Teams, Drivers React Positively to New Michelin Top Class Tire

IMSA teams and drivers have reacted positively to Michelin’s new Pilot Sport Endurance 2026 GTP and Hypercar class tire during the final validation test for the range’s Hard compound offering at Watkins Glen International last week.

In total, five teams participated in the test, with one car present from Porsche Penske Motorsport, Action Express Racing, Acura Meyer Shank Racing, Heart of Racing Team, and BMW M Team RLL.

The ten-hour test served as the final validation of the Hard compound in Michelin’s range and was the last outing in an extensive testing program across a variety of circuits around the globe.

The test began on a heat-soaked Watkins Glen circuit at 9 a.m. EST, the Monday after the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen, with teams first recording baseline laps on the current, outgoing sets of Michelin rubber before switching to varied, blind sets of the 2026 Hard tire for the rest of the day to complete a number of different run plans.

“We will try to cover the complete realm,” Michelin tire designer Florian Mora explained. “We will start with the warmup performance and drivability during the warmup.

“And then we have the peak performance part of the run when they explain the peak grip and balance they have doing that. And then we have the start of the degradation phase, and also they explain how they feel the degradation, if it is more consistent.

“At first, we have the analysis from the drivers, and then we have a performance analysis team, which is also analyzing the data from the car to make correlations.”

The new Michelin tire targets improvements in warmup performance, durability over a stint, and overall consistency, while increasing the overall use of sustainable materials in the tire, a feature highlighted by the tire’s unique Vision tread pattern, which, while not impacting performance, alludes to the tire’s more sustainable internal construction.

Ross Gunn was among the first drivers to sample the new Hard compound tire at Watkins Glen in his Aston Martin Valkyrie alongside Roman De Angelis.

“We’ve tried multiple options of tires, and they seem to be reacting to warmup and durability, and peak performance as well, so I think Michelin has done a good job developing these tires,” Gunn told Sportscar365.

“The warmup has been a bit of a weakness for us, but that seemed to be significantly better just now, so that was a positive step.

“It’s very difficult to get a perfect tire. There’s always an option that has something better than the other.

“So the feedback that all of us drivers today can give to Michelin will hopefully help. Every tire had something unique about it, and for Michelin, it’s about trying to find the right compromise.

“A lot of the testing is blind. I think that’s kind of the key as well. The blind testing is really important because then, you get ultimate honesty and focus on actually what each specific tire is doing.”

Action Express Racing’s Jack Aitken and Frederik Vesti were aboard their No. 31 Cadillac V-Series.R for the test to provide feedback to both Michelin and Ian Watt, the team’s technical director.

Watt said that initial feedback from his drivers mirrored Gunn’s, stating the “warmup is better. The way the tire comes in and then degradation is less, then it’s kind of a win-win situation.”

He added: “When you’re testing, there’s pluses and minuses. So that’s what everybody’s got to go through. Lots of pluses, not too many minuses so far.

Porsche Penske Motorsports’ Lead Race Engineer, Brandon Fry said the team was also impressed by the new tire’s warmup performance and grip levels, saying the feedback from Felipe Nasr after his initial runs aboard the No. 6 Porsche 963 was “overall positive.”

“We had two options that we checked out,” said Fry. “One had more front grip, so it improved the balance and reduced understeer, and then the second one was a little more rear.

“This is the third year we’ve been running these tires, so the car is very well adjusted to these tires. So the big thing we’ve got to take away from this is that while it adjusts the balance, is this an improvement or a direction that we find beneficial for the future?

“Early on, some of the options weren’t as favorable,” he added, “But I think now they’re they’re pretty close and everybody’s pretty happy with what it looks like we will have for 2026.

Warmer Watkins Weather The Perfect Proving Ground for New Hard Compound

With temperatures in the Finger Lakes region in the mid-90s Fahrenheit with high humidity on the day of the test, along with the track’s high-load characteristics, Michelin’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship series manager, Hans Emmel, said Watkins Glen was an ideal final proving ground for the newest edition Hard tire.

“This is the Hard tire, the so-called hot weather tire, if you will,” Emmel said. “It’s a good validation test, the hotter it is on a very high-energy track.

“Watkins Glen is among the most high energy tracks that we go to on the North American side. So if we can combine very high temperatures with very high performance, we know we’ve got something we can move forward with.”

Both Action Express and Porsche Penske noted the new tires’ performance in the more extreme conditions, with Watt stating that grip, even in the warmer temperatures, was “pretty good.”

“The tires that they’re bringing are very good,” he said. “So the times that they’re running are pretty impressive considering the heat.

“I think they’re in a good place, and they’ve put the teams in a good place. They’ve made differences, but not enough where we need to change massive amounts on our side. The tire seems much more usable.”

While Fry felt that the differences in warmup performance may have been less noticeable compared to previous test outings with different tire compounds, he also noted that the tire range overall appears to be a step forward from Michelin’s current generation race rubber.

“I think the warmup was a big part of it,” said Fry. “Here, it’s a hot day. We ran the Hard tire. It came in pretty quickly on all the sets we’ve run.”

“I think here, we’re seeing less difference than maybe we saw at Sebring. [At] Sebring, the new tires were definitely a significant step forward.

“Here, because it’s hot, the differences seem to be a little bit smaller, but they’ve definitely moved in the right direction.”

Testing on the heels of the six-hour IMSA enduro also appeared to be a popular option across the board for more reasons than simply validating new tires in ideal conditions for the new compound.

“The nice thing about today is we just push 100 percent,” said Fry. “We’re not doing any sort of lift and coast or trying to get durability out of the tires. We’re pushing all the tires as Hard as we can for each of the runs that we’re doing.”

“It’s the best way to test,” added Watt. “Because that way you know the track, the drivers know the track, and it makes it very efficient to test.

“You’re not really wasting time setting things up, and you know, you’ve got where you’ve got, and everybody knows where it’s at, and you just keep going from there.”

“Any day you can drive a Hypercar is a good day,” said Gunn. “To be here, the sun shining, one of the best race tracks in the world, and getting eight sets of new tires is not to be scoffed at.”