Eighteen Cars to Ride on Michelin Tires at Petit Le Mans

In the GT category, a trio of Porsches from Alex Job Racing and Peterson Racing as well as a pair of BMWs from BMW Motorsport and a Ferrari from MSB Motorsport will race on Michelin tires.

Two Volkswagon-powered Reynards from ROC will ride on Michelin tires in the LMP675 category.  The Prodrive Ferrari and the Brookspeed Viper will feature Michelin tires in the GTS category.

* Testing Update - Michelin will be testing new tire solutions at Road Atlanta in a private test this coming weekend with the Champion, Panoz and Johansson teams as well as with BMW Motorsports and Alex Job Racing.

* What to Watch For - "One of the things that we will be watching carefully is pick up," said Herb Johnson, Director of Motorsports for Michelin North America, referring to rubber on the track that sticks to the tires.  "That is a problem that we had last year at Petit and it makes the car very slippery.  There's not much we can do about it, though.  We will also be watching the left side tires very closely...Road Atlanta is typically hard on left-side tires because of the predominant right hand turns. It is possible that during the race some teams might chose to double-stint right side tires while changing left side tires.  The final thing that we'll be closely monitoring is weather.  Weather is always a factor when it comes to choosing the right tires.  We'll bring more than 4,500 tires to Road Atlanta to make sure that we give our partners the best tire for any weather condition."

* Michelin Tour de Force - Michelin's new interactive traveling exhibit will be entertaining fans at Petit Le Mans in the Vendor Village at Road Atlanta.  The exhibit, designed to educate drivers about the role tires play in the performance of their vehicle, is criss-crossing the country visiting events as diverse as air shows, Formula One races and art festivals.  The exhibit features more than 1,200 square feet of space in two 53-feet-long tractor-trailers including a variety of tires for every type of vehicle from passenger cars and bicycles to the Space Shuttle. The exhibit also features video games, trivia questions about the famous Michelin Man and a photo opportunity where visitors can take pictures of themselves posing as a Michelin "baby" inside a larger-than-life size tire.

* Last Year At Petit Le Mans - The Michelin-shod Audi driven by Allan McNish, Rinaldo Capello and Michele Alboreto dominated the 1000-mile event by recording the fastest qualifying time, the fastest race lap and by leading 344 of the 394 laps.  Audi teammates Emanuele Pirro, Frank Biela and Tom Kristensen finished second while David Brabham and Jan Magnussen finished third in a Michelin-shod Panoz.  The Goodyear-shod Corvette driven by Andy Pilgrim, Kelly Collins and Franck Freon won the GTS category.  Michelin-shod Porsches swept the top three positions in the GT category, with Sascha Maassen and Bob Wollek scoring the win.

* ALMS Tire Championship - Michelin has already secured its second consecutive ALMS Tire Championship in the LMP900 and GT categories. Currently, Michelin holds an 88-point advantage over Goodyear in LMP900 (Michelin has 180 points compared to Goodyear's 92).  Michelin has 180 points in the GT category, ahead of Yokohama (140), Dunlop (88) and Goodyear (11).  Michelin won ALMS Tire Championships for the LMP900, GTS and GT categories in 2000.

For more information, contact:
Bob Andrew, Event Management Corp.
Tel: 313-449-0108
Cell: 313-510-8454
E-mail: bob@emcpr.com