Signatech Alpine’s consistency paid off and the European Le Mans Series (ELMS) crown was theirs after the season finale in Estoril. It was a thrilling season with five rounds of hotly-contested racing. Thiriet by TDS Racing took the flag at the first round, the first of three Dunlop podium clean sweeps. The Silverstone race saw an accident that put Jota Sport on the back foot but the British team fought back with a win at Imola. It was Signatech’s turn to stand on the top step in Austria, a win with which they took the lead in the series. Victory went to Newblood by Morand at the Paul Ricard round, scoring enough points to keep them in the title battle going into the finale. Signatech went into the Estoril round in the lead with only Dunlop teams able to lift the trophy. Challengers Jota, Newblood by Morand and Race Performance all finished ahead of Signatech after the team lost track time with pit lane infringement penalties but the French squad scored enough with fifth to remain at the top of the standings.

Dunlop has a strong endurance success record and is proud to have been chosen by the winners of 11 of the 13 ELMS races in the last three years. Open tyre competition brings performance improvements and the statistics show that pace and durability in all conditions is paramount to the Dunlop designers and engineers that work with the teams to provide the constructions and compounds needed to win titles and races around the world.

2014 Facts and Figures

• Dunlop drivers took all five pole positions, four wins and 13 out of 15 possible podium places.
• Silverstone’s 20 lap average by Thiriet By TDS Racing was 1:52.466 – over one whole second faster than the nearest non-Dunlop competitor.
• All three slick compounds, soft, medium and hard, double stinted in the races with the soft and medium triple stinting.
• The fastest Dunlop team’s 10 lap average was over one second faster than the competition at Estoril, Silverstone and Paul Ricard. At the Red Bull Ring there was no competition and at Imola the difference was 0.15 seconds.
• Cars on Dunlop tyres led every lap of the first four races and all but 31 laps of the Estoril race – a total of 657 laps out of 688 – over 95%.
• The top five fastest drivers were on Dunlop tyres in all five races.
• All five pole positions were claimed by Dunlop teams – Jota took four with Murphy taking the top spot at the Paul Ricard round.
• Although not a championship round, ELMS teams held their own at Le Mans. The top three LMP2 finishers were all ELMS Dunlop runners.
• The 42 progressive fastest laps throughout the five races were all set by Dunlop drivers. Murphy Prototypes set two ultimate fastest race laps with Jota, Race Performance and Signatech Alpine taking one each.

Mike McGregor, Dunlop Motorsport:
“We must thank our teams and congratulate them on their achievements. All the teams had good races but Signatech’s consistent form had what it takes to lift an endurance trophy. Jota did a great job in pursuit of the title right to the end.

“Our pace in Estoril was fantastic – 0.8 seconds per lap faster on average and 1.5 seconds faster on single stints. It was unfortunate that Signatech had the two penalties because our analysis shows that otherwise they would have won by around 150 seconds – but that’s racing. While we like to win we also need fair competition because rivalry helps drive us to improve our products season after season.

“We are already looking forward to 2015 and continuing our improvement programme.  Our focus is on improving the wet and intermediate tyres in particular. We are looking to provide more mid-corner grip, better performance under braking and improved lateral and longitudinal grip for both front and rear. The whole range will benefit from a new construction and we will be introducing a new hard compound.”