Michelin Motorsport Connect revealed

Michelin has unveiled motorsport tyres that can communicate with rally crews.

The next rounds of the 2018 French Rally Championship will see Michelin Motorsport present the sport’s first connected tyres. They will be capable of communicating with drivers and co- drivers, thanks to a downloadable smartphone application that has been developed to help competitors improve their performance by optimising the tyre factor.

Michelin Motorsport Connect combines reusable sensors located in specific housings glued inside Michelin rally tyres, an in-car receiver and a smartphone application. Available from approved Michelin Motorsport distributors at prices starting from €400 (~Rs 32,200), it will initially be released in France in the coming months before being introduced elsewhere in Europe and the rest of the world.

Checking tyre pressures before and after special stages is key to understanding how rally tyres function. It’s not always an easy task to carry out though, especially when it entails parking on a narrow road. Also, with the clock ticking down to a stage start, it can generate additional stress.

With Michelin Motorsport Connect, drivers and co-drivers can permanently monitor tyre pressures, while at the same time benefiting from tyre-related information and the ability to log data during rallies. Analysing this data makes it easier to identify the adjustments that need to be made ahead of subsequent competitive sections.

On the launch, Serge Grisin, in charge of Michelin Motorsport’s Innovations Programme, said, ‘Our initial My Rally Engineer app, which was introduced in 2017, is a digital tool designed to allow amateur crews to track and optimise the performance of their tyres. Today, we have taken a significant step further, since Michelin Motorsport Connect enables competitors to collect data in real time and benefit from two-way dialogue with their tyres by means of a practical and intuitive new application.’