‘The driver helps me out, but at the same time they are probably also a limit in the innovation process’
Matthieu Bonardel, head of motorsport at Michelin
With the eyes of the world increasingly focusing on sustainability, Michelin has taken a major step into the digital world and developed the Le Mans Hypercar tyres completely in digital format for the first time. Each of the 16 top-class prototypes will run on tyres that have been designed and developed on a simulator based at AOTech in France.
There have been several steps taken to allow this to happen. The first is that Michelin has been developing its TAME tyre model since it was involved in Formula 1 in 2005, using finite element analysis of its racing and production tyres to create a mathematical model of each layer of the tyre. Through advanced programming, the company has been able to mimic in mathematical form the interaction of the individual layers of a tyre in order to understand how it works on track.
The second step was to develop the simulation software to a level that the tyre could be properly analysed by a professional driver. This is where the relationship with AOTech comes into play.
The third, and most recent, step has been the purchase of British company, Canopy Simulations, which is a market-leading entity in mapping circuits and running
