Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Michelin to F1? Rumors gather steam but how will it impact Sports Cars? And It Will...

 I have heard the Michelin back into F1 rumor since the beginning of summer. That rumor seems to have legs and is actually picking up the pace.

 On Racecar Engineering they went into some detail of what would happen if they did return to F1 and how that would impact my favorite motorsport discipline, sports cars.


 My take -

 It will have an impact and since Michelin will not be supplying any prototypes in the upcoming USCR, that will give them the extra capacity they need to start building F1 tires in time for 2014.

 I don't think any WEC factory prototype programs will be affected. Neither do I believe any of the current GT teams will be affected either, as the majority of LMS, ALMS/USCR and WEC teams run Michelins.

 Though if they need the capacity, they might drop some GT teams and that might leave the door open for Bridgestone who is has a toe in the water with the Deltawing program. However the Deltawing will be on Continentals next season, leaving them without a car to supply.

 I think that will be short lived however, I think Bridgestone wants to be in the USCR to promote the Bridgestone brand, since its known as an OEM supplier to several European car manufacturers already, its an opportunity to add to Bridgestone's motorsport legacy, especially in America.

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