Dunlop Le Mans teams to debut 2013 tyres at Silverstone

Following a winter of focused development and testing, Dunlop partners and customers will be putting the new tyre products to the test at Silverstone this weekend, where both the FIA World Endurance Championship and European Le Mans Series 2013 seasons begin.

In the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) Dunlop dominates the LMP2 class with eight of the ten participants opting for the same brand that claimed the 2012 title and the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup, the WEC forerunner, in 2011. The World Championship, which has the Le Mans 24h race as its highlight, starts with a six-hour Race on Sunday.

On Saturday, it is the three-hour opening race of the European Le Mans Series (ELMS). Dunlop has been chosen by nine of the ten entrants in LMP2, the premier class in the event, and one LM-GTE entrant. Dunlop is also defending its double ELMS crown having claimed the Prototype title with Thriet by TDS Racing last season and the GT-Pro title with JMW Ferrari

Dunlop has specifically worked on developing compounds to improve warm-up properties, which will be important for ELMS teams with tyre warmers now being prohibited. A new tyre shape has also been introduced for 2013, which optimises the tyre’s footprint, allowing lower running pressures and providing additional initial grip and consistency. The tyre improves grip under braking and turn-in and gives better feedback to the driver.

During testing at Aragon and Valencia, over 15,000 kilometres of testing was carried out on the new tyres with Dunlop’s LMP2 teams Of the three compounds available for the WEC and ELMS races, the ‘medium’ and ‘hard’ slicks will be available for the Silverstone race along with full wets and an intermediate option.