GREG GOYA MADE TYRE MARKS INTO ART FOR PORSCHE MOBIL 1

The physics of a tyre mark are not complicated. A car accelerating hard forces the tyre compound to scrub against the road surface and transfer rubber to asphalt. The mark left behind is evidence of contact, heat, and force applied at a specific place and a specific moment. Greg Goya used that evidence as the primary material for an artwork commissioned to mark 30 years of partnership between Porsche and Mobil 1.

Rubber on Asphalt. Evidence of Force. Goya's Starting Point.

A tyre mark is not a signature. It is more honest than that. It documents exactly how much force passed through the contact patch and in what direction. Goya's artwork takes that documentation and turns it into a form of portraiture: the road surface holds a record of what drove across it, and that record becomes the visual language of the piece. The commission asked Goya to translate a product's primary output, the interaction between Mobil 1 lubricated engines and the road surface they spin across, into something that can be looked at and held.

The second part of the commission extended the concept into participatory territory. Goya and Porsche invited people to share who has left a mark on their lives: a mentor, a family member, a driver, a place. That extension applies the material logic of the tyre mark, evidence of a presence that was there and moved through, to human relationships. Tyre marks are portraits of momentum. The people who shape your life leave the same kind of trace.

Greg Goya Works in the Evidence Cars Leave Behind

Greg Goya (@greg_goya) is a Brazilian artist whose work engages with automotive culture at the level of material and motion rather than machine aesthetics. The distinction matters. Most automotive art treats cars as objects: beautiful machines photographed in the right light at the right angle. Goya works with what cars produce, the heat, the texture, the marks they leave. That approach aligns with process art more than automotive illustration, and it is what makes him the correct choice for a commission about momentum and the traces it leaves.

Porsche has built a pattern of commissioning artists to interpret the brand at depth. Daniel Arsham's eroded 992 GT3 Cup livery competed in actual Carrera Cup France races, a sculpture that the track was allowed to wear down. Goya's tyre mark artwork continues that approach from a different material starting point: not what happens to the car over time, but what the car deposits onto the surface it runs across.

Porsche and Mobil 1 Have Run Together Since 1996

The Porsche and Mobil 1 partnership dates to 1996, when Mobil 1 became the exclusive lubricant for Porsche Motorsport operations. The Porsche 911 GT1 that ran at Le Mans from 1996 through 1998, winning the race outright in 1998, ran Mobil 1 oil. That win was Porsche's first overall Le Mans victory in the modern era, and Mobil 1 was present for it. The partnership has since covered the Cayenne platform launch in 2002, the 918 Spyder program, the Taycan EV development, and the current 963 LMDh program competing in IMSA.

A 30 year technical partnership in motorsport is not standard. Most lubricant sponsorships cycle every three to five years as brands assess exposure and return on investment. The fact that Mobil 1 has remained Porsche's exclusive lubricant partner through three decades of technology change, from the 993 era flat six to the hybrid 963 LMDh prototype, represents a technical commitment that operates outside typical sponsorship logic. Porsche's Apple Music livery at Laguna Seca is one measure of how the brand approaches long term partnerships as active creative territory.

Thirty Years Earns a Tyre Mark. Not a Press Release.

Marking three decades with artwork rather than a press release or a special edition colorway is a specific choice. Tyre marks are temporary: they fade with rain, road resurfacing, and traffic. An artwork based on them acknowledges that impermanence and preserves the evidence anyway. That is what 30 years of partnership looks like when you translate it honestly. Not a monument but a document of momentum.

The participatory element, asking people to name who has left a mark on their lives, opens the commission to a population beyond motorsport. You do not need to know what Mobil 1 does to understand the question. Goya's artwork makes a lubricant brand's function legible in emotional terms. That is harder than it sounds and it is rarely done well. This one is done well.