Michelin have begun the process of refunding the 120,000 fans who were treated to a six-car United States Grand Prix farce at Indianapolis last month.
The French company's tyres were not safe to compete at Indianapolis, forcing seven teams to pull out of the race on the warm-up lap and provoking outrage among fans.
As part of their bid to restore the tainted reputation of Michelin and Formula One in the US, they promised to refund all ticket holders and buy another 20,000 tickets for next year's race to be handed out free of charge.
That process has begun today with Michelin hoping they have done enough to end the American backlash against them, which saw share prices plummet in the aftermath of the race.
"By working with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, we've created a thorough and quick process to reach out to all those fans present at the United States Grand Prix and offer them the face value refund of their race day ticket," said Jim Micali, chairman and president of Michelin North America.
"In addition to the ticket refund, we will provide 20,000 tickets to the 2006 US Grand Prix at Indianapolis to dedicated fans who purchased tickets to this year's race. We hope through these gestures to encourage the further development of Formula One in the United States."
Track president Joie Chitwood, who delivered stinging criticism of the fiasco in an angry press conference just hours after the race, has applauded Michelin's actions.
He said: "Although many different parties had an influence on the race run at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on June 19, Michelin has made a tremendous commitment to the fans of the United States Grand Prix.
"We've been working closely with Michelin to work out the details of the ticket refund process and we commend them on their commitment to a speedy and full response to the fans."
Friday's move follows the previous day's decision by world governing body the FIA to absolve the seven teams of blame following new evidence which proved they were legally unable to race after advice from Michelin. - PlanetF1.com