Dunlop achieved a dream result in the inaugural Baltimore Grand Prix, the seventh round of the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) on Saturday 3 September, with Dunlop tyres gracing the top three finishing LMP1 cars.

As well as the LMP1 podium domination, the first two cars in the overall results both wore Dunlops, as did the second finishing GT car.

These results mean that heading to the next ALMS round – which takes place in two weeks’ time at Laguna Seca Raceway – Dunlop leads the LMP1 and GT teams, manufacturers, drivers and tyres championships.

“This was a fantastic result for us to see the yellow Dunlop caps on top of every driver on the LMP1 podium at the first ever American Le Mans Series race in Baltimore,” said Dunlop Motorsport’s General Manager,  Jean-Felix Bazelin.

“The race was a short one for endurance races at two hours’ duration, but it was certainly sweet for Dunlop. Our tyres performed strongly as was seen by the #16 Dyson Lola achieving overall pole position for the race, and then its sister #20 car winning the race.

“We also achieved the GT class pole with the #55 BMW which looked set for victory for over half of the race, before contact on track.

“For our tyre engineers, it is always a challenge coming to a new venue, and when that venue is a temporary street course, and not a permanent race facility, then the challenge is magnified as there are different variables to consider when seeking the best performance package.

“Dunlop focuses on endurance racing to build longer lasting tyres for road performance and the intensity of a new event makes our engineers dig deep and the lessons learnt from this process feed back to our road tyre development programme, ultimately benefiting the consumer.”

Race winners Steven Kane and Humaid Al Masaood have something of a Dunlop past, as the duo met at the Dunlop 24 Hours of Dubai, whilst the second finishing combo of Guy Smith and Chris Dyson have already won for Dunlop in the ALMS this year.

Dyson Racing team principal Chris Dyson praised Dunlop’s contribution to his squad’s LMP1 and overall race 1-2.

“Whenever we come to a temporary street circuit like Baltimore, the track dynamics change so much over the course of the weekend,” he said. “Tyre performance is more critical in these situations than any other venue. When we approach a new circuit, there are so many unknowns.  We have to have the ability to adapt to changing situation and practice time is generally very limited.

“Having said that, our team’s preparation for Baltimore was phenomenal. The cars were immediately quick and we were fastest all weekend. We couldn’t have been happier with the performance of the Dunlop tyres in the race. The durability and grip that they gave us made the difference between us and our competition. We are proud to have delivered a 1-2 finish for Dunlop and all our partners, and we head into the last two rounds of the ALMS with a championship lead and confidence.”

In the GT class, Dunlop partners BMW, who have achieved three consecutive wins in the class this season. Dunlop has been BMW’s Official Technical Partner since the launch of the M3 GT2 program and the investment in tyre development, at Fort Dunlop in Birmingham, England, has contributed towards the partnership becoming a major force globally in endurance racing.

“The GT race was very animated and much more uncertain with BMW, Corvette and Porsche exchanging race lead several times,” said Bazelin.

“The best placed finishing Dunlop GT car, the #56 BMW, was unfortunate to be blocked on the first lap at the first turn traffic jam typical of a street race, however a strong race brought it to second place in class behind a very quick and consistent opposition.

“We were unfortunate with the sister #55 BMW, which was leading and controlling the class after 1 hour 15minutes, when it was pushed into the tyre wall at turn one at the yellow flag restart. That it restarted in tenth and came back to finish in fifth position in class just 0.4seconds in front of the #62 Ferrari and 0.4secs behind the #48 Porsche shows what a battle they had to the chequered flag.”

American Le Mans Series action resumes for round eight at Leguna Seca on September 17. Dunlop is next in action in endurance racing at the Silverstone 6 Hours, round five of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup and Le Mans Series on September 11.