2008 Le Mans Thread

[cdbob]

Well with a few months until Le Mans, this is the perfect time the start talking about the race. I am looking forward to this one, it should be a good one. I think Audi will win, but I think Peugeot could give then a run for their money. With the possibility of them taking second with some crashes from Audi helping them this year.

All the other classes will be more competitive without Diesel to make things unfair in the classes.

[Mischief007]

I'm going to get into the GT racing now. I can't wait till it starts .

[cdbob]

The other thing they need to do is take the air restrictors off, that would make racing a lot more exciting.

[Martyn]

I'm going as usual, 6th year for me! Hurrah! Endurance racing is awesome.

[Nelis]

Looking to go this year. What is the most ideal place to be around the track. I was looking for a place in the grands stands above or facing the pits.
AKA what's the best place to be around lemans...?

[pfrocker]

Is this the year that open cockpit cars are banned? I heard they will do that in the future, just wanted to know if it's this year or next?

[Thanatos]

thats new to me. where did you read about it?

[vikiradTG2007]

Originally Posted by pfrocker

Is this the year that open cockpit cars are banned? I heard they will do that in the future, just wanted to know if it's this year or next?

2009 is the first year for all-closed-cockpit LMP1 cars. LMP2 cars can either be open- or closed-cockpit.

I wonder if Henri Pescarolo will want to run customer Peugeot 908s...

[anti-net]

Originally Posted by vikiradTG2007

2009 is the first year for all-closed-cockpit LMP1 cars. LMP2 cars can either be open- or closed-cockpit.

I wonder if Henri Pescarolo will want to run customer Peugeot 908s...

That sucks! - What was wrong with open-cockpit LMP1 cars that made them change the rules?

[vikiradTG2007]

Originally Posted by anti-net

That sucks! - What was wrong with open-cockpit LMP1 cars that made them change the rules?

The ACO, who are the race organisers, want the LMP1 cars to look at least slightly similar to production cars; the reason is that they now see LMP1 as a class for manufacturers, and LMP2 for privateers; maybe that's why they don't allow the Porsche RS Spyders to compete in the LMP2 class at Le Mans. Porsche is a car manufacturer, and in the ACO's view, their cars should be running in LMP1 (besides their permanent presence in the GTS/GT2 class).

[marcos_eirik]

Porsche hasn't had a factory entry in any kind of motorsport since they won Le Mans in 1998. All Porsche entries after that are privateers.

They were originally going to get back to Le Mans in the LMP category in 2000, but they needed both all of the human and financial resources they could get to focus upon their road cars, as the Cayenne was in the pipeline as a joint venture with VW/Audi. Additionally Audi wouldn't be very happy getting stiff competition from Porsche that could make it very hard for their, then new R8, as it's widely understood that the key reason to the R8's success was a lack of competition from a proper factory team. Porsche did have a car underway, the LMP1, but it was cancelled.

The RS Spyder was pretty much unexpected and despite it's inherrent disadvantages being in the LMP2 lower class it has managed to finish ahead of the LMP1 cars and beating the R10 TDi outright on several occasions. This year, the RS Spyders entered by Roger Penske has won more events in ALMS than the official factory Audi R10 TDis. Unfortunately the rules are slightly [l]retarded[/l] different in Europe, and states that an LMP2 car has to be a certain percentage off the pace of an LMP1 in therms of laptimes, or it's disqualified. This has pissed Porsche and the customer teams so much off that they have chosen to boycot the European races, including Le Mans.

(You won't be seeing this at Le Mans)

[vikiradTG2007]

How hard can it be to tweak that car into LMP1 spec? Porsche is a big car maker, and it supplies the RS Spyder to experienced racing teams. Penske and Dyson have been active teams since the '80s, if I remember correctly. So it shouldn't be that difficult, especially since the car's pace is phenomenal already.

(P.S. Dutch people watch this space, Jos the Boss wants to race in the 2008 LM24h in a RS Spyder)

[marcos_eirik]

Originally Posted by vikiradTG2007

How hard can it be to tweak that car into LMP1 spec? Porsche is a big car maker, and it supplies the RS Spyder to experienced racing teams. Penske and Dyson have been active teams since the '80s, if I remember correctly. So it shouldn't be that difficult, especially since the car's pace is phenomenal already.

Not very hard considering they have phenomenal experience with turbocharging and, of course a race spec V10 engine in the shelves (that's where the Carrera GT's engine comes from)

The problem is Audi, and subsequently VW which Porsche owns a 30 % controling minority stake in. This is, of course to be a part of a larger group making it easier to make high performance sports cars as the emissions regulations are tightening in. But to be a part of this, and have VAG take some of the development cost for new cars they need goodwill, something they don't get by stealing the Le Mans 24 hours glory that Audi are using as one of their key marketing arguments...

Additionally, on that arena, Porsche with their 16 outright wins, hasn't really got anything to prove...

[cdbob]

I wish Le Mans was move important to auto marques in the LMP1 class, if we got BMW, Ferrari, Lotus and some other teams in, we could see some awesome racing.

[vikiradTG2007]

Originally Posted by cdbob

I wish Le Mans was move important to auto marques in the LMP1 class, if we got BMW, Ferrari, Lotus and some other teams in, we could see some awesome racing.

BMW won in 1999 (mind you, with Toyota suffering from rear suspension woes and Mercedes going out in a big way through take-offs), and in the late '90s Ferrari had a crack at things in LMP with the 333SP (but with no major success). Lotus... I don't think they want to get involved in racing at the moment.

[vikiradTG2007]

Rather old news, but many people have ignored it on the DBR9 Gulf livery thread:

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/64606

Lola reveal new Le Mans car

By Jonathan Noble Thursday, January 10th 2008, 12:35 GMT


Lola have released the first picture of their new Lola LMP1 coupe sportscar, which will race in the Le Mans Series and at the Le Mans 24 Hours this year.

The car will be entered by Lola-customer team Charouz Racing Systems, with the entries powered by Aston Martin engines. The drivers will be Tomas Enge, Stefan Mucke and Jan Charouz.

Speaking on stage at the Autosport International Show, chief executive Martin Birrane said he was excited about the plans for 2008 - which is Lola's 50th anniversary year.

"I think Enge, Mucke and Jan are a very good team," he said. "We really are looking forward to having them in the car, and it is great to have a team like this."

GT1 engines in a closed-cockpit LMP1 car... should be able to give the diesels a scare or even make them wet their pants. Just imagine Team Charouz on the top step of the podium

[Blayde]

Where do you guys watch it on, TV or otherwise? Would love to get into the series from the beginning.

[vikiradTG2007]

I would like to ask my parents to extend the cable subscription to an extra channel pack that includes Motors TV, and those guys have broadcasted the 2007 race in full, from start to finish, over all the 24 hours.