IMSA IMSA : 2019

[Matt]

With this news, I see it fitting to start this thread.

Conti Tire exits after 2018 season, wonder who will be the new supplier, or will it be open?

http://www.continentaltire.com/news/...nd-2018-season

[Coach Ep]

We can dream but open tyre competition ain't gonna happen. Hoosier is Conti owned nowadays correct? If so, that leaves Michelin, Pirelli and Dunlop I guess.

[Matt]

I'd prefer Dunlop outta those, simply for the giant sidewall markings.

[JHamilton]

Originally Posted by Coach Ep

We can dream but open tyre competition ain't gonna happen. Hoosier is Conti owned nowadays correct? If so, that leaves Michelin, Pirelli and Dunlop I guess.

It might... Probably not though. Yes, Hoosier builds the Conti race tires. Dunlop and Pirelli have tiny market shares here, although Dunlop is a Goodyear company. Michelin would be the obvious answer to me.

[Matt]

Signs are pointing towards Michelin.

[seanyb505]

What signs?

[Akrapovic]

Originally Posted by Coach Ep

We can dream but open tyre competition ain't gonna happen. Hoosier is Conti owned nowadays correct? If so, that leaves Michelin, Pirelli and Dunlop I guess.

Is Bridgestone/Firestone an option? Yokohama? Hankook?

[YZFrider]

My thoughts: Iit will still be a single tire class for P class and GTD. Now the Conti defenders often said to the Conti critics that the crap tires were built to a spec that the series organisers wanted. So even if Michelin was awarded the contract, I won't hold my breath of a better tire built. The P2 cars from WEC were 2-3 seconds faster at COTA this year than DPi.

[Akrapovic]

Originally Posted by YZFrider

My thoughts: Iit will still be a single tire class for P class and GTD. Now the Conti defenders often said to the Conti critics that the crap tires were built to a spec that the series organisers wanted. So even if Michelin was awarded the contract, I won't hold my breath of a better tire built. The P2 cars from WEC were 2-3 seconds faster at COTA this year than DPi.

I don't think Michelin would take up the contract if it was built to a spec that wasn't their own.

[NaBUru38]

http://www.tirebusiness.com/article/...-tire-industry

The big 3 in North America are Goodyear/Dunlop, Bridgestone/Firestone and Michelin, with over 50%. Conti is fourth with just 6%.

Goodyear is in Nascar and Firestone in IndyCar, so it makes sense for Michelin to become an IMSA partner.

However, I wouldn't be surprised if Dunlop or Bridgestone made a decent bid.

[joeb]

If Michelin gets the contract, I'd assume their current P2 tires (or an updated version of them) would be the tire of choice for the P class. They would probably employ the current GTE tire strategy in the future as well for GTD.

Also, this end of the Conti contract means the end of the sponsorship for the 2nd tier championship. I wonder if the new tire contractor will be required to sponsor said championship or if an outside sponsor will be found.

[Matt]

They would sponsor what is now the CTSCC and Prototype Challenge.

[Matt]

Originally Posted by seanyb505

What signs?

[chernaudi]

SC365 and Racer Magazine also reporting the IMSA press release on Michelin replacing Continental.

[Matt]

https://www.imsa.com/news/092017/ims...beginning-2019

No more ST.

"The 2019 IMSA Michelin SportsCar Challenge will feature the Grand Sport (GS) class for cars built to international GT4 specifications and Touring Car for TCR-spec race cars."

[Maelochs]

Just got the Michelin confirmation in my mailbox.

"DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Sept. 20, 2017) - The International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) today announced that Michelin will become the “Official Tire of IMSA” in its premier series – the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and its two major Challenge series – beginning in 2019.

"The multi-year agreement calls for Michelin tires to be on every Prototype (P) and GT Daytona (GTD) race car competing in the WeatherTech Championship in addition to its continued participation in the GT Le Mans (GTLM) class. The GTLM class will continue to be open to multiple tire manufacturers.

"The 2019 IMSA Michelin SportsCar Challenge will feature the Grand Sport (GS) class for cars built to international GT4 specifications and Touring Car for TCR-spec race cars. The IMSA Prototype Challenge Presented by Mazda, featuring LMP3 race cars, also will ride on Michelins."

Maybe a bunch of drivers got together and said, "If you want to run a real international-quality series you will need to use real tires."

(I forget which driver said in a post-race interview "In Europe the tires are softer and they last longer.")

This could be really helpful if IMSA DPi rules are going to be folded into LMP1-L rules later on, too ... teams will be able to use the same set-ups on either side of the pond.

[WolfsburgRS]

This actually kind of bums me out. I think Continental did a lot for the series and the Continental tire challenge is fantastic the way it is. In the WTSCC i can't see performance levels going up much just because it's going to say Michelin instead of Continental, spec is spec after all, but perhaps I'm wrong. If conti could keep the CTSCC and Michelin had WTSCC that would be cool...

On the bright side since GTLM is still open tire maybe Conti can try and come back with a customer program, but that's a tough sell going from being a money making spec supplier to a money spending development tire.

[Maelochs]

As far as I know the drivers have hated Conti tires since before the merger (I listened to one of the Taylor bothers joking with other drivers and crew about how he had better traction with his street tires, one lucky day back in 2012 (?) when I caught a tram at Homestead that was full of drivers and crew.)

Conti probably offered good money ... so I assume Michelin did too. And Michelin has the budget to do as much advertising as Conti could.

I really think that the series needed to improve the tires. Lap times in WeatherTech will likely come down, and since it seems the series wants to be seen as on par with WEC ... IMSA needs to show comparable performance.

Conti --- the crazy driving, big fields, and adventurous driving won't change.

[Akrapovic]

Michelin signed on remarkably quickly after the announcement. Was this primarily an IMSA decision, but they had the good grace to allow Continental to do the withdrawal announcement first?

[seanyb505]

That's correct.

[HORNDAWG]

Originally Posted by Akrapovic

Michelin signed on remarkably quickly after the announcement. Was this primarily an IMSA decision, but they had the good grace to allow Continental to do the withdrawal announcement first?

Originally Posted by seanyb505

That's correct.

IMSA opened up the tire contract for tenders back in March.






L.P.

[WolfsburgRS]

Very true, having never driven on them it could be a totally different story!

[seanyb505]

Originally Posted by HORNDAWG

IMSA opened up the tire contract for tenders back in March.
L.P.

Doesn't affect the timing of the announcements. I'm surprised imsa's announcement was this early. But I guess once continental published theirs...no point in leaving everyone in suspense and speculation until petit.

[TF110]

The stars are aligning. If Michelin use their lmp1 knowledge for tires in the P class, then it will be easier for DPi-to-lmp1 regs to happen and teams have more than just a common ruleset, but common tires. Good move by IMSA and Michelin imo.

[JHamilton]

Originally Posted by TF110

The stars are aligning. If Michelin use their lmp1 knowledge for tires in the P class, then it will be easier for DPi-to-lmp1 regs to happen and teams have more than just a common ruleset, but common tires. Good move by IMSA and Michelin imo.

The ACO have made it clear that they do not want to incorporate DPi into their rules set at this time and I doubt very much it will factor into their future LMP1 plans.

I think this was sheerly that a former partner wanted the sponsorship and supply deal more than the current partner. Better performance might be a bonus.