Michelin is debuting a brand new rain tyre for the FIA WEC Hypercar field at this weekend’s 6 Hours of Barcelona.
The new compound, which has been available for teams to use in private testing since August, contains 57 per cent renewable/recycled materials and completes the rollout of the French constructor’s new-for-2026 range of WEC Hypercar and IMSA GTP tyres.
The new wet tyre is said to perform better than the previous specification in the rain and be more resistant to blistering on a drying track.
“It’s not a dramatic change, because based on the rules we need only one wet tyre spec. We chose to develop a tyre that will have a good transition from wet and drying, but will lack the performance of a full wet,” Pierre Alves, Michelin Motorsport’s endurance racing programme manager, told DSC.
“We don’t have separate tyres for drying tracks and for full wet; and we feel it made sense to go down the route we have, because it will help to ensure we see racing when the conditions are mixed. If you go on a cold slick tyre on a damp track, it’s very dangerous. That’s why we made the decision.”
Michelin validated the new wet tyre both internally and with the current crop of Hypercar manufacturers during private track testing in Europe last year, on a different timeline from the three slick (soft, medium and hard) compounds introduced at the start of this season.
“We did two wet tests for it with the Hypercars at Paul Ricard, where we made the track wet artificially, and we did a lot of internal tests to measure the hydro performance,” Alves continued. “It’s easier for our resources to not develop and introduce the full range at the same time, because the same developers work on slicks and wet tyres.”
The first appearance of Michelin’s new rain tyre appears to have come at an opportune time, as the current forecast for tomorrow and Sunday’s track action for the FIA WEC suggests both qualifying and the race will be held in the wet.
In North America, the new wet tyre will debut at the IMSA Daytona Sanctioned Test in December, and be on hand from the start of the 2027 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season at the same venue in January.
Images courtesy of Keith Rizzo and Michelin
