Michelin scores its 25th straight win at Le Mans!

The 2022 Le Mans 24 Hours saw Michelin score its 25th consecutive victory in the world’s most exacting endurance race, this time alongside the #8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid of Buemi/Hartley/Hirakawa. Every year since 1998, the winners of the world’s most exacting endurance race have placed their faith in the French firm, benefiting from a quarter-century of success and innovation. The #91 Porsche 911 RSR of Bruni/Lietz/Makowiecki took advantage of the latest evolution of Michelin’s Pilot Sport range to top the LMGTE Pro order and establish a new distance-record for the class.

Toyota Gazoo Racing and Michelin converted their race-long domination of the 90th Le Mans 24 Hours into their fifth victory in a row together.

In spite of the weekend’s hot, summery weather, and track temperatures in excess of 50°C, the two Toyota GR010 Hybrids successfully triple stinted their MICHELIN Pilot Sport tires and spent much of the duration running nose-to-tail, comfortably clear of their pursuers. Shortly after sunrise Sunday, however, the #7 Hypercar lost valuable minutes in its pits to resolve an electrical problem. That gave Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa the breathing space they needed to ease the #8 sister prototype to the checkered flag in first position.

The #709 Glickenhaus (Briscoe/Westbrook/Mailleux) was third over the line to earn Michelin’s 23rd podium-lockout in La Sarthe, but the similar #708 car (4th) and the Alpine entry (23rd) were delayed by a variety of issues.

Porsche took the top prize in LMGTE Pro for the third and final time , since this class is to be superseded by a replacement formula from 2023. Here again, the overnight order was shaken up after dawn when the then-leading #64 Corvette was the victim of an unfortunate high-speed collision that sent it crashing into the guardrails. The category was also topped by the #51 Ferrari (2nd), #92 Porsche (4th) and #63 Corvette (retired) at different times during the race.

The unrelenting LMGTE Am battle opposing Porsche and Aston Martin ended up in favor of TF Sport’s #33 Vantage (Keating/Chaves/Sorensen), ahead of the #79 WeatherTech Racing Porsche.

Although the LMGTE Pro and Am classes both permit open competition between tire brands, all the teams involved since 2018 have chosen to work with Michelin. For the race’s 90th edition, the French firm developed an evolution of its Pilot Sport range which provided proof of its consistency and performance credentials by establishing a new distance-record for the category (350 laps, 4,769km).

The eagerly-awaited centenary running of the Le Mans 24 Hours is scheduled to take place over the weekend of June 10-11, 2023, when the field will be swelled with the exciting arrivals of Michelin partners Peugeot, Porsche, Ferrari, BMW and Cadillac in the race’s head-lining Hypercar class.