Goodyear will be sole tire supplier for the LMP2 cars in the European Le Mans Series and the FIA World Endurance Championship.
The decision is part of the introduction of the new Hypercar category, where Michlin is the sole supplier. The LMP2 cars will be slowed a bit, since Hypercar is planned to run a bit slower than the current LMP1 cars.
There is a currently a tire war in LMP2 between Michelin and Goodyear, making the cars go faster and faster each season. But by limiting it to a single brand, you will keep the pace under control.
The exclusive deal has only been announced for the European Le Mans Series and the FIA World Endurance Championship, which mandates the teams to run on Goodyear tires. The Asian Le Mans Series are currently racing on Michelin tires, but there is no mention of them switching at the moment.
Photo: JJ Media
The contract starts by the start of FIA WEC season 2020/21, while the ELMS deal won’t be in effect until spring 2021. This leaves an option for the teams to already start learning about these tires in the 2020 season, if they wish to do so.
The first all-Goodyear LMP2 24 Hours of Le Mans will be in June 2021. Goodyear returned to sportscar racing in the summer 2019, where they replaced the sister company Dunlop.
Goodyear currently supplies tires for 3 out of 8 full season entries in the FIA WEC, while 9 out of 18 cars in the ELMS 2019 ran on Dunlop. They took their first FIA WEC win, on their return, last time out in Shanghai in November 2019 with JOTA Sport #38
