Goodyear celebrates IDEC Sport’s Reshad de Gerus as the winner of the Goodyear Wingfoot Award for the LMP2 class at last month’s 24 Hours of Le Mans. The European Le Mans Series driver recorded the fastest triple stint average during the 24-hour race last month, earning him the Goodyear trophy.
The award is calculated by taking the average lap time across a set number of stints (excluding laps under Full Course Yellow, Safety Car and Slow Zones). The award recognises the consistent performance needed to be successful in endurance racing.
Speaking ahead of the next ELMS round at Imola this weekend, de Gerus explains his experience at Le Mans:
“Le Mans this year was really intense, especially with the mixed conditions and safety cars. Sometimes the track was dry and at others it was completely wet, so it was tricky to manage but in the end we did a very good job with my IDEC Sport teammates,” de Gerus explains. “It was crucial to do a clean race and to be able to finish on the podium was amazing.
On the personal side, I was very happy to be awarded the Goodyear Wingfoot Award, which is a big deal for any driver to win.
“Many drivers know how to extract performance from an entire stint, and the most important aspect is not to be the fastest over one lap but to manage the tires over a longer duration. We made the right choices in collaboration with our Goodyear tire engineer, especially in the first stint being able to preserve and then be rewarded with extra pace later.
“It's very good for my future to understand how the Goodyear tires work in this philosophy of endurance racing,” de Gerus adds.
“The most important thing is to take care in the corners where you generate a lot of lateral forces. For example, in the last sector at Le Mans you have to take care through the Porsche curves: not because the tires can’t handle it, but because you can gain more time towards the end of the stint.” De Gerus and IDEC Sport will be back in action at Imola this weekend for the third round of the ELMS season.
Goodyear also presents a Wingfoot Award for the LMGT3 class after each round of the FIA World Endurance Championship. The LMGT3 winner for Le Mans will be announced ahead of next weekend’s WEC 6 Hours of Sao Paulo.
Goodyear Racing EMEA Media Contacts:
Marco Lo Prato
marco_loprato@goodyear.com
Jake Kilshaw
jake.kilshaw@pitbox91.com
+44 7736 551999
Jordan Harvey
jordan.harvey@pitbox91.com
+44 7443 520649
