Goodyear has a proud history in motorsport. In addition to the 14 wins in the Le Mans 24 hours, Goodyear tires were used to win 368 Formula One Grand Prix - a record that stands unbeaten. Goodyear also have considerable sportscar racing experience after decades of success in American IMSA racing.
Goodyear will re-enter European and International sportscar racing by developing a new range of tyres for the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC), including the Le Mans 24-hour race.
The FIA World Endurance Championship features long-distance races on four continents with the Le Mans season finale, a race which Goodyear-equipped cars have won on 14 occasions.
Goodyear has chosen sportscar racing for the first step of World Championship racing as it provides a strong platform for demonstrating tyre technologies on a wide range of different prototype and GT cars, Motorsport Director, Ben Crawley, explains: “The nature of the races (varying from 4 hours to 24 hours) mean tyre choice and strategy are critical and it provides a motivating challenge for our technology team in our European innovation centers ahead of exploring other racing opportunities for the brand.”
Goodyear has been developing a new range of tyres for Le Mans Prototypes for over a year at our innovation centers in Hanau (Germany) and Colmar-Berg (Luxembourg). The tyres will debut at the start of the 2019/2020 WEC season at Silverstone in August.The tyres will debut at the start of the 2019/2020 WEC season at Silverstone in August.
Our racing inspired Eagle F1 SuperSport product range launched in 2019.
Goodyear's comeback marks the return of the famous brand to global sportscar racing at one of racing’s most iconic venues. With over 250,000 attendees, Le Mans is one of the largest single attendance sporting events in the world. “Motorsport continues to be one of the most popular global sports,” Crawley continued. “It is an ideal platform for us to engage with consumers around the heritage, passion, innovation and technology that make up Goodyear’s story in racing.”
The tyres will be developed and manufactured alongside Goodyear’s latest range of Eagle F1 SuperSport tyres for performance and track-day cars, ensuring that the technology and knowledge transfer between the road and race ranges is optimised to benefit the performance of both. The Eagle F1 SuperSport, SuperSport R and SuperSport RS boast a wide range of fitments to suit many of the UK's most popular performance vehicles and have been chosen as the track tyre of choice for the Porsche 911 GT2 RS and GT3 RS.
Goodyear has chosen the BTCC for the second step of its racing comeback as it provides a strong platform for demonstrating tyre technologies on a wide range of saloon cars as well as providing the right marketing platform to reach high-performance car enthusiasts within the UK.
Motorsport Director at Goodyear, Ben Crawley, explains the move: “The recent launch of Goodyear’s Eagle F1 SuperSport range and relaunch into motorsport shows how the brand is applying itself to a broader range of initiatives within the ultra-high-performance automotive sector.”
Alan Gow, BTCC Chief Executive, commented: “Goodyear has a proud and proven history in motorsport, spanning multiple decades and championships. They provide knowledge from a global programme of racing experience making them a strong partner for the championship going forward. It also gives Goodyear the ideal opportunity to further increase its brand awareness via the UK’s largest motorsport championship. We are looking forward to welcoming the brand into the championship from 2020.”
The third round of the 2019/2020 FIA World Endurance saw Goodyear take pole position on the podium for the first time this season since returning to international motorsport in the LMP2 prototype class.
The Jota Sport team comprising of Gonzales, Davidson and Felix da Costa set an impressive elapsed time of 4:01:57, pipping sister Goodyear-shod Jackie Chan DC team to the finish line by 18 seconds. The impressive triumph marks a turning point in history as being the first Goodyear win in an FIA World Championship since Michael Schumacher and Ferrari in the 1998 Italian Grand Prix.
Mike McGregor, Goodyear Manager, Race Sales, Testing & Track Support, said: “It’s been a tremendous multinational team effort to bring Goodyear back to international motorsport. After our podium in our second race last month at Fuji, it’s brilliant to build on that with a one-two. Thanks to our partners at Jota Sport for giving us the opportunity to partner with them in our first year back at World Championship level. We have more developments coming later this season but in the meantime, we will celebrate this historic win.”
The next race lined up in the FIA WEC will be the 8 Hours of Bahrain on 14th December.
