There are just three races left in the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC). In addition to the championship battle, LMGT3 drivers have their eye on the Goodyear Wingfoot Award. Two drivers in contention say it’s a major focus as they prepare for this weekend’s race at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas.
This weekend’s 6-hour Lone Star Le Mans is the only North American round of the season, and takes place in the heat of Austin, Texas.
On track, drivers Augusto Farfus and Alex Riberas have enjoyed plenty of success this season, not least in the Goodyear Wingfoot Award, where they sit second and fifth respectively.
The Wingfoot Award recognises the relentless performance and consistency of the best endurance racing drivers. Each race, the Wingfoot Award is calculated over the driver performance on a single stint, with the exception of the 24 Hours of Le Mans where two consecutive stints are measured. Throughout the WEC, each weekend the LMGT3 driver with the fastest time wins the award, and season-long points are accumulated to crown the overall Goodyear Wingfoot Award champion at the end of the campaign.
Riberas, winner of the award last time out at Sao Paulo, discusses the thrill of being crowned the fastest driver over a stint.
“When you’re strong the awards should follow,” The Heart of Racing Aston Martin driver explains. “The Goodyear Wingfoot Award is great because it takes more skill from a driver’s point of view to be consistent across a full stint. While going for a fast lap on new tyres isn’t easy, it’s a lot less demanding than being smart and consistent across a full stint. So, the award accurately reflects the drivers who are doing a good job, because that’s what’s required of us at the highest level of endurance racing.
“If you’re proactive with tyre management, you can reap the benefits at the end of the stints. It’s like running a marathon; conserving early on will give you that advantage and you begin passing people who haven’t managed as well.
“That’s why having a strong Goodyear engineer and race engineer enables the team to shine. In Brazil the briefings with the team were far more interactive with ideas and approaches. Texas will be similar, so I’m super happy to be working with such talented and smart people.”
Consistency proving to be crucial in the Goodyear Wingfoot Award standings
Another driver in the hunt for top honours in the Goodyear Wingfoot Award is Augusto Farfus. Despite not winning the award at a race so far, the Brazilian driver finds himself just two points off first-place Ferrari driver, Alessio Rovera – another who’s yet to claim an overall victory.
While both of the top two are yet to win a Goodyear Wingfoot Award, their consistency has been key to picking up points throughout the season.
“I haven’t won the award yet, which is a shame,” says BMW M Team WRT’s Farfus. “But I think we have learned in the WEC that this kind of performance is important to be successful. We work well as a team to maximise every stint in order to not only go for the Wingfoot Award but the overall championship as well.
“The award is really nice to show the consistent tyre usage and also recognise those who have a strong race pace. Three races to go, so let’s try and keep it up, and hopefully get that first Wingfoot victory!”
Farfus is also quick to praise the single versatile specification of the Goodyear racing slick tyre that has been available at each round so far this season: “Tyre performance is very important. Goodyear has given us an incredible product in LMGT3 which provides a lot of flexibility in terms of strategy and tyre management, across broad weather conditions. We won at Imola on slicks, despite a damp track, so this Goodyear tyre has done an incredible job of allowing us to be flexible and creative on strategy, whether that’s triple stinting or pushing hard when we get the opportunity.”
Source: Tyretradenews
