MEDIA INFORMATION April 18, 2016

FIA World Endurance Championship 6 Hours of Silverstone (first round)

LM P1 success for Audi Sport, a one-two in LM GTE Pro and victory for AF Corse in GTE Am: Michelin’s partners shine at the 2016 6 Hours of Silverstone

The 2016 6 Hours of Silverstone took place in bright, sunny conditions but in cool temperatures (air: 11°C / track: 15°C) which provided Michelin’s partners with a chance to use the French firm’s full range of tyres. The overall win at the flag went to Audi Sport after an entertaining and, at times, dramatic six hours.

After dominating Saturday’s wet qualifying, the German team’s two cars got away well at the start on ‘soft cold weather’ Michelin tyres, while Team and Toyota Gazoo Racing both opted for the ‘soft hot weather’ alternative.

Audi’s choice proved to be a judicious one since the N°7 pole-sitting car of Fässler/Lotterer/Tréluyer successfully defended its lead over its N°8 sister prototype as the two machines successfully warded off Porsche’s pressure for 30 minutes.

Then, however, as the sunshine gradually warmed the track, Porsche started to close on the Audis and, in the hands of , the 2015 world championship-winning car found a way past the two R18s to take the lead.

The first round of pit stops saw the Audis switch to ‘soft hot weather’ Michelins – like its rivals – and the battling resumed.

Two hours in, New Zealander (N°1) led, chased by the Audis and the N°2 Porsche 919 Hybrid of Dumas/Jani/Lieb, while the two Toyota TS050-Hybrids followed slightly further back. At the very beginning of the third hour, however, the N°1 Porsche 919 attempted to pass the N°86 Gulf Racing Porsche 911 RSR and contact between the two cars led to a spectacular accident which spelled the end of the 2015 world champions’ challenge. Both drivers escaped unscathed.

The two Audis suddenly found themselves back in front, but their joy lasted no more than half-a-lap because the N°8 R18 (Di Grassi/Duval/Jarvis) came to a sudden halt in the middle of the track due to a technical problem, just as Race Control declared a Full Course Yellow period.

These changes promoted Toyota Gazoo Racing to third place and its two cars doubled stinted on the same tyres to close to within a few dozen seconds of the front-runners. Unfortunately, the N°5 Toyota TS050-Hybrid (Davidson/Buemi/Nakajima) later damaged its rear-right tyre on a piece of debris, and this led to significant body damage.

Alessandro Barlozzi – [email protected] – Phone: +33.6.42.23.55.93

At the halfway point, the 6 Hours of Silverstone was led by the N°7 Audi, chased by the N°2 Porsche, with the N°6 Toyota (Sarrazin/Conway/Kobayashi) running a little further back. The Stuttgart car failed to find a way past and it even picked up a big cut in the tread of its front-right tyre as the Audi doubled-stinted on the same rubber to pull clear and hold on until the chequered flag.

“It was a good start to the season for our latest range of endurance racing tyres,” notes Michelin Motorsport Director Pascal Couasnon. “Saturday’s race saw Panis-Barthez Compétition claim the fastest race lap with our new LM P2 tyres and Sunday’s FIA WEC race saw Michelin partner teams win all the classes in which we are involved, including LM GTE Pro and Am which are very competitive this year.”

A one-two for Ferrari in LM GTE Pro and victory for AF Corse in GTE Am

The new GTE started the year in style by winning Saturday’s qualifying session with the N°71 car (Rigon/Bird) which went on to dominate the LM GTE Pro class on Sunday. Meanwhile, the performance of the N°51 sister car of Bruni/Calado provided further evidence of the Michelin- equipped Italian machine’s potential. A strong run from its talented drivers allowed them to forget their misadventure of the previous day which forced the N°51 Ferrari 488 GTE to start from 32nd place on the grid. A technical problem effectively prevented from posting a time after his team-mat had put their car at the top of the provisional order. The Ferrari technicians were forced to change the N°51 Ferrari’s engine which led to a three-minute penalty for the race.

Undeterred, the duo in the N°51 488 GTE succeeded in slicing their way up the field and, with an hour remaining, Gianmaria Bruni was up to third and running two seconds a lap faster than in the second-placed N°95 (Thiim/Sorensen/Turner). With the Ferrari breathing down its neck, the British car pitted for its last fuel stop and tyre change, while the Italian machine continued. Its speed at the end of its stint made it the fastest GTE runner on the track at this moment of the race and Bruni pushed the point home by pitting one last time without changing tyres. The reward was a one-two finish for Ferrari and an eloquent example of the performance and constancy of Michelin’s tyres.

“We ran Michelin’s ‘medium cold weather’ tyre from start to finish,” reported Gianmaria Bruni. “Along with James [Calado], we soon realised that they would enable us to make the most of the potential of our 488 GTE and we gave it everything we had to fight our way up the order. At the end, the consistency of our Michelins enabled us to stay on the same set at our last stop and the time we saved earned us second place.”

AF Corse won the LM GTE Am class with the N°83 Ferrari F458 Italia of Perrodo/Collard/Aguas. The Franco-Portuguese trio started from fifth on the grid but the combination of their solid display, their fast, reliable car and the consistency of their tyres saw them appear in front on several occasions before taking the chequered flag in first place, ahead of the Aston Martin V8 Vantage of Dalla Lana/Lamy/Lauda.

The next round of the 2016 FIA WEC will take teams to Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium, on May 7.

Alessandro Barlozzi – [email protected] – Phone: +33.6.42.23.55.93