Panis-Barthez Competition, whose performance last season with Michelin rubber turned heads throughout the LMP2 paddocks in the ELMS and FIA WEC has this morning confirmed that they will switch, with immediate effect, to rival tyre manufacturer Dunlop.
The British manufacturer will supply tyres to the two Ligier JS P217 LMP2 prototypes entered by the team for the full 2019 ELMS, and for the single car entered for the 2019 Le Mans 24 Hours.
The move comes as the tyre battle in the LMP2 class hots up, Dunlop having rolled out their final permitted tyre spec for the remainder of the 2018/19 WEC season at Sebring in the wake of several teams switching to Michelin for the 2019 ELMS season.
Panis Barthez Competition showed excellent pace on the Michelins throughout 2018 and their pace is understood to have directly influenced United Autosports to switch mid-season to the Michelins, the US-flagged, UK-based team scoring a pair of late-season wins after the switch.
The Dunlop response though was a significant one, the Dunlop-shod #37 Jackie Chan DC Racing ORECA scoring a dominant win at Sebring’s 1000 Mile WEC race utilising the new tyres, this the brand’s 46th consecutive LMP2 win in the WEC. The change for Panis Barthez is clearly, at least in part, directly performance-related:
Olivier Panis, Panis-Barthez Competition Team Principal: “We are delighted to start this new partnership with Dunlop. It’s a new challenge we will undertake together.
Their great experience and many successes at the highest level of endurance will motivate and guide our team towards new directions.
We would like to thank Michelin for their dedication to us in the past three seasons. By our joint work, we have achieved many great performances. We are very grateful to all of them.
Florent Gouin, Panis-Barthez Competition Head of Engineering: “This alliance with Dunlop will allow us to take another step forward.
The synergy between tyres and chassis will be strengthened as the degradation becomes a major challenge regarding new ELMS regulations.
Mathias Kipp, Dunlop Motorsport Manager EMEA: “It’s a real pleasure to have signed a partnership with Panis-Barthez Competition in the LMP2 category in ELMS and le Mans 24H going forward.
The team has always demonstrated since their arrival in ELMS in 2016 how fast and professional they are and adding a Ligier chassis back into our pool for development will be perfect.
I thank Olivier, Simon and the full team for their trust and look forward to successes in the coming races.”
