August 12, 2019 |
The MICHELIN Pilot Sport tyre for fully electric single-seaters successfully navigated the extreme conditions of the fully electric single-seater FIA Formula E Championship. Season 6 may see a major breakthrough with the introduction of the first connected tyres in car racing.
This season, which ended in New York on July 15, gave us a very thorough, and highly positive, look at the new generation of MICHELIN Pilot Sport tyres developed for Formula E. We experienced four seasons’ worth of weather in a single season and gathered more data than in previous years.
Michelin Formula E manager Serge Grisin
THE GOLD STANDARD IN SUSTAINABLE RACING
Over the course of 58 races, the MICHELIN Pilot Sport emerged as the obvious gold standard for sustainable racing, offering tangible evidence of Michelin’s commitment to sustainable mobility. Drivers appreciated this light, versatile and extremely energy-efficient tyre and its performance that lasted throughout the race day. “We were all very satisfied with how the tyres handled, their longevity, and particularly the fact that they get up to speed quickly during qualification runs,” said Jean-Eric Vergne, the new 2018/2019 ABB FIA Formula E champion. “The tyres survived the extreme conditions of our race days with very little damage.“
FROM RACETRACK TO ROAD
For the Group, racing is a lab in which advantage can be taken of the extreme use conditions to bring the best technologies to Michelin’s mass-market tyres. The revolutionary 18-inch size for single-seaters meant technologies could be quickly transferred to their mass market tyres, like the new MICHELIN Pilot Sport SUV tyre introduced at the Geneva car show in March 2019.
WHAT ABOUT NEXT YEAR?
After the fifth season closed with a historic double victory by Jean-Eric Vergne (DS Techeetah), attention is now focused on the upcoming season. “Our tyres’ outstanding performance will remain the same, but Formula E may see a major change: the first connected tyres in the history of car racing,” said Matthieu Bonardel, Head of Michelin Motorsport. Michelin was the first manufacturer to market a connected tyre system, MICHELIN Track Connect. The engineers at MICHELIN MOTORSPORT are working on modifying it for racing. “Introducing connected tyres would generate major benefits for the sport and for teams, particularly continuous control of tyre pressure.” These will be seen on November 22-23, 2019 at the Ad Diriyah track in Saudi Arabia.
Source: https://www.michelin.com/en/news/formula-e-retour-sur-les-exploits-des-pneus/
