are working to find a date because Ramadam is on the Saturday after the race.

“Ideally, we would test on Sunday morning, but we have to see. Then we plan to do some running around the Imola WEC weekend before a final decision on the spec for 2026 is made in May, after Spa.

“In parallel, we have development loops in the USA for IMSA teams planned during the sanctioned test this November. Then we plan to test next March at Sebring March, close to the 12 Hours.”

After track testing is complete and the final specifications for its three slick compounds are signed off, Michelin will begin producing the tyres towards the end of June.

The first batch will be shipped to the USA in time for the end-of-year IMSA sanction test in Daytona. Teams racing in the WEC will also receive their first sets for private testing around that time, as they prepare for the start of the 2026 season in the Middle East.