The Le Mans General Discussion Thread

sumbrownkid
Actually, it's likely we will see them again, as a customer team that bought a couple of Pescarolo chassis, Oak Racing, bought whatever Pescarolo had and are lending him his old chassis back.

Good sportsmanship on Oak's part. Perhaps they'll continue to develop the Pescarolo chassis.

As for them running a 908 at the 2009 lemans, I think Peugeot lent them one just so to ensure that four 908s have a better chance at winning than three Audi R15s. They had their own chassis too.

Edit: I hope PD and Sony keep supporting Pescarolo, it's always nice to support a privateer trying to beat the factories.
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Thats what I was referring to by "Henri has recently been given his assets back".
He still needs to find a budget, which was the reason he went bust in the first place. Its not really the best time to be looking either.

I doubt that Peugeot "lent" a 908..Pescarolo would have paid for that, just as Oreca did (and as Signature have with the Aston too).
 
Jackington
Haha, no. The X2010 design is so far from any real motorsport regulations. If it were to be used as a base, maybe the only thing left would be the headlights...
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New regulation rule to allow extreme aerodynamics for 2013 please. ;)
 
Toyota needs to make an LMP car asap. Its nice to see a non European manufacturer compete for the win (rare as a blue moon).
 
gtone339
I thought Dome was doing it for them?
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Dome is done with Le Mans and sports cars for the time being. Read: http://www.dome.co.jp/news/racereport/upimg/graduation%20_from_le_mans.pdf


Toyota is currently supplying engines to Rebellion Racing at the moment.

They will be watching to see how these cars fare in competition...Right now, it's a low risk investment on Toyota's part.

arvin charles
Rebellion Racing (LMS & ILMC) has tested the Lola-Toyota at Monteblanco with Nicolas Prost & Neel Jani and at Portimao with Jean-Christophe Boullion & Andrea Belicchi.

00_Rebellion_TestMonteblanco_01.jpg



2010_Le_Mans_Rebellion_TestMonteblanco.jpg
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It's sad seeing Dome is out of the Le mans game. They were quick litter critters.

Toyota and Honda really missed out on utilizing Dome in LMP racing. Dome could have been really competitive if Toyota or Honda partnered up with them, especially Toyota though (Honda did really well with the Courage chassis).
 
arvin charles
Robertson Racing's Ford GT (ALMS) on a shaker rig:

168215_1845356853791_1236739734_32201242_374144_n.jpg
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I wonder what track(s) they put that Ford GT through on it. I remember seeing footage of one of the Jordan F1 cars going through something like it a few years ago.
 
So there are new 2011 Regulations out now, interesting to see they are pushing the hybrid technology side, will make for an interesting season!

The 2011 Le Mans 24 Hour regulations have been drawn up under the context of sustainable development and respect for the environment. The ACO and the motor industry have concentrated on two aspects that are crucially important from their point of view:


* An endurance race like the Le Mans 24 Hours must enable entrants to test new technologies.
* The focus of the Le Mans 24 Hours must be aimed even more strongly towards both the reduction of CO2 emissions and overall fuel consumption.
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http://www.lemans.org/en/news/2011-LE-MANS-24-HOURS-REGULATIONS_628.html
 
Its a shame to see Jhonny O leaving the vettes to run the caddys, but at least they replaced him with a very fast driver. Also thank god Collard wont be the 3rd driver for the #4 car this year. Sure hes a good driver, he just didnt have the pace of the other Vette drivers. I'm assuming they are keeping Garcia in the #3 and not moving Collard there.
 
All but two of the Ferraris entered in the Winter testing were 458s. Only Krohn Racing and Risi have a F430 entered. *Risi also has the only 458GT entered). The Lambo wasn't at the Winter testing. Both Ford GTs were, though.
 
Question guys, what good was it to reduce the rear wing width when Peugeot and Audi were faster than ever over the past few years?

And that fin that they mandated on all prototypes doesn't look like it will provide anymore stability than a full width rear wing would have provided.

Is the ACO going bonkers, or is there actual legitimate concerns of speed?
 
SuperShouden - The Sebring Winter Test isn't until February 9th & 10th. More cars should show up to the test than what's currently listed.

sumbrownkid - The ACO isn't going bonkers...they've been bonkers for years. I think we'll just have to wait and see how the new cars perform.
 
The shark fins are to act as aircraft rudders and keep the cars from spining and catching air. Smaller rear wing are likely to try and reduce cornering speeds.
 
Old Boone
SuperShouden - The Sebring Winter Test isn't until February 9th & 10th. More cars should show up to the test than what's currently listed.

sumbrownkid - The ACO isn't going bonkers...they've been bonkers for years. I think we'll just have to wait and see how the new cars perform.
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Right. That would be why there's TBDs for a few cars. This should be the Risi F430's last year. Although, Risi could simply be comparing both the cars since the F430 wasn't supposed enter this year. And Lamborghini could be looking for drivers, as well. But there are a few new Porsches and some other new cars. The 458 looks pretty cool, actually.
 
Good to read the other week about Westbrook although he does deserve a whole season with them. He's probably Britain's finest GT driver now, I think surpassing Darren Turner and Rob Bell on recent form.
 
Duffers917K
Good to read the other week about Westbrook although he does deserve a whole season with them. He's probably Britain's finest GT driver now, I think surpassing Darren Turner and Rob Bell on recent form.
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I think Turner is over-rated a little these days, he's good but not amazing. He's built that reputation up on some great results, but there are better drivers around, such as Westbrook in my opinion.
 
Here are some shots I took at Sebring today. The R18 is quieter than the R15 and I'm liking the dorsal fin a bit more. It really is an impressive car in person.

Edit: I removed the R18 pictures for the time being.


Sebring 2011 - Winter Testing - Audi Sport Team Joest Audi R15++ TDI by Old Boone, on Flickr


Sebring 2011 - Winter Testing - Audi Sport Team Joest Audi R15++ TDI by Old Boone, on Flickr


Sebring 2011 - Winter Testing - Rahal Letterman BMW M3 E92 by Old Boone, on Flickr


Sebring 2011 - Winter Testing - West Racing Lamborghini Gallardo GT2 by Old Boone, on Flickr
 
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MrMulsanne
Maybe Kolles will get customer R15's? They had R10's past couple years...
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The only reason Kolles got those cars because Audi stopped development on it once they started on the R15.
Those R15s are probably already converted to the ++ specs, so I doubt Audi will sell those.

Unless Audi's racing budget is hurting right now and can trim some fat, or so to speak.
 

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