The Gran Turismo World Tour event last weekend at New York City sees a new announcement. Michelin, one of the biggest tyre manufacturers in the world, will be the official tyre supplier for the FIA-Certified Gran Turismo Championships.
This is the third brand to sign a partnership with Sony’s flagship racing sim videogame, including Tag Heuer (official timekeeper) and Toyota.
Grand Turismo Sport will be updated in October which adds more Michelin-related content, which includes a spot in Brand Central where you can read up the tyre manufacturer’s history, more Michelin ads on the billboards of various already available tracks, and a “Tyre technology by Michelin” branding in the car tuning section. All FIAFTC events, including the World Tour events, will see cars sporting Michelin tyres.
While this all sounds like just more ads, the long-term, multi-year partnership goes more than slapping Bibendum stickers all over the game. It’s also a technical partnership, where Michelin will openly share their data of tyre simulation they have developed internally with developers Polyphony Digital. Which could lead to more realistic tyre behaviour replicated in Gran Turismo.
“Michelin develops and tunes virtual tyres on virtual vehicles before the tyres are even produced, with extremely accurate translation to real tyres on real vehicles,” said Scott Clark, executive vice president of the Americas region for Michelin Group.
“Combining this technology with real motorsports data will enable Sony to bring more tyre strategy into the
game, and in the longer term, also helps more people understand the critical role that Michelin tyres play in
optimizing vehicle performance.”
Just like real motorsports, the online races in Gran Turismo Sport have pit strategy and tyre management as part of the game, which is essential for victory, especially at the top levels like the races at World Tour events. So let’s hope that the outcome of this partnership would also help improve this aspect of the game, making it even closer to how real racers have to manage their tyres and how race teams plan pit stops.