Teams head east for the remaining thee rounds of the FIA World Endurance Championship during October and November. Dunlop has allocated medium and medium-plus options for all three events for the LMP2 class. Dunlop’s LMP1 and GTE teams have free choice of options from the development tyre range.
6 Hours of Fuji (medium & medium-plus options)
Fuji’s International Speedway track at Oyama, north of Tokyo, includes a big, long straight and an abrasive surface with additional tight and twisty sections. It is especially important to have plenty of traction for sector three so set-up is crucial. Compound choice will largely be dictated by weather conditions the circuit on the foothills of Mount Fuji can be variable in terms of temperature and rain.
6 Hours of Shanghai (medium & medium-plus options)
Shanghai’s International circuit, near the east coast of China, is a low grip track with an aggressive surface. Dunlop’s tyres are designed to withstand the stresses from the two long radius corners. Getting a good car balance is important at this track.
6 Hours of Bahrain (medium & medium-plus options)
Bahrain International circuit in the UAE is very abrasive given its location on desert sands. Temperatures can also be high. But it is the loading that makes Bahrain particularly unusual with longitudinal loading being more prevalent than the usual lateral loading putting more stress through the tyres under braking.
Championship battles
In LMP2, four teams have pulled ahead of the rest in the standing and are now the only championship contenders all of them competing on Dunlop tyres. Signatech Alpine holds a 38 point lead on RGR Sport (Ligier) with 26 points available per event. G-Drive Racing (Oreca) and the #31 Extreme Speed Motorsport (Ligier) follow in the order. The #13 Rebellion Racing squad is all but mathematically champion in the LMP1 private team class with the sister #12 car sitting out the remainder of the season and the ByKolles CLM having a significant challenge to overhaul the points deficit. In LM GTE Pro, Aston Martin Racing is leading with the #95 Vantage by 12 points. The sister car currently lies third in a class that is still very wide open. Dunlop and Aston Martin continue to build data on the latest specification of GT tyres, gathering as much information as possible to feed into the development of the 2017 specifications.
Mike McGregor, Dunlop Manager Testing & Track Support : « Fuji has given us mixed conditions in the past. We will be armed with our intermediate that has already proved itself over long distances of up to 650km that gives us a lot of strategy options if we have a repeat of wet/dry/wet/dry racing. It could certainly be a deciding race in a close LMP2 championship battle. It is a new track for us for the GT racing but with Aston Martin leading the championship we will do everything we can to make sure we stay at the top it’s great that we’ve already exceeded their total 2015 points tally with three races remaining but we now have the title in sight. Bahrain marks the anniversary of our relationship with Aston Martin and we hope to be celebrating a fantastic result in our first year of working together. »
The 6 Hours of Fuji round of the FIA World Endurance Championship starts at 11.00 local time on Sunday 16th October.
The 6 Hours of Shanghai round of the FIA World Endurance Championship starts at 11.00 local time on Sunday 6th November.
The 6 Hours of Bahrain round of the FIA World Endurance Championship starts at 14.00 local time on Saturday 19th November.
Dunlop WEC 2016 Tyres
LMP1 Confidential tyre range full range for all conditions
Dunlop’s return to LMP1 competition for the first time since 2012
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
Two out of three dry specifications nominated per event
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.
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.
James Bailey,