Michelin & Porsche

and

TEAM FOR SUCCESS ON ROAD and TRACK

St ory By: John Love, Jackson Mot orsport s

It is no surprise that two of the premier groups in the automotive world have often teamed for great success. Michelin and Porsche have enjoyed a successful, collaborative partnership in both motorsports and production vehicles since 1961. This trusted partnership continues after five decades on both the road and the track.

With similar cultures and philosophies, Porsche, and Michelin often work in close collaboration to achieve performance and competitive success as deep learnings are carried from the racetrack to production vehicles and tires. Longevity, energy efficiency and versatility are as important in racing as they are in day-to-day road traffic.

As evidence of the collaboration, Michelin is the official tire for Porsche competition worldwide. Michelin is also the official tire of the International Motor Sports Association, the sanctioning body for premier endurance sports car racing in North America. Since scoring the overall victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1998 with the Porsche 911 GT1-98, Michelin has now taken 23 consecutive overall victories at Le Mans, including three consecutive victories with the stunning Porsche 919 Hybrid. To illustrate the level of technology and collaboration, the 2015 Le Mans-winning Porsche 919 Hybrid driven by Nick Tandy, Earl Bamber and Nico Hulkenberg racked up 3,452.3 miles (395) laps of the 8.47-mile circuit, an average speed of 139.3 miles per hour. The trio made 30 pit stops for fuel but used only 10 sets of Michelin tires. Through the years, Porsche and Michelin have also teamed for In American Le Mans Series GT racing, teams like Alex Job Racing, Flying Lizard Motorsports and Petersen/ White Lightning carried the torch for Porsche in the early-to-mid 2000s, and all chose Michelin. The Porsche RSSpyders of Team Penske also enjoyed great success in ALMScompetition. The factory Porsche GT Team in IMSA WeatherTech Championship competition then scored 21 GT Le Mans class wins in its seven-year run with CORE Autosport, which concluded at the end of the 2020 IMSA season.

The team?s record includes class wins at the Rolex 24 At Daytona, the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring (4) and the Motul Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta (3), including an historic overall race win in the wet in 2015.

?It is all about blending the two cultures. It takes a certain mindset, from a certain type of people that melds into what Porsche demands and requires from their partnerships,?said Porsche factory driver Patrick Long. To illustrate Michelin?s level of commitment. Michelin and its race operations team from Jackson Motorsports will be at Sebring International Raceway in March with a fleet of semi-trailers and several thousand tires. Jackson provides expertise on competition and performance tire

sales, race tire operations, logistics, marketing, training, and communications.

At Sebring, Porsche entries will compete in the IMSA WeatherTech GT Le Mans and GT Daytona classes and in the GSClass of the Michelin Pilot Challenge. The Sebring race week will also mark the debut of the new 2021 Porsche Carrera Cup North America. Michelin is the exclusive tire supplier for 21 Porsche Carrera Cup championships around the world.

Here in the First Settlers Region in Eastern Virginia, Michelin is the official tire and event title sponsor for the upcoming IMSA Michelin GT Challenge at your home track: Virginia International Raceway (October 8-10). The WeatherTech Championship GT classes are the featured entries along with IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge and the Porsche Carrera Cup North America races. On behalf of our partners at Michelin, we at Jackson Motorsports invite FSRmembers to come join us for the Carrera Cup race October 8-10 and see first hand how Porsche and Michelin take performance to a higher level. Let your Editor, Bob Weber, know in advance if you are

attending and Michelin/Jackson Motorsports will provide an exclusive briefing and tour of the Michelin compound at VIR, and with fingers crossed, we hope to have a special surprise for attending FSRmembers! See you at VIRin October!