24 Heures du Mans 2011 - 79th Grand Prix d'Endurance - June 11-12

[sumbrownkid]

Congrats to Lucas for once again blowing our minds! 👍👍👍

And congrats to Audi for yet more diesel domination...👎👎👎.

Not taking away from the drivers, no far from it, it's just that the ACO really needs to either get its lips off the crack pipe that is diesel, or really the privateers stage a strike of some sort to either make the diesels handicapped, or make the gas/petrol cars have more advantages. Or make diesel power a separate category.

By the way, this is my first post in real long time.

 

[Northstar]

Not taking away from the drivers, no far from it, it's just that the ACO really needs to either get its lips off the crack pipe that is diesel, or really the privateers stage a strike of some sort to either make the diesels handicapped, or make the gas/petrol cars have more advantages. Or make diesel power a separate category.

Wouldn't matter even if they did ban diesel all together. Audi and Peugeot will still be able to massively outspend and privateer team. It will always be factory teams in front(Save for Aston who just started) followed by the rest of the field.

Plus banning diesel would cause a PR disaster with the current "green movement".

 

[Tired Tyres]

Wouldn't matter even if they did ban diesel all together. Audi and Peugeot will still be able to massively outspend and privateer team. It will always be factory teams in front(Save for Aston who just started) followed by the rest of the field.

Plus banning diesel would cause a PR disaster with the current "green movement".

It doesn't matter that Audi and Peugeot would still dominate. It means that everybody would be on a level playing field. What's happening now and for the last few years is just not right.

Diesel is a very long way away from being green.

 

[Northstar]

It doesn't matter that Audi and Peugeot would still dominate. It means that everybody would be on a level playing field. What's happening now and for the last few years is just not right.

There is nothing stopping privateer teams from going the diesel route though.

Diesel is a very long way away from being green.

True, but it's greener than gas engines.

 

[sumbrownkid]

There is nothing stopping privateer teams from going the diesel route though.


True, but it's greener than gas engines.

Costs of switching over to supplier who is willing to spend the money to develop a diesel engine (not likely) or buying engines from Audi or Peugeot that are either a generation or step behind in development (somewhat more likely). I'm sure Audi and Peugeot would like to keep their diesel recipes for themselves.

Diesels may be cleaner, but not by much though. Gas engines need to be given some help in order to bring the fight to diesels.

Either the ACO cuts the diesel power further more, reduce their tank sizes, or let the gas powered cars shed a lot more weight, or bump up their power. They can't fight torque, but they can at least have a chance with more power/less weight.

All I'm saying is that diesels really made the race between the have and the have nots. If the ACO really wants to show the advantages of diesel, then why don't they give the advantage to gas and see if Peugeot and Audi can overcome those odds? They have by far more money, and by far more talent at the design, team, and driver side of things compared to the privateer.

 

[NRGR]

Why not set a torque limit instead of hp limit? wouldn't that level out the field power wise (yes I know we'd see 700hp petrol engines against 550hp diesels but the torque would be nulified to a degree).

 

[AudiPro]

Why would I matter? Any other team could switch over to diesel, they just don't and about the whole green part it's probably better than a race car that runs on hydrogen, it would just be a time bomb on wheels.

 

[Furinkazen]

Why would I matter? Any other team could switch over to diesel, they just don't and about the whole green part it's probably better than a race car that runs on hydrogen, it would just be a time bomb on wheels.

You can't just pour diesel into a petrol tank, you'd need to develop a whole new engine. Which raises costs as you need to develop your own engine. Also let us not forget that Audi and Peugeot are multi-millionaire teams with more budget than someone like Rebellion could ever wish for.

 

[Tired Tyres]

Maybe biofuels could level it up a bit with a power and fuel tank boost?

 

[RobGT81]

Audi and Peugeot run diesels because its more relevant to their road car development, if they ran petrol engines they would still be 5 - 10 seconds a lap quicker as they used to be with the R8. Diesels are already restricted heavily with fuel tank sizes and refuelling speeds. They are pretty green too remember, over the 24 hours they cover more miles than a full F1 season, have a higher average speed than an F1 season and yet...use 45% less fuel. If a top manufacturer turned up with a petrol car they would be able to challenge Audi but, its not worth spending all that cash of developing a powerful petrol engine for road cars these days. I have a feeling when Porsche join the party it will be with a petrol and heavily KERS assisted car, that will be interesting because they will get some big rule breaks for using KERS/Hybrid.

 

[RobGT81]

http://www.racecar-engineering.com/news/mazda-investigating-diesel-sportscar-programme/

Speaking of more manufacturers..
Mazda diesel LMP1....?

 

[nsr-gp]

This year I've visited the 24 hours of Le Mans for the first time. It was a truly awesome experience. I'd highly recommend it to all racing fans around here. It was wel worth the long bus trip from the Netherlands. We arrived in the morning, just in time for the warmup. Already the Audi's and Peugeots where overtaking 2 cars at once, something that would happen a lot in the race.
Nice to see (and hear!) Johnny Herbert with one of the great LM cars from GT5; the Mazda 787B.
The race itself was a classic, too bad that the safetycar periods lasted a long time. I managed to shoot some photo's as well as you can see on my Flickr page.
Cool to see Lucas Ordonez score a podium on his debut there. Got a nice cap from his team as a souvenir too
I'm pretty sure this wasn't my last time there.
The new World Endurance Championship sounds promising with rumours of Toyota and Nissan joining in don't you think?

