Le Mans is the oldest and most famous endurance race in the world, and the pinnacle of every endurance racing driver’s ambition is to achieve victory after 24 hours around the revered French circuit.

As an event, it has stood alone since 1923. As a name, a concept, and a spirit of racing, Le Mans has over the past decade spawned follow-up series, first in the USA and later in Europe. Run in conjunction with the foundation event’s organisers, the Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO), these races follow the same prototype/GT technical rules.

Dunlop and Le Mans

Dunlop has been part of endurance racing since the early days of Le Mans when the Bentley Boys achieved serial success, through the glamour years of the 1950s, when Jaguar did the same.

The cars are different today – with the Le Mans Prototypes at the forefront of technology and very far removed from what you would see on the roads, with the GT classes very highly evolved from their production car bases.

Innovative technology now a major factor in the distance events with hybrid technology knocking on the door of success. In the quest for performance and efficiency, tyres play a huge role

Endurance racing is a demanding but rewarding discipline for Dunlop’s engineers. The requirement is not only for endurance but also consistency of performance. The lessons of the long-distance races are learned to the benefit of production tyres: a cornerstone of Dunlop’s race-to-road philosophy.