Sustainability At Triple Digit Speeds

A Michelin Story

Oct 25, 2025

The Ultimate ICE Aural Symphony

I’m no scientist, but I’m fairly certain the noise of a naturally aspirated 6.5L V12 screaming at wide open throttle scrambles the synapses. Or at least that’s how it felt watching Aston Martin’s wicked Valkyrie GTP do its dance on the Road Atlanta circuit during the Motul Petit Le Mans endurance race. Michelin brought me along for the ride to learn about its new tire range and take in the scene, a scene like nothing I’ve ever experienced.

Winding for 2 ½ miles through the Georgia countryside, Road Atlanta plays host to many motorsports events, including this IMSA spectacle. For the enthusiasts out there, if you’ve never attended a race like this, I strongly recommend it. The noise is deafening. The cars are spectacular. The speed is awesome. And the fact that these purpose-built carbon fiber track weapons manage to stick to the surface is a testament to the wonders of automotive engineering. And of course, the Michelin tires providing the contact patch :)

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Automotive Exotica At Road Atlanta

I witnessed everything from Hyundai Elantra N’s in the TCR class to badass RS-class McLaren Arturas GT4s. There was even a Mustang GTD kicking around. No big deal. But without doubt, it is the Grand Touring Prototypes, GTP for short, that steal the show. IMSA, the race body behind the show, opens up the grid to spectators for maximum ogling prior to the start. Getting up close and personal with these outrageous machines is awesome.

Highlights included the BMW M Hybrid V8 with its 640-horse twin-turbo V8 - an architecture shared with the M5 Competition street car - and the electric drive setup common across the GTP board. Even decked out in wild livery with aero doodads sticking out of every surface, these cars are instantly recognizable thanks to signature traits like the twin kidney grilles on the Bimmer. But at full whack, it’s not easy to figure out what you’re looking at. These GTP rides are shockingly fast, stupendously loud, and absolutely fantastic.

Uncorking GTPs Is Like Kids On Christmas Morning

Watching the drivers follow the pace car - a new M5 - and wait to uncork their respective mid-mounted mills is akin to keeping my kids at bay on Christmas morning. “You have to wait until Mom wakes up to open presents!” Once her eyelids flutter, the kids go bananas. And once that Bimmer was out of the way, the GTP racers do the same, but to the power of 10. Right out of the gate, there was a four-car accident. Which is no surprise, given the drivers are within inches of one another at triple-digit speeds and through the twisties with glorious abandon.

During the corner tour, I witnessed one of these cars - not sure which one given the speed - zing by with its right rear wheel, um, broken? In another testament to the hairy variety of driving going on, I observed two cars exit the asphalt for a dirt berm excursion. After which, one vehicle had plowed through a series of signs and ended up with the remnants on its windshield. This, like the broken wheel and post-accident carnage, did not seem to slow anyone down in the slightest. Look, I LOVE to drive and drive hard, but these GTP racers are a different breed. It is something that must be seen to be believed. Five stars I say, highly recommend.

Motorsports And Sustainability Go Hand-In-Hand

Another highlight was learning about Michelin’s new Pilot Sport Endurance range of tires. A presentation led by Michelin CEO Matthew Cabe, and detailed by Michelin engineers, walked through the impressive sustainability work the French tire maker is bringing to bear on its new hypercar range. Which is saying something, considering the word “sustainable” is not the first word that comes to mind when listening to the Valkyrie sing its war song. It is powered mostly by gas after all. But you have to start somewhere, and Michelin made a compelling case.

For instance, the company has trimmed its volume of tires used in racing significantly. Recording a 30% drop in allocation since 2023, or about 10,000 tires today versus 30,000 a few years ago, Michelin expects a further 15-30% reduction by 2027. On top of that, the company has been steadily increasing the quantity of tires using renewable and recyclable content from just 100 annually in 2024 to 1,000 this year, on to a target of 10,000 for 2026.

Michelin Is Targeting 100% Renewable & Recyclable Content By 2050

The content used is interesting. It includes naturally occurring rubber, resins made from orange peels, discarded rice husks, recycled steel, and recovered carbon black. At the moment, the race tires have 31% recycled and renewable content, a percentage expected to reach 40 by the end of this decade and a full 100 by 2050.

All of which is being spearheaded by the upcoming GTP Pilot Sport Endurance tire range. Along with a heavy dose of repurposed content, it has been designed for faster warm-up, improved longevity, and better consistency lap-over-lap. There are a host of benefits here, but the overarching theme is on sustainability. As for the “micro velvet” effect that Michelin applies to the contact patch, it has no benefit other than looking pretty darn cool and giving the new tire a unique vibe.

The Real World Laboratory Of Racing

Motorsport is a unique real-world laboratory that Michelin uses to accelerate its research and development process. Of course, the automakers are doing the same thing with their mega-buck and mega-powerful track weapons. Cutting-edge simulation tech, like TameTire and Canopy, enables faster testing and far more iterations than you could realistically perform on the track. But that real-world race work is still required, which is no bad thing for the fans.

“Our responsibility is to prove that technological excellence and environmental responsibility can advance together.” ~ Matthieu Bonardel, Director of Michelin Motorsport

Fans who ultimately will see this bleeding-edge race tire technology trickle down to the street tires they use on their own cars. Michelin has quite the reputation among this segment as the most awarded tire brand in the U.S. by J.D. Power and Consumer Reports. It also manufactures some 200 million tires across its varied segments every year. They are not required to take on this push towards sustainability, but as Matthieu Bonardel, Director of Michelin Motorsport, said, “Our responsibility is to prove that technological excellence and environmental responsibility can advance together.”

I, for one, am pleased to see such a major global company approach its business with that kind of mentality. And if I can continue to go home with my ears ringing from the righteous symphony of flat-out Grand Touring Prototypes in the process, even better.