The 2013 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) kicked off with today’s 6 Hours of Silverstone which saw AUDI/MICHELIN win the British round for the second straight year, this time with Kristensen, Duval and McNish. The N°2 R18 e-tron quattro was chased across the line by the N°1 sister car of Lotterer/Tréluyer/Fässler (+3.462s) to score maximum points for the German make. In qualifying, TOYOTA locked out the front row of the grid with its two TS030 Hybrid/MICHELINs, but the 2012-specification Japanese cars were unable to challenge the domination of their rivals on race day. MICHELIN tyres also won the LMGTE Pro and Am classes with Aston Martin.
The 2012 FIA WEC champions began the defence of their title in style with a one-two success at Silverstone. Tom Kristensen, Loïc Duval and Allan McNish (AUDI N°2) took the lead for the first time on Lap 7, before moving ahead for good with only five minutes remaining after a thrilling conclusion to the six-hour race… with no team orders! The result sees AUDI take an early advantage in the Manufacturers’ championship as TOYOTA had to settle for third and fourth places in what is essentially last year’s car, whereas its German rivals are already racing their 2013 challenger.
The weekend was marked by mixed conditions, especially during the different free practice and qualifying sessions which saw MICHELIN’s partner teams run the French firm’s full range of wet weather solutions, including the MICHELIN Hybrid ‘intermediate’ which, through the fact that it doesn’t have a grooved pattern, resembles a slick. It is simple to identify, however, thanks to the white ‘Michelin Total Performance*’ marking on the side-wall.
Running such a comprehensive variety of wet weather tyres on Friday and Saturday provided MICHELIN and its partners with a first class opportunity to analyse the optimal ‘operating windows’ of each solution and collect valuable data. Sunday’s weather was mostly dry, so this information did not serve for the race itself, but there is a strong chance it will be useful at the season’s later race’s, including the next round at Spa-Francorchamps which is, of course, notorious for its mixed weather.
During the race, the MICHELIN Hybrid provided a brief glimpse of its benefit when it allowed the N°7 TOYOTA to make up ground on the AUDIs (which re mained on MICHELIN’s soft compound slick for high temperatures throughout) during a brief shower shortly before the halfway point.
“Congratulations to AUDI on this win,” said Serge GRISIN, Director of MICHELIN Motorsport’s four-wheel programmes. “Both 2013 AUDI R18 e-tron quattros succeeded in double-stinting on the ‘high temperature’ soft compound MICHELIN slicks here at Silverstone. The two TOYOTA TS030 Hybrids started the race on the ‘high temperature’ soft compound MICHELIN slicks, too, but unlike last year, with the same-spec car, they were unable to double stint because they could not get sufficient heat into them. They then switched to the ‘low temperature’ soft compound MICHELIN slick, which you might consider as our night-time slick. After that, they were able to double stint without difficulty.”
“Congratulations, too, to ASTON MARTIN on its wins in both LMGTE battles on our tyres. The N°95 LM GTE Am winning Vantage V8 laid the foundati ons for its success by performing a double stint at the very start of the race.”
The second round of the 2013 FIA World Endurance Championship will take teams to Spa- Francorchamps, in the Belgian Ardennes, on May 4, for the last full-scale dress rehearsal ahead of June’s Le Mans 24 Hours.
Source : Michelin