FIA World Endurance Championship: Will Stevens wins the inaugural Goodyear Wingfoot Award

Ahead of the 2023 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC), Goodyear announced it would award a trophy to recognise sustained performance and endurance. Goodyear is the exclusive tire partner to the intensely competitive LMP2 category, and all drivers from the class are eligible for the award.

The Goodyear Wingfoot Award is given to the driver who achieves the fastest consecutive stint average during each race in the seven round calendar. The award celebrates the art of maximising performance across multiple stints. A stint is defined as the period on track between pit-stops. In WEC, multiple stints on the same set of tires are possible, highlighting the consistency and durability of Goodyear’s versatile LMP2 tire.

Goodyear presents the award after each race to the fastest driver over a double stint. For the 24 Hours of Le Mans, round four of WEC, the fastest driver over a triple stint will receive the award.

Hertz Team JOTA driver Will Stevens won the inaugural award for 2023 at the 1000 Miles of Sebring with an average lap time of 1:53.044 over a double stint. This relentless pace was within 1.8 seconds of the fastest single lap by the winning car, underlining both the durable Goodyear performance and the former F1 driver’s consistency.

Goodyear awards a set of tires to the winning driver’s team at each round of the championship. All teams are entered into the Goodyear Wingfoot Award championship which uses the same points system as WEC to determine the winner of the course of the season. To support the development of future talent, the overall season winner will receive three sets of Goodyear LMP2 tires for use at the end-of-season rookie test.

Ben Crawley, Goodyear EMEA Motorsport Director stated: “Goodyear and WEC created this award to recognise drivers who consistently deliver maximum performance and speed over a long period – highlighting the endurance factor which is crucial to success in sportscar racing. Goodyear’s on-track success inspires the latest range of its ultra high performance road tires, including the Asymmetric 6 and SuperSport which are renowned for performance and durability. This award highlights the relevance of WEC for more sustainable tire development.”

The origins of the Wingfoot

The idea of speed inspired Goodyear’s selection of the Wingfoot symbol soon after the formation of the company 125 years ago. Goodyear’s Wingfoot symbol is derived from the famous god of mythology known to the ancient Romans as Mercury, and to the Greeks as Hermes. Mercury was known as a swift messenger for all the gods of mythology, making it a perfect fit to Goodyear’s ethos of performance.