All new tyre ranges for Dunlop endurance teams make race debut at Silverstone

© DR

For 2016, Dunlop has launched a complete new range of LMP1, LMP2 and GT tyres, all making their competition debut at the opening rounds of the European Le Mans Series (ELMS) and FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) at Silverstone on 16th and 17th April.

 

In the ELMS 4 Hours of Silverstone, 19 teams will be competing on Dunlop tyres. 10 of 14 LMP2 teams have chosen to compete on Dunlop tyres while in the LMGTE class, uses a control tyre with Dunlop supplying tyres and engineering support to the eight teams racing Ferrari, Porsche and Aston Martin.

The WEC 6 Hours of Silverstone will see Dunlop represented in all four classes with all 11 LMP2 entries choosing Dunlop tyres. Three LMP1 cars are using Dunlop tyres and three Aston Martin Racing entries will compete on Dunlop tyres in the GT classes for the first time.

From the end of the 2015 season, right up until the end of March, teams have been working with Dunlop on testing the new products. The final test in the extensive programme was with the LMP2 wet and intermediate tyres which Dunlop was able to validate at an Oak Racing test at the Paul Ricard circuit.
      
Mike McGregor, Dunlop Manager Testing & Track Support, Race Design & Development : « This is our biggest year for a very long time in terms of new tyre introductions. We have the return to LMP1 and a full new range of LMP2 tyres. In addition we have the varied GT requirements with the confidential ranges for WEC, developed specifically for Aston Martin, and a completely different design for ELMS where we need to make sure that we have parity across the three different manufacturers.
« We have had very positive feedback from teams and drivers at our tests and it will be very interesting to see how quickly the teams can maximise the performance from the new specifications. »

 The European Le Mans Series Silverstone 4 Hours starts at 2.30pm local time on Saturday 16th April.
Entry list including Dunlop teams can be found here

The 6 Hours of Silverstone round of the FIA World Endurance Championship starts at noon on Sunday 17th April.

FIA World Endurance Championship: Dunlop 2016 Tyres
LMP1 – Confidential tyre range – full range for all conditions
•Dunlop’s return to LMP1 competition for the first time since 2012
•Two Rebellion Racing cars and one Bykolles Racing Team CLM
•Tyres permitted per 6 hour event: 10 sets plus two single tyres
Dunlop has developed new tyres for these teams and is allowed to continue development throughout the year. While the number of tyres for each event are restricted there can be changes to specifications for following events.

LMP2 – Set specification (soft, medium, medium-plus, intermediate, wet)
•Open tyre competition
All 11 Silverstone entries have chosen Dunlop tyres
•Two out of three dry specifications nominated per event
•Soft and medium dry weather options nominated for Silverstone
•Tyres permitted per 6 hour event: 7 sets plus two single tyres
The LMP2 range is completely new, developing from the strong 2015 performance but providing a wider operating window and greater consistency. Greater operating windows have allowed nomination of soft and medium tyres for Silverstone compared to medium and medium-plus in 2015.

LMGTE Pro – Confidential tyre range – full range for all conditions
•Bespoke product for Aston Martin Racing
•Two car entry
•Tyres permitted per 6 hour event: 10 sets plus two single tyres
The LMGTE Pro range will continue to be developed throughout the season.

LMGTE Am – Set specification (soft, medium, medium-plus, intermediate, wet)
•Single car entry
•Specification for full season will be current LMGTE Pro specification
•Tyres permitted per 6 hour event: 10 sets plus two single tyres
The LMGTE Am range is fixed from the Silverstone event for the full season.
      
European Le Mans Series: Dunlop 2016 Tyres
LMP2 – Set specification (soft, medium, medium-plus, intermediate, wet)
•Open tyre competition – 14 cars competing
•10 Silverstone entries have chosen Dunlop tyres
•Two out of three dry specifications nominated per event
•Soft and medium dry weather options nominated for Silverstone
•Tyres permitted per 4 hour event: 5 sets plus two single tyres
The LMP2 range is the same new range that features in WEC. The different conditions of Europe, generally cooler, combined with the improved operating windows, will tend to favour the soft and medium options in ELMS.

LMGTE – All-Dunlop class (medium, medium-plus, intermediate, wet)
•Controlled/single brand tyres for all three manufacturers represented
•Tyres permitted per 4 hour event: unlimited
•Intermediate tyre introduced for 2016
•2016 confidential tyre range – supervised use with greater performance

The ELMS LMGTE Pro range is all-new for 2016, designed specifically for ELMS with improvement emphasis on performance and consistency. The introduction of Dunlop’s intermediate tyre will reduce team costs and add strategy options during races with mixed weather conditions.

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