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Yahoo
5 days ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Michelin to use 50% sustainable materials in 2026 WEC and IMSA tyres
Michelin will introduce a new range of slick tyres for the World Endurance Championship and the IMSA SportsCar Championship next year produced from 50% sustainable materials. The French tyre supplier has surpassed its original target to increase the percentage of the renewable and recycled components of the tyres used in Hypercar in WEC and GTP in IMSA from the 40% announced. Advertisement It presents an increase from the 30% of sustainables that make up the current range of tyres introduced at the start of 2023 in the world championship and the North American series in which Michelin is the sole supplier in the top class. Michelin has confirmed the introduction of the new Pilot Sport Endurance range for 2026 ahead of the start of track action for the Le Mans 24 Hours, the centrepiece round of the WEC, with the Test Day this weekend. The new range marks Michelin's first mass-volume tyre produced with such a high level of recycled and renewable materials. A total of 30,000 units will be produced each year, which contrasts with the low volumes in which tyres with similar levels of sustainables have been made for the MotoE World Cup electric motorcycle series and those used on the Mission H24 hydrogen fuel-cell demonstrators. Advertisement The use of new materials and technologies in the WEC tyres is part of Michelin's drive to introduce tyres made from 100% sustainable materials for the road by 2050. Michelin slick tyres made from 50% sustainable materials, WEC Test Paul Ricard Michelin slick tyres made from 50% sustainable materials, WEC Test Paul Ricard Michelin Michelin 'Motorsport, a laboratory for performance and technological development, now also accelerates sustainable technologies,' said Michelin motorsport boss Matthieu Bonardel. 'At a time when our vehicles need durable equipment, racing lets us go faster and further in transferring technology from track to street. 'That is why we have launched a complete overhaul of our endurance range with a clear objective: to incorporate 50% renewable and recycled materials while increasing overall performance.' Advertisement The new range will, like the existing tyres, incorporate three specifications of slick - soft, medium and hard: Michelin brings two to the regular WEC races with all three being available for Le Mans. The aim was to produce tyres that were equal to the existing range in terms of one-lap performance, but with enhanced warm-up following the ban on tyre warmers at the start of 2023 and improved durability. Michelin has raised the prospect of a reduction in the allocation of tyres for each car over the course of a regular WEC event, which currently stands at four and a half sets or 18 tyres for a six-hour race, and higher multiples of stints on four tyres at Le Mans. Philippe Tramond, motorsport technical director at Michelin, suggested that might be possible for 2027 with the necessary rule change. Advertisement 'We have to understand how this new range will perform and then after that the aim is to reduce the number of tyres each car uses over an event,' he explained. Michelin slick tyres made from 50% sustainable materials, WEC Test Paul Ricard Michelin slick tyres made from 50% sustainable materials, WEC Test Paul Ricard Michelin Michelin 'We need to give time to the teams to understand the tyres and how to exploit them.' Michel tested 11 new materials defined as renewable or recycled during development of its 2026 tyres and has ended up retaining seven. It also tried 14 what it called 'technical bricks' during development and is using five in the new range. Development of the 2026 WEC and IMSA tyres will conclude with a final test at Watkins Glen at the end of this month after which the specifications will be fixed before production begins in September. Advertisement The tyres will be released to the manufacturers and teams in mid-November at the time of the traditional IMSA sanction test. A new Michelin wet-weather tyre is also under development, but a date for its introduction has not be set while stocks of the existing wet are used up. The new slicks incorporate what Michelin is calling a 'micro velvet effect' that looks like a tread pattern. Michelin sportscar operations manager Pierre Alves said that this has been conceived 'to make the invisible visible'. Michelin slick tyres made from 50% sustainable materials, WEC Test Paul Ricard Michelin slick tyres made from 50% sustainable materials, WEC Test Paul Ricard Michelin Michelin 'Every time we bring an innovation, the tyres are still black and round,' he explained. 'There are new things inside these tyres, so what better way to show it than to have something that is visible?' Advertisement Michelin has the supply deal for the WEC's Hypercar class until the conclusion of the 2029 season. That is the current end of the lifecycle of the Le Mans Hypercar and LMDh rulesets, though it is looking increasingly certain they will be extended, with an announcement on the cards for Le Mans week. Read Also: Silverstone unlikely to join WEC 2026 due to no plans for calendar expansion To read more articles visit our website.
USA Today
29-04-2025
- Automotive
- USA Today
Auto racing driver Katherine Legge in images
Legge has carved out an impressive career in the competitive world of auto racing, having appeared in the IndyCar Series, the NASCAR Xfinity Series, as well as Formula E, and the IMSA SportsCar Championship.
