Michelin readies for Canadian Tire Motorsport Park

Michelin and its technical partner teams are preparing for one of the major technical challenges of the year as the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) heads to Canadian Tire Motorsport (Mosport) Park, July 19-21, the midway point of the 2013 ALMS season.

“Mosport is a high-risk/high-reward circuit,” said Ken Payne, technical director of motorsports for Michelin North America. “It is a very high speed track and if you have an ‘off’ it can be big.”

“When people talk about race tires they usually focus on tire compounds, but the tire architecture and construction is essential to delivering total performance,” said Payne.

“Our Michelin tire designers and engineers work very hard to create robust constructions to handle the forces at places like Mosport, Road America and Road Atlanta,” said Payne. “With average lap speeds between 135 and 140 miles per hour, these three circuits are the fastest on the ALMS schedule and they are also the three highest cornering load circuits.”

The defending champion Muscle Milk Pickett Racing Honda and Dyson Racing Mazda P1 class technical partner teams will use the Michelin ultra-wide 16-inch front tires to maximize the tire footprint for braking, turn-in and cornering power.

In the GT category, the BMW Team RLL, Corvette Racing, SRT Viper, Risi Competizione Ferrari, CORE autosport and Paul Miller Racing Porsches will all use the Michelin tall front tire profiles to help handle the cornering loads on the hilly 2.459-mile, 10-turn circuit.