I’m not entirely sure why, presumably just as an exercise in corporate relations, but Peugeot Sport took their Le Mans team to the Michelin factory in France. They had a look round they tyre manufacturing plant, but also learnt some of the basics of production and had a go at making a tyre themselves.

Wurz, Gene, Sarrazin, Minassian and Lamy were all very impressed with what they saw, but here’s what Franck had to say on the subject:

“I really didn’t know what a tyre factory looked like before today’s visit. It was great to see how competition tyres are made from A to Z. They are often considered to be little more than black and round objects, and just another part of the car, and we tend to forget the human side. Today gave me a chance to see how meticulous everyone at Michelin is, and how passionate they are about their work: they clearly pay as much attention to detail as we do in our cars at 300kph. That’s very reassuring because I have raced on thousands of Michelin tyres in the past and I have never had a problem with them, so I’m obviously admirative of their work. You know, I think I have an easy life as a racing driver and I probably make more mistakes than them.”

Don’t admit to a thing like that Franck!