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17/06/2002

Michelin teams dominated

Tyre company take 5th consecutive win

Michelin teams dominated the 70th running to the 24 Hours of Le Mans, June 15-16, winning overall honors, and taking the LMP 900, GT and LMP 675 classes despite competition from Goodyear, Pirelli, Dunlop, Avon and Yokohama.

Michelin Highlights of the 70th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans:

* A fifth consecutive overall Michelin victory at Le Mans
* A third consecutive Le Mans victory with the Audi Sport Team Joest
* A Michelin sweep of the podium with the Audi team
* Leading all 375 laps of the race
* Taking nine of the top ten positions in the race.
* A Michelin sweep of all top ten positions in qualifying
* Winning the pole in all four classes entered.
* Leading all four classes during the race.
* Winning the LMP 900 class with the Audi Sport Team Joest
* Winning the GT Class with the Racer's Group Porsche
* Winning the LMP 675 Class with the Del Bello Noel Reynard

"Le Mans is a full test of both speed and endurance," said Herb Johnson, Michelin North America's Director of Motorsports. "Our teams were able to run a very fast pace for the entire race, even as conditions changed," said Johnson. "The GT class win by the American based Racer's Group Porsche came in part due our ability to maintain the pace while double-stinting our Michelins for nearly half of the race. That saved the team a lot of team in the pits. The Audi's were running near qualifying speeds late in the race on triple stinted Michelins. Delivering that level of performance during the most demanding motorsports race means a lot to us and to our partners."

The Michelin fitted LMP 675 pole winning factory MG and GTS pole winning ProDrive Ferrari both led handily before dropping out with mechanical difficulties. The rapidly improving Cadillac team finished 9th and 12th.