For the first time, the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) will race in Italy this weekend. Goodyear is up to the task of taking on Monza, one of the world's most famous and toughest high-speed tracks.
Goodyear's LMP2 teams have raced at the 6 Hours of Spa and the 8 Hours of Portimao so far this season, gathering crucial data ahead of the 24 Hours of Le Mans next month. Goodyear mentioned that this weekend's 6 Hours of Monza is another step in the continuous preparation for the French endurance classic as well as a vital event in the WEC season.
All 12 LMP2 cars competing at Monza will use Goodyear tyres, being the category's exclusive tyre supplier. Mike McGregor, Goodyear's Endurance Program Manager, expects the race to present new challenges for teams and drivers, but he believes Goodyear's tyres will be well-suited to the circumstances.
“So far this season, we’ve seen two extremes of track conditions,” McGregor explains. “At Spa, we had a cold and aggressive track, and at Portimao, it was much smoother and hotter with the new surface there. The tyres have been through two extremes, and we can see that the operating window, especially of the single slick spec, is wide. Monza has big, long straights leading into tight corners that are good preparation for Le Mans. By the end of a long straight, tyre temperatures have dropped, and then they have a high load going through them with braking into the chicane, the long right-handed Parabolica, or corners like Lesmo 1 and 2. Drawing the similarities between these parts of the Monza track, and the Mulsanne Straight and its chicanes at Le Mans, really helps our understanding ahead of next month.
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“We have enjoyed some really exciting racing so far in 2021. At Portimao, after eight hours of racing, the top two LMP2 cars finished less than five seconds apart after an overtake from Antonio Felix da Costa on Tom Blomqvist. To have this level of competition is always a great thing for WEC, and we’re looking forward to another thrilling battle on Sunday.”
ELMS race at Monza adds to preparation
McGregor and his team were in action last weekend in Monza, supplying the European Le Mans Series (ELMS) event. In addition to being the sole tyre supplier for the ELMS' LMP2 class, Goodyear also supplies tyres to every team in the LMGTE class, accounting for two-thirds of the grid. Goodyear was able to gain even more insight into its preparation for this Sunday's WEC race by racing at the same track just seven days before the event.
McGregor explains: “We’ve done a lot of testing at Monza, so despite it being a new track on the WEC calendar, we know it well, and so do many of the teams. However, the added experience of last weekend’s ELMS race has given us even more data heading into this weekend. Every lap of the track adds to our knowledge.
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“We’re expecting changeable weather conditions so it will be interesting to see how each team might choose to use the intermediate and wet tyres. Last season, teams used our intermediate tyre in a huge range of conditions, but we know our new wet tyre for 2021 also has a wide range of application. On a drying track, some teams might stay on wets until they can fit slicks, but others might use intermediates in wet and almost dry conditions. This performance overlap will also help us understand the changeable conditions that we always see at Le Mans.”
Free Practice for the 6 Hours of Monza will be held over Friday afternoon and Saturday, followed by Qualifying on Saturday evening. The six-hour race will get underway at 12:00 CEST on Sunday, 18 July.
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