MICHELIN, the preferred choice for your racing or road-going Porsche!

The close and fruitful association between Porsche and Michelin dates back many years. One of their early joint feats was winning the celebrated Le Mans 24 Hours together with the Porsche GT1 in 1998, and the two firms have remained close allies in the exacting world of motor sport ever since.

The 2009 season was particularly successful for Porsche and Michelin, harvesting GT2 honours in the American Le Mans Series, the Le Mans Series and the FIA GT Championship. The list of top results extended to the Le Mans 24 Hours race itself, where the Team Essex-run Porsche RS Spyder took the spoils in both the Michelin Green X Challenge and LMP2 class. Further glory came with the exciting win of the Michelin-shod Manthey Racing 911 GT3 RSR in the 24-hour classic at the Nürburgring, Germany.

The partnership between Michelin and Porsche essentially focuses on the world of endurance racing, and the French company's tyres will feature on the latest-spec Porsche 911 GT3 RSRs that are contesting this year's clash at Le Mans, as well as the Le Mans and American Le Mans Series. For all these competitions, the engineers and technical staff of both companies work hand-in-hand to develop the most competitive range possible of durable, consistent and safe tyres.

Meanwhile, Michelin is also the official tyre supplier of the inaugural Porsche 911 GT3 Cup for which it has produced a range of new, environmentally-respectful aromatic oil-free products, a further illustration of the two companies' shared commitment to promoting 'green' motor racing. This ecological approach is poised to break new ground this year with the competition debut of the brand new 911 GT3 R Hybrid - on Michelin tyres - at this year's visit to the Nürburgring.

The new Porsche 911 GT3 Cup is starring on Michelin rubber, too, in the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup, as well as in a long list of 8 national Porsche Carrera Cups, plus several GT3 Cup Challenges organised worldwide.

Indeed, the tyres developed for one make series such as these face numerous specific challenges, since a single product must be capable of delivering consistently high performance across the wide spectrum of track conditions encountered during the year (e.g. temperature, track characteristics, etc.). The exception, of course, is rain, for which Michelin has designed a bespoke wet weather tyre.

In addition to helping to win races, this groundwork is also of inestimable value when it comes to producing Michelin tyre for the Porsche road car range. The claim that "Michelin is the preferred choice for your racing or road-going Porsche" is especially justified by the tailor-engineered Michelin Pilot Sport Cup. This outstanding product permits Porsche owners to benefit from a product that not only delivers safe driving enjoyment during everyday use on the open road, but also enables them to push their car that little bit harder during track days and explore the unique technological expertise that goes into both their machine and their tyres!