Michelin Insider: Admiring IMSA, Driving Progress and a Farewell

The Wisconsin summer air is fresh with anticipation. It’s Friday at Road America during the IMSA Fastlane SportsCar Weekend in 2022. The first full IMSA track day for Jason Anzalone as motorsports director for Michelin North America.

A walk through the paddock affirms his understanding of the incredible effort that goes into making this sport turn.

“How much work across multiple spectrums, all the teams and the people and just the general sacrifice, I would say, was a bit of a shocker for me,” Anzalone said.

“When you watch something on TV, it makes it look so easy. Anybody could do this, which is far, far from the truth. I gained a new level of respect for all the men and women that make the show happen for the fans.”

This wasn’t Anzalone’s first venture into an important partnership for Michelin. He’d been with the company for 11 years with a recent stop as the strategic account director for Discount Tire and Tire Rack. He was, in a sense, going from the passenger tire to the race tire.

“Motorsports leads the efforts around development,” Anzalone said. “It’s not a follower of development. And so to me, that’s a critical point for us as an organization.”

Even with the shift, he was still touching passenger tires since the development side of motorsports flows to the technology used for road tires.

“We get to test and learn and have quick innovation cycle of product, which is core to our DNA as a company,” Anzalone said. “To continue to push forward and drive progress around tire performance and material performance. What better place to do it than in a very grueling environment of sports car racing.”

The Michelin Motorsport team developed a tire with 30 percent renewable and recycled materials to pair with the launch of the new GTP era under Anzalone. This came as tire allocations were reduced by a third compared to the DPi era.

“Michelin got to play a key part in the first major North American racing series to feature hybrid cars,” Anzalone said. “It’s been really exciting, just to see that level of growth and commitment from the OEMs.

“The manufacturers know this is a place for them to innovate and develop. IMSA’s set up incredibly well for the future.”

As for Anzalone’s future, he’s becoming Michelin’s sales director for the B2B OE Transport Long Distance Business in North America. He’ll carry new knowledge and a whole lot of respect for endurance racing.

“I really have a great appreciation for everybody and all the hard work that they put into this,” Anzalone said. “The teams, the fans, the IMSA organization, and of course, the Michelin Motorsport team here in North America has done a fantastic job for us to continue to progress.”

As the attention locks into the Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, Michelin welcomes the new motorsports director of North America, Raymond Cotton.