The 24 Hours of Le Mans is fortunate to have two of motorsport's leading tyre manufacturers taking care of the 56 cars entered for this year's 80th running of the French classic. With Michelin having gracefully withdrawn from the category, the 20 LMP2 entries will all be shod with Dunlop rubber.  

Dunlop has been a major presence at Le Mans for decades and 2012 will be one of their busiest visits to La Sarthe in recent years. But it has come prepared! There will be thirty staff on site offering technical advice and they will fit hundreds of tyres during the course of the week. Dunlop has brought to France around 1,500 tyres in five trucks as it is looking after 24 out of the 56 cars on the grid.

In addition to the LMP2 entries, Dunlop will supply tyres to the No.15 Oak Racing Pescarolo-Judd in LMP1, the No.66 JMW Motorsport Ferrari 458 Italia in GTE-Pro and the No.55 JWA-Avila Porsche and No.57 Krohn Racing Ferrari in GTE-Am.

James Bailey, Director, Marketing and Communications of Dunlop Motorsport Europe said: “LMP2 is arguably the most competitive prototype class category in the world, and we are proud to supply so many cars in this class. In 2011, cars using Dunlop tyres won the LMP2 class in the Le Mans Series, Intercontinental Le Mans Cup and at the Le Mans 24 Hours, so it is understandable why our tyres  have become so popular for this category this season. As LMP2 becomes yet more popular and as the cars become ever more developed, so the class has become a perfect training ground for young drivers and Dunlop is happy to be assisting so much young talent in this area”.

Looking to the future, Dunlop has been involved with developing the tyres for the exciting and innovative GreenGT H2 car which was unveiled at the Test Day and which will be on display during the 2012  24hrs of Le Mans.

Jock Simpson

Photo: CIRCUIT DES 24 HEURES (LE MANS, SARTHE), 24 HOURS OF LE MANS. Dunlop will provide tyres for the entire LMP2 category at the 2012 24 Hours of Le Mans.