Goodyear Set to Start Testing New LMGT3 Range in Early 2026

Goodyear is “already developing” its next range of LMGT3 tires according to its head of endurance racing Mike McGregor, who outlined that on-track testing for the new range is likely to begin in the first quarter of 2026.

The brand has been the exclusive tire supplier for the LMGT3 category since the class made its debut last year, with cars in both FIA World Endurance Championship and the European Le Mans Series running on Goodyear Eagle tires.

It recently introduced its new Eagle Hard compound, which is made up of 33 percent sustainable materials, during WEC’s 6 Hours of Sao Paulo.

However, McGregor outlined that the brand is already working on its next range of LMGT3 tires, with which it is looking to push to 66 percent sustainable materials when the new tires debut in 2027.

“I know it seems like quite a short span, but we want to make sure we’re pushing the boundaries [of] what we can do,” McGregor told Sportscar365.

“We have introduced a Hard [compound] here now at 33 percent and in 18 months time we’re going to try and introduce the tire at 66 percent sustainable materials.

“I think that’s the target of WEC, it’s the way the championship is going and the way we build these products anyway, we never build on high mass volume.

“Any of the specs that we use and the fact that we nominate the specs for each circuit means we limit the amount of scrap tires [and] we limit the amount of tires that are carried over.

“It also carries into our roadmap to the future for other championships and other consumers where we can introduce newer products with more performance over the longer term.”

McGregor outlined that early work on the new tire range has already begun, with Goodyear’s pair of in-house driver-in-loop simulators also set to play a role in that process.

“Within motorsport, it never stops and simulation is a key part of what we’re doing now,” said McGregor.

“We’ve already got our compounding team doing a lot of work in the laboratories trying to understand what materials are working well, what can bring more performance, what can improve warm-up even further.

“Some of the drivers said to me at Le Mans [that] they were shocked that by the time they got to the Dunlop Bridge, they’d already got grip.

“And it’s like, ‘Okay but when you’re driving out the pit lane, if you can have that same feeling…’

“We’re improving that. I think that’s the point of just pushing the boundaries every time.”

When asked about the testing progress for the 2027 range, McGregor replied: “We’ll probably start track testing at the beginning of next season, sometime in the first quarter.

“We don’t want to rush into anything to do something too quickly. I think getting another season under our belt of understanding, especially with us introducing the Hard, we like to get a full span of the entire race season to know all the tracks, how the products work, so that we can then refine in the right way.

“I can see us doing four or five tests throughout the year next year, and then at the end of the year having a test where we can invite all the manufacturers together to run at the same time.”

As part of the development process for the new Eagle Hard, Goodyear involved eight of the nine current LMGT3 manufacturers, which Mercedes-AMG gaining access to the tires later as it was not present for the first season of the class.

McGregor indicated that a similar process was likely to be followed for the testing schedule for the new range, which will start by the brand seeking out an “equal base” across various car types.

“I think what we’ll try to do is pinpoint front-engine, rear-engine, mid-engine cars and start with just an equal base across the three and then we’ll slowly start to introduce the other manufacturers as we move through the season,” he said.

The Eagle Hard is also referred to by Goodyear as the ‘C’ compound, with the Eagle Medium given the ‘B’ designation.

There currently is no Soft compound currently in Goodyear’s range, with McGregor explaining that that will only be added if there a desire to do so coming from the championship.

“We need to look at the evolution of what the championship requires [and] what the drivers are looking for,” he said.

“We want to make sure the enjoyment level is there, but there are circuits like Imola which are so different and so easy on tires that you could do it.

“This year at Le Mans, we could already do four or five stints with the [Medium] and there’s next to no wear.

“We could look at doing it, but does the championship need it? Does it require it, is there a reason behind it?

“Does it create extra cost even for the teams to develop such a product? That’s where we work closely with the FIA and ACO technical group to understand that.”