The Michelin Pilot Sport Endurance range's versatility and lasting performance deliver in Brazil

This year saw the FIA WEC travel to Autódromo José Carlos Pace – aka Interlagos – for the first time since 2014. The 4.309-kilometre, 15-turn circuit is the shortest on the calendar but it is also particularly demanding physically for the drivers and hard on tyres.

For Sunday’s Rolex 6 Hours of São Paulo, Michelin Motorsport provided the 19 cars fielded by the nine car manufacturers involved in the Hypercar class with a choice between the medium- and hard-compound versions of the MICHELIN Pilot Sport Endurance slick. The former is a versatile tyre designed for dry conditions, while the latter is conceived for hotter track temperatures, with the MICHELIN Pilot Sport Wet also available in the case of rain.

The mixed weather over the meeting’s three days meant that all three options ran at one moment or another. Friday’s first free practice session took place in damp conditions, prompting the teams to fit rain tyres. The next day’s qualifying session was dry but the track temperature stood at just 20°C, which led Michelin’s partners to take advantage of the medium MICHELIN Pilot Sport Endurance’s broad operating window and fast warm-up performance to maximise the potential of their prototypes in the fight for grid places.

For the race itself, some teams preferred to continue with the medium, but others switched to the hard for the late-morning start by which time the air and track temperatures already exceeded 25°C and 34°C. It soon became apparent, though, that both strategies would function over the day.

“Nominating the medium and hard MICHELIN Pilot Sport slicks for Interlagos was the ideal choice. Their wide operating windows and versatility meant we were able to cover all our partners’ needs,” observes Pierre Alves, the manager of Michelin’s four-wheel programmes. “We saw a variety of strategies during the early part of the race, with the teams’ decisions founded on the weather forecast, the preferences of each cars’ three drivers and the number of stints envisaged – around 42 laps each. Some drivers opted for mediums or hards all-round, but others combined both as a function of their cars’ set-up. The result was an exciting race, with some good racing at the front of the field, as well as further down the order. The drivers felt confident and were all able to double-stint, aided by consistently strong performance of their tyres from their first turn to their last. It was a very rewarding outcome for us and we felt especially proud because our current range had never lapped at Interlagos previously… and all thanks to our exhaustive development groundwork.”

The allocation for Michelin’s partners at Interlagos was 30 tyres in total, including 12 for free practice. The package gave them all the means to push at different moments of the race which was ultimately won by the #8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid of Toyota Gazoo Racing’s Sébastien Buemi/Brendon Hartley/Ryo Hirakawa. It was joined on the podium by Porsche Penske Motorsport’s #6 (Kevin Estre/André Lotterer/Laurens Vanthoor) and #5 (Matt Campbell/Michael Christensen/Frédéric Makowiecki) Porsche 963s.

Round 6 of the 2024 FIA WEC will take teams to Circuit of the Americas near Austin, Texas, USA, on August 30-September 1.