New York Times
10-04-2025
- Automotive
- New York Times
Paralyzed in a crash, Robert Wickens kept on racing, and now he's adding a new chapter
The crash was horrifying. During a 2018 IndyCar race, the wheels of Robert Wickens' car clipped those of Ryan Hunter-Reay's car, launching Wickens airborne and into the fencing surrounding Pocono Raceway. Among the injuries Wickens suffered were a thoracic spinal fracture, a neck fracture, tibia and fibula fractures to both legs, fractures in both hands, four fractured ribs and a pulmonary contusion. He also had a spinal cord injury that left him paralyzed from the waist down. Advertisement At the time, Wickens was on the cusp of stardom in one of motorsports' premier series. That year, he had seven top-five finishes in 14 races, finished ninth in the Indianapolis 500 and won IndyCar's Rookie of the Year honor. Those injuries cut short a promising IndyCar career and could've meant Wickens' days as a professional race car driver were over. But that thought never crossed the now 36-year-old's mind. 'I thought I was going to make the first (IndyCar) race in March the following year,' Wickens said. 'We were always talking about what (racing) would look like if I used hand controls. It was never a question; it was a question of 'How? Where?' I knew it was something that was possible.' Wickens, who regained some use of his legs but lacks the full capability to use them while driving, returned to competitive racing a little over three years after the accident, using a hand-controlled throttle and braking system to control the cars. He competed in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge, and in 2023, he captured the drivers' championship. And he isn't done. A new chapter begins this weekend when he moves into an even higher level of racing by competing in the IMSA SportsCar Championship in a race through the streets of Long Beach, Calif. He'll co-drive a Chevrolet Corvette fielded by DXDT Racing in the highly competitive GTD class, going against Mercedes, Ferrari, Porsche and other top-flight exotic sports cars. Wickens will be on the grid at Long Beach due in part to an electric hand-controlled throttle and braking system, developed by Bosch and Pratt Miller, that he's been able to utilize since returning to racing. Without it, Wickens' driving career would've likely ended in August 2018. However, the system has proven to be an equalizer, allowing him to compete on a mostly level field. And continued technological refinements by Bosch over the past few years have narrowed the performance gap between a car operated by hand controls and one operated by traditional pedals. The hand control operates like similar systems that can be installed in road cars, except this one has been more fine-tuned to allow Wickens to drive almost as if he were using the throttle and brake by foot. He can lightly tap the brake while turning and thereby carry greater speed through the corners. Advertisement 'The best thing about my new system with Bosch is that the tuning can happen in the background because this is an electronic braking system,' Wickens said. 'So if I want more brake sensation or less braking sensation, I can either have a button on the steering wheel that I tune out of brake pressure that I get to apply to the brakes. 'The old system that I was using when I first started, the system was a very mechanical system where there's a bunch of linkages and levers that just pushed the able-bodied brake pedal down, but I would squeeze something with my hand up by the steering wheel. … The downfall of that is there was a lot of latency in that system and a lot of inconsistency.' Because Wickens and fellow driver Tommy Milner must trade off driving the Corvette, Bosch had to develop a straightforward way to switch between Milner using pedals and Wickens the hand controls. 'It's quite impressive,' Milner said. 'There's just one button that either of us has to push to put it in the mode that we want and that switches all the systems over within a second.' Once Wickens was committed to racing again, the challenge of navigating the expense and lack of accessibility only further complicated the endeavor. Finding sufficient sponsorship is often problematic enough in racing; Wickens also had to convince a team owner to install a hand-control system in their car. Having gone through the process himself, Wickens would like to see such features more readily available in commercially produced vehicles. Just as manufacturers use auto racing to develop technology that can be applied to passenger vehicles, Wickens wants to see the same principle applied to hand-controlled systems to make it both convenient and cost-effective. 'I kind of have naive dreams of thinking that there could be a Robert Wickens steering wheel that can just fit into every road car in the world,' he said. 'I'm imagining it's like, 'Oh, yeah, just plug it in like a USB or something and you're on your way.' But I know that that's just not how it works. … 'The reality is, right now, when I'm driving on the road and I want to make a lane change, for example, I have to consciously over-speed because when I take my hand off the throttle to put on my turn signal, I slow down, and my hand isn't on the throttle. Then, I have to signal and put my hand back on the throttle, make the lane change, and then take my hand off the throttle to stop your signal. It's just a lot of extra steps.' Advertisement Long Beach is the first of five events in 2025 in which Wickens will drive the DXDT Racing Corvette entry. Plans beyond this season are still being determined. He is open to securing a full-time ride in the IMSA SportsCar Championship if the opportunity arises. He'd also like to race again in the Indianapolis 500. Wickens downplays the idea that he is an inspiration, but those who know him marvel at how he's refused to let go of his dream of being a professional driver when he had every reason to quit. He also wants to help others facing a similar situation. 'I personally don't feel like I'm an inspiration to anybody, but I'm always kind of humbled when people tell me that I am,' Wickens said. 'After I was paralyzed and out of my medical-induced coma, I was trying to understand what life I had. I was just working hard to try getting myself and my wife the best quality of life possible. 'There are people racing all over the world with disabilities. I'm just fortunate that I had a platform to show my progress where others might not.' (Top photo of Robert Wickens: Courtesy of Chevrolet Racing)
