Proton and Gulf switch to Dunlop for WEC GTE Am campaign

Both Proton Competition and Gulf Racing have switched from Michelin to Dunlop tires for this year's World Endurance Championship season, becoming the second and third teams in the GTE ranks to do so.

For Proton, the news follows the German Porsche customer outfit's test with Dunlop at Aragon in Spain earlier this month after it completed an initial run at Bahrain in the post-season Rookie Test last year.

For this season, Proton Competition has switched its focus to racing in GTE Am with a single Porsche 911 RSR with Matteo Cairoli, Marvin Deinst and team owner Christian Reid driving. Last year Proton competed in GTE Pro and Am, with a two-car effort on Michelin tires.

"We've tested the Dunlops at Bahrain and Aragon, and they've done a very good job with them for the Porsche," Reid told RACER. "Of course in the ELMS it's a spec tire and while it is a different Dunlop for the WEC, there are definitely advantages working with the same people, the same engineers and the same supply chain."

Proton has also confirmed that both its single-car GTE Am entry and two-car entry in the ELMS will utilize 2015-spec Porsches, in preference to the interim car raced in GTE Pro last year. Reid explained that that the older car was easier to drive for amateur drivers too and that with multiple 2015 cars available to the team, there were significant economies of scale over upgrading its existing cars to the 2016 package.

Gulf Racing returns to using Dunlop rubber for the first time since its 2015 European Le Mans campaign, after opting to race only in the WEC last year on Michelin tires.

For this season, Gulf Racing's line-up features a new face in Australian GT ace Nick Foster, alongside returnees Ben Barker and Mike Wainwright in its 2015-spec Porsche 911 RSR.

"We are pleased that two experienced Porsche motorsport teams have chosen Dunlop as a technical partner," said Dunlop Motorsport Europe's managing director Xavier Fraipont.

"Following our successes in winning titles with Aston Martin in LMGTE last year, the selection of Dunlop after comparative testing is a strong endorsement of our performance."