 

[Hun200kmh]

This year I've visited the 24 hours of Le Mans for the first time. It was a truly awesome experience. I'd highly recommend it to all racing fans around here. It was wel worth the long bus trip from the Netherlands. We arrived in the morning, just in time for the warmup. Already the Audi's and Peugeots where overtaking 2 cars at once, something that would happen a lot in the race.
Nice to see (and hear!) Johnny Herbert with one of the great LM cars from GT5; the Mazda 787B.
The race itself was a classic, too bad that the safetycar periods lasted a long time. I managed to shoot some photo's as well as you can see on my Flickr page.
Cool to see Lucas Ordonez score a podium on his debut there. Got a nice cap from his team as a souvenir too
I'm pretty sure this wasn't my last time there.
The new World Endurance Championship sounds promising with rumours of Toyota and Nissan joining in don't you think?

Hey awesome pics, thanks for sharing! (seeing fans stealing the garage sign of the portuguese team was interesting LOL ).

Maybe a bit off topic but I'm doing all I can to make sure I won't miss Le Mans 2012 myself, so I'm very interested in any advice you can give. Tickets? Grandstands? Could you walk around and visit other parts of the track (I saw a night pic from the ferris wheel so I guess you had some liberty)? Where to sleep if needed, where to eat, where to park, all that practical stuff is what interests me the most.

If I was 20 years younger I would just show up friday in my bike and take a nap just about anywhere but now I'll take either the mrs. or one of my kids and can't just go the easy-rider way

 

[Bram Turismo]

Not taking away from the drivers, no far from it, it's just that the ACO really needs to either get its lips off the crack pipe that is diesel, or really the privateers stage a strike of some sort to either make the diesels handicapped, or make the gas/petrol cars have more advantages. Or make diesel power a separate category.

Diesel engines have nothing to do with Peugeot and Audi being so much quicker. There is also no longer a fuel advantage as Rebellion Racing were running 12 laps between pit stops, as did Peugeot if I'm correct.

The only reason these manufacturers run with diesel engines is to promote their road cars, nothing more.

Why they are so dominant? Easy: development. Ban diesel engines and they will be equally as strong. It's all about their budgets and how far they have developed both their engines and chassis.

 

[Tired Tyres]

Diesel engines have nothing to do with Peugeot and Audi being so much quicker. There is also no longer a fuel advantage as Rebellion Racing were running 12 laps between pit stops, as did Peugeot if I'm correct.

The only reason these manufacturers run with diesel engines is to promote their road cars, nothing more.

Why they are so dominant? Easy: development. Ban diesel engines and they will be equally as strong. It's all about their budgets and how far they have developed both their engines and chassis.

Rubbish.

Neither manufacturer cares if the car you buy is diesel or petrol powered as long as you buy their car. They run diesels because they are faster, no other reason what so ever.

Diesels have twice the capacity of the turbo petrol cars and colossal torque. That give's them a huge advantage and every petrol team without exception complains about the totally non-level playing field this creates.

Yes, they would still dominate if they used petrol engines but at least the others would stand some sort of chance of a good result once in a blue moon.

 

[RobGT81]

Rubbish.

Neither manufacturer cares if the car you buy is diesel or petrol powered as long as you buy their car. They run diesels because they are faster, no other reason what so ever.

Diesels have twice the capacity of the turbo petrol cars and colossal torque. That give's them a huge advantage and every petrol team without exception complains about the totally non-level playing field this creates.

Yes, they would still dominate if they used petrol engines but at least the others would stand some sort of chance of a good result once in a blue moon.

Your incorrect,

Its none level because other teams dont have the same budget as Audi. The only reason they use diesel is because it is more relevent to their road car development. People want small capacity diesel engines with good consumption and power of larger engines. Le Mans has always been the place to develop parts for road cars... Windscreen wipers, superchargers, disk brakes, led headlights, FSI and now TDI are results of Le Mans development.

 

[nsr-gp]

Hey awesome pics, thanks for sharing! (seeing fans stealing the garage sign of the portuguese team was interesting LOL ).

Maybe a bit off topic but I'm doing all I can to make sure I won't miss Le Mans 2012 myself, so I'm very interested in any advice you can give. Tickets? Grandstands? Could you walk around and visit other parts of the track (I saw a night pic from the ferris wheel so I guess you had some liberty)? Where to sleep if needed, where to eat, where to park, all that practical stuff is what interests me the most.

