Dunlop

Dunlop/Bentley - Le Mans 2002

The Dunlop and Bentley partnership has stormed home in a thrilling Le Mans 24/Hour race, winning the LM GTP category and finishing 4th overall - a fitting tribute to Dunlop UK Motorsport's achievements during six months extensive development and testing.

This year, Dunlop exclusively produced much stiffer front tyres, mounted on wider OZ racing wheels. A new size and construction for the rear tyres allowed the Bentley to cope with cornering forces of up to 3G and a crushing aerodynamic downforce of around 1.7 tonnes.

In contrast to the drenched conditions of 2001, this year's event was consistently dry and hot. Throughout, Bentley were able to select from a full range of unique Dunlop tyre compounds - harder compounds for daily ambient temperatures over 30 degrees, medium-soft compounds for the evening and soft compounds for night racing.

Mastering the use of correct compounds meant that Bentley avoided tyre changes that saved them around 30 seconds each second pit stop.

Dunlop Motorsport enjoys unrivalled success in the Le Mans event, garnering a matchless 34 wins since our involvement began in 1923. This year, we supplied 2,200 tyres and 20 technicians to nine of the 50 competing teams - 500 of these tyres went to the Bentley team alone!

The following teams used Dunlop tyres exclusively during the race: