Goodyear returning to international sports car racing

Le Mans, France - Goodyear plans to re-enter international sports car racing later this year with its Goodyear brand, starting with the FIA World Endurance Championship, including the Le Mans 24-hour race.

The move, Goodyear said in an 11 June statement is a prelude to a broader programme that could involve prototype and GT-style racing.

Goodyear last competed under the Goodyear brand in international endurance racing in the late 1990s.

The company disclosed its plans just days ahead of the 2019 Le Mans 24-hour race, set to run 15-16 June on the fame LeSarthe circuit in west-central France.

The FIA World Endurance Championship features long-distance races on four continents with the Le Mans season finale, a race won 14 times by Goodyear-equipped cars.

Goodyear has competed in the WEC for the past eight seasons with its Dunlop brand.

Teams using Dunlop race tires have won the WEC's LMP2 category at Le Mans eight straight years. Eight teams campaigning nine cars are competing at this year's race on Dunlop tires.

Goodyear did not say in its announcement whether the Dunlop-brand race programme would continue in WEC.

Group Michelin has been the series' primary tire supplier since 2012 and recently agreed in 2017 to continue supplying race tires through at least the 2020-21 season.

Goodyear has been developing a new range of tires for Le Mans prototypes for more than a year at its technical centres in Hanau, Germany, and Colmar-Berg, Luxembourg. The tire maker did not comment on its investment in this initiative.