If I was 20 years younger I would just show up friday in my bike and take a nap just about anywhere but now I'll take either the mrs. or one of my kids and can't just go the easy-rider way

Thanks! Any grandstand located along the start/finish straight will do just fine as you'll get a great view of the start & finish + it's ceremonies, the pits and a big screen to watch the race. I sat on grandstand 16 which was located near the end of the pitlane, directly across a big video screen and the last few garages. I actually chose this spot by using GT5 to preview the grandstands 💡 It had a roof but some wind and raindrops could blow through the opening in the back. I think the Audi grandstand next to us wasnt open at the back so that would probably give you even more shelter. If you want to shoot a lot of photo's during the weekend then the stands on top of the pits are best as they dont have a big fence in front of you. You're totally free to move around the track as you'll get general access with your ticket. As for sleeping I slept (or tried to...) near the track in the bus I came with, which didn't really work for me. By monday I was a complete zombie. I think a sleeping in a camper at one of the tracks campings would work better. Try to bring some of your own food and drinks as well, as it will be very expensive at the track and the food isn't always the best quality. The food stalls also have the strange habit of shutting down during the night/early morning (while half of the spectators are still wandering around) so I really had to search for breakfast.
As for the people you bring along, just make sure they really like motorsports. I could imagine it could be a really long long weekend for someone who doesnt care for it. But there's other things beside the race as well. I went to the Razorlight concert during the evening. During the safetycar periods I visited the infields stalls and shows and the big ferris wheel.

 

[RobGT81]

Thanks! Any grandstand located along the start/finish straight will do just fine as you'll get a great view of the start & finish + it's ceremonies, the pits and a big screen to watch the race. I sat on grandstand 16 which was located near the end of the pitlane, directly across a big video screen and the last few garages. I actually chose this spot by using GT5 to preview the grandstands 💡 It had a roof but some wind and raindrops could blow through the opening in the back. I think the Audi grandstand next to us wasnt open at the back so that would probably give you even more shelter. If you want to shoot a lot of photo's during the weekend then the stands on top of the pits are best as they dont have a big fence in front of you. You're totally free to move around the track as you'll get general access with your ticket. As for sleeping I slept (or tried to...) near the track in the bus I came with, which didn't really work for me. By monday I was a complete zombie. I think a sleeping in a camper at one of the tracks campings would work better. Try to bring some of your own food and drinks as well, as it will be very expensive at the track and the food isn't always the best quality. The food stalls also have the strange habit of shutting down during the night/early morning (while half of the spectators are still wandering around) so I really had to search for breakfast.
As for the people you bring along, just make sure they really like motorsports. I could imagine it could be a really long long weekend for someone who doesnt care for it. But there's other things beside the race as well. I went to the Razorlight concert during the evening. During the safetycar periods I visited the infields stalls and shows and the big ferris wheel.

You should consider camping next year, we camp at maison blanche every year and they have clean toilets and you can even get a hot shower every morning. The atmosphere in the campsite is pretty laid back compared to some sites. Its right on the exit of the porsche curves near where the ferrari trofeo cars were based. Also, theres a nice supermarket just down the road so you can have bbqs instead of paying daft money for food inside the circuit. We normally arrive on the wednesday to catch all the practice and qualifying sessions, you can go in any of the grandstands during those sessions with your general admission ticket

 

[RobGT81]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8kEe7upQT4

Heres my only good bit of video footage from the track, off my phone so you might need to turn your speakers up

 

[ivoyared]

This year I've visited the 24 hours of Le Mans for the first time. It was a truly awesome experience. I'd highly recommend it to all racing fans around here. It was wel worth the long bus trip from the Netherlands. We arrived in the morning, just in time for the warmup. Already the Audi's and Peugeots where overtaking 2 cars at once, something that would happen a lot in the race.
Nice to see (and hear!) Johnny Herbert with one of the great LM cars from GT5; the Mazda 787B.
The race itself was a classic, too bad that the safetycar periods lasted a long time. I managed to shoot some photo's as well as you can see on my Flickr page.
Cool to see Lucas Ordonez score a podium on his debut there. Got a nice cap from his team as a souvenir too
I'm pretty sure this wasn't my last time there.
The new World Endurance Championship sounds promising with rumours of Toyota and Nissan joining in don't you think?

Great pictures. What camera did you use?

 

[nsr-gp]

Great pictures. What camera did you use?

Thanks! I used my Pentax K-x with Sigma 50-200 lens for them.

 

[Hun200kmh]

Race Recap, as seen by AUDI.



.... Amazing ..... the night starts at around the 7th minute into the clip. The way they show how they "lived" Mike Rockenfeller's accident is very emotional. A beautiful, beautiful video.

There's no race like Le Mans.


Enjoy:


[YOUTUBEHD]FbWXuxmdUnE[/YOUTUBEHD]

 

[sems4arsenal]

Race Recap, as seen by AUDI.



.... Amazing ..... the night starts at around the 7th minute into the clip. The way they show how they "lived" Mike Rockenfeller's accident is very emotional. A beautiful, beautiful video.

There's no race like Le Mans.


Enjoy:


[YOUTUBEHD]FbWXuxmdUnE[/YOUTUBEHD]

Thanks you so much for sharing .What an astonishing Video .A tear in my eye .