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GALLERY: Michelin's 20 straight Le Mans wins
By alley - Jun 21, 2017, 8:35 AM ET

GALLERY: Michelin's 20 straight Le Mans wins

Lost among the drama-filled ending to 24 Hours of Le Mans was an interesting footnote for Michelin, which garnered its 20th consecutive overall win.

The French tire manufacturer's unbroken Le Mans winning streak, dating back to 1998 with Laurent Aïello, Allan McNish and Stéphane Ortelli in the No. 26 Porsche 911 GT1-98, was capped by the German brand when the No. 2 Porsche 919 Hybrid driven by Earl Bamber, Timo Bernhard and Brendon Hartley crossed the finish line.

"This run of 20 wins shows that Michelin has succeeded in providing its partners with winning solutions that have matched the evolution of the cars and the race itself over the past two decades," said Michelin Motorsport director Pascal Couasnon. "Our ability to think ahead and respond to new challenges has been one of the driving forces behind the new technologies we have developed over recent years and which have gradually found their way onto our road tires."

Dating back to the first 24 Hours of Le Mans race held in 1923, nine auto manufacturers have reached Victory Lane using Michelin's tires. Since the current streak began in 1998, Audi, Bentley, BMW, Peugeot and Porsche have accounted for all 20 wins.

"This approach has allowed us to build fruitful technical partnerships with the automobile world's biggest and most prestigious car makers, and thereby foster innovations and facilitate the transfer of new technologies from the race track to the street," Couasnon added.

Michelin also won the GTE-Am category last weekend; Dunlop won LMP2 and GTE-Pro.

Click on the thumbnails below for larger images.

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