Goodyear Wingfoot Award winner Richard Lietz previews the 24 Hours of Le Mans

The 92nd running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans marks a very special occasion in Goodyear’s endurance racing history. For the first time since it returned to the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2019, it will support two classes and 39 cars, all competing for glory at Le Mans.

Out of a busy motorsport calendar that stretches around the world, Le Mans is the most historic event Goodyear competes in, which attracts passionate crowds, celebrities and fellow international brands. Add to that the history of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, it makes for the most exciting race of the season and the one that every driver wants to win. 

Le Mans is a 13.6 kilometre circuit in the Pays de la Loire region of France. It held its first 24-hour race in 1923, which back then the lap was some five kilometres further and took the drivers to Pontlieue before returning to the more familiar Tertre Rouge and Mulsanne Straight. 

This year, both LMGT3 and LMP2 categories will have access to their respective Goodyear medium tire compounds, which are expected to do three to four stints before needing to be changed. A single specification wet tire will also be available, which is designed to handle a broad range of circuit conditions.

Le Mans 2024 Preview with Spa Wingfoot Award Winner Richard Lietz 

A driver who knows how to win around Le Mans is Manthey Porsche driver Richard Lietz. The Austrian has been a class winner at Le Mans four times since 2007 and is hungry to add to that success in LMGT3 with Goodyear:

“We will find out how we produce a strong lap time during the Le Mans test,” Lietz explains. “[The tire at Le Mans] will be new for everyone with the new LMGT3 category. It will be the first time for me in an LMGT3 car, first time with Goodyear so we definitely need minimum degradation, maximum performance, as is the case at every race track. The test will be the crucial part in finding out how to maximise the full package.

“In general we all tested a lot with Goodyear at the beginning of the season. It will be crucial to execute a good test at Le Mans. Everyone has the same tire so the same chances, but we definitely hope for some good luck and a strong setup. We have a strong driver line up, strong team and manufacturer, so we hope to be successful.”

Wingfoot victory for Lietz and Manthey at Spa

Alongside an impressive race victory with his teammates Yasser Shanin and Morris Schuring, Lietz also won the Goodyear Wingfoot Award at the last race at Spa-Francorchamps. The award recognises consistent performance by measuring drivers’ performance over an entire stint. For Le Mans, this will be across two consecutive stints.

Speaking after receiving the trophy, he said: “It feels good [to win the award]. Especially at Spa, as it’s quite demanding on tires, so to have a consistent car and setup to perform over a stint is for sure a good result for the team, the setup and the manufacturer.

“The key to achieve a constant lap time is to drive on the limit of the tire and not over. We had around 50 hours of testing before the season started so we know the tire quite well and had a good setup. The more you have to be consistent, and the more you have to look after the tire, the better it is for our car, team and setup combination,” he explains.

“We have great technical support from Goodyear along with our tire engineer. We talk about tire temperature, pressure, camber, toe and all aspects of setup. Also where we need to analyse the information from the rubber and from Goodyear makes our relationship with our engineer very important.”

24 Hours of Le Mans schedule (Local time UTC+1):

Wednesday 12th June
FP1 - 14:00
Q1 - 19:00
FP2 - 22:00

Thursday 13th June
FP3 - 15:00
HYP - 20:00

Saturday 15th June
WU - 12:00
R - 16:00