The 2010 American Le Mans Series campaign will officially kick off on February 22-23 with the championship’s traditional tyre test at Sebring, although some of Michelin’s partners were already out last week working on the firm’s 2010 range of slicks.

The 12th American Le Mans Series promises to be as thrilling as ever, especially in the GT category as Porsche, Ferrari, Corvette and BMW all prepare to join battle. It’s been a pretty active winter break, too, since there have been a good number of driver transfers, as well as changes to the teams, classes and regulations.
The 2010 ALMS will feature four different categories, namely LMP (prototypes), LMPC (Le Mans Prototype Challenge), GT and GTC (GT Challenge), a move which spells the end of the former GT1 and GT2 classes. Changes to the regulations notably include the introduction of wider wheels for the GT machines (30/65-18 front, 31/71-18 rear) which has led Michelin to develop a new range of slicks.
Michelin visited Sebring last week with a view to working on its new range with the 2010-spec Porsche GT3 RSR. The coming week will see the Ferrari F430 take its turn to try Michelin’s latest solutions, while the Corvette C6.R is due to take to the track on February 16-18.

All these cars will then gather for the Wheels Down test days at Sebring at the end of February ahead of the opening round of the 2010 ALMS, the 58th 12 Hours of Sebring.

ALMS, Michelin