True to the picture-postcard image of Brazil, there was a joyous party atmosphere at the start of the 6 Hours of Sao Paolo, with traditional samba music and dancers in Rio carnival-style multi-coloured costumes! On the track, alongside the musicians and dancers, was the N°7 TOYOTA TS300 Hybrid / MICHELIN (A. WURZ / N. LAPIERRE) sitting proudly on pole position after securing the first qualifying win of the car’s fledgling career.

Flashback to 2:50 local time, Friday, September 14. There is rejoicing in the pits of the Japanese team which has just claimed pole position with an assertive fastest qualifying lap of 1m22.363s round the 4.309km Autodromo José Carlos Pace (Interlagos). Brazil’s Lucas DI GRASSI, who was driving the N°2 AUDI R18 ultra / MICHELIN for the very first time, is second (+0.784s), chased by the N°1 AUDI R18 e-tron Quattro / MICHELIN (+0.185s) in the hands of German driver André LOTTERER.

Race day. Saturday, September 15. The weather is hot and sunny as the sound of engines suddenly drowns the samba music as the cars roar off the line to mark the start of the 2012 6 Hours of Sao Paolo. All eyes are on the first turn as the TOYOTA TS300 Hybrid / MICHELIN wards off the expected pressure to emerge in front. With the exception of the early refuelling stops, it would go on to lead from flag to flag, despite making one more pit-stop (seven) than the two AUDIs (six).

The N°7 TOYOTA TS300 Hybrid contested the Brazilian race on the same type of MICHELIN tyres from start to finish, despite a track temperature that fluctuated from around 40°C at the midday start to just 15°C at the finish at 6pm, by which time the surface had become damp due to the arrival of fog. The conditions saw MICHELIN’s slick tyres provide an unprecedented illustration of their versatility, yet they still enabled the LMP1 prototypes of the firm’s partners to double stint (approximately 70 laps: 300km) on the same rubber.

Talking about the performance of the French firm’s slicks at Interlagos, MICHELIN Competition’s Director Pascal COUASNON said: “First of all, I would like to congratulate TOYOTA on its first win in the FIA World Endurance Championship. MICHELIN is proud to have helped its partner obtain this win on our tyres which proved very efficient over a broad range of temperatures. The TOYOTA TS300 Hybrid, the AUDI R18 ultra and the AUDI e-tron quattro kept the spectators entertained with a thrilling battle while double stinting on the same tyres. They consistently posted lap times of around the 1m25s mark and this interesting result validates the development work carried out by MICHELIN to broaden the temperature windows of our tyres.”

Pascal VASSELON (Technical Director, TMG) underlined the contribution made by the team’s MICHELIN tyres to the victory of the N°7 TOYOTA TS300 Hybrid: “We opted for a bold strategy by running ‘high-temperature’ soft tyres for the entire race because we had total confidence in our tyre partner MICHELIN. Its tyres are well suited to our car and enabled us to produce some very fast lap times, even towards the end of their second stint. I would also like to thank the MICHELIN technician who worked with us here for the quality of his advice and his contribution to what turned out to be a weekend that was high on emotion!”

The GTE Pro class was won by the N°51 AF Corse FERR ARI F458 Italia / MICHELIN (G. FISICHELLA / G. BRUNI) after a thrilling duel with the N°97 ASTON MARTIN Vantage V8 / MICHELIN (S. MÜCKE / D. TURNER). In GTE AM, the N°50 CORVETTE C6-ZR1 / MICHELIN (P. BORNHAUSER / J. CANAL / F. REES) produced a faultless run to win the category.

The sixth round of the 2012 FIA World Endurance Championship will take teams to Bahrain for another six-hour race on September 29.

Source : Michelin