In honor of the 78th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2010, the michelinracingusa.com staff offers 24 bits of Le Mans history, factoids and trivia. See www.michelinracingusa.com for updates, features and the complete list, plus Rick Dole photos.

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Note 14 of 24: Ready for Everything? Ready for Le Mans!

Have you ever tried to predict the weather for a big party? Will it be hot? Cold? Windy? Rainy? Try predicting weather conditions three months in advance.  That is part of the challenge for Michelin and its competitors at Le Mans. 

In order to have “the right tires” ready for each of its 34 technical partner entries in the changing conditions, Michelin has approximately 6,500 tires and a staff of nearly 100 people on hand to do just that. 

Michelin tries to have three dry tire options, think of them as soft, medium and hard compounds, plus two wet tire options for each car. Depending on weather conditions, especially direct sunshine at some point and wet conditions at another, teams may end up using all five options during the course of the race.