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Reply With QuoteMulsanne's Corner has the information up about the new acura. Take a look, its pretty interesting.
http://www.mulsannescorner.com/AcuraARX-02.html
167http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/73203
Peugeot confirm Sebring entry
By Simon Strang Monday, February 9th 2009, 17:19 GMT
Peugeot 908 HDi FAPs Peugeot have confirmed that they will enter two cars for the Sebring 12-hour race as part of the manufacturers' preparation for the 2009 Le Mans 24 Hours.
The announcement, at their 2009 competition programme launch in Paris on Monday, means the team will go head-to-head with Audi's new R15 TDI, Aston Martin Racing's new LMP1 and the factory Acuras of Highcroft Racing and De Ferran in the American classic on March 12.
The French company will run a pair of heavily-revised 908 HDi FAPs for Nicolas Minassian, Pedro Lamy, Christian Klien, Franck Montagny, Stephane Sarrazin and Peugeot returnee Sebastien Bourdais in the event.
They will then take all three Le Mans contenders to the Spa 1000kms in May, although they have yet to confirm whether they will participate in any more Le Mans Series events after the race at La Sarthe in June.
Peugeot Sport director Olivier Quesnel said: "Our busy test programme notably includes endurance simulation tests at a variety of circuits, and we will take part in two races upstream of Le Mans which will serve as full-scale dress rehearsals for everyone in the team.
"We have consequently chosen to compete in March's 12 Hours of Sebring, which is the opening round of the American Le Mans Series, with two cars and six drivers," he added.
"We will then take three cars in Belgium for the 1,000km of Spa- Francorchamps in May (8-10). We haven't yet decided what our programme after the Le Mans 24 Hours will be.
"We are looking at the different options to ensure the best possible exposure for the brand in promotional and media coverage terms, and also as a function of the level of competition."
The latest evolution, newly-livered 908 was also unveiled at the launch, featuring a eye-catching chrome-canopy and shorter rear-wing in keeping with the strict 2009 aero regulations in the LMP1 class.
"The livery of the 908 HDi FAP has changed," said Quesnel. "All the cars will now be predominantly blue, with the cockpit covered in a reflective chromelike aluminium covering aimed at keeping the temperature inside the car to a minimum."
The team's technical director Bruno Famin explained that the team had also focussed on improving several aspects of the car which set the pace throughout last year, yet failed to capture any of the major sportscar titles in 2008.
"The engine settings have been completely revised to take onboard the new air restrictor dimensions and the lower turbo pressure which has resulted in a fall in power of approximately 10 per cent," said Famin. "Significant work has gone into the 908's aerodynamics, too, in order to re-optimise the car's balance following the notable reduction in the width of rear wings which has been cut from two to 1.60 metres.
"We are also continuing with development work aimed at putting air-conditioning in the cockpit with a view to ensuring that the temperature inside the car stays within the regulatory threshold," he added.
"At the same time, we are working on enhancing the car's performance potential. This includes ongoing work on weight reduction in a bid to get close to the minimum limit, even with air conditioning, as well as optimisation of the diesel engine's combustion, particulate filters (in association with Dow) and fuel injection (with Bosch), plus research into defining best possible chassis/tyre package (with Michelin)."
So Sebring is going to be a cracker... And more news related to Peugeot:
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/73202
Bourdais, Brabham join Peugeot
By Steven English Monday, February 9th 2009, 17:00 GMT
Sebastien BourdaisSebastien Bourdais and David Brabham have joined Peugeot's assault on the Le Mans 24 Hours this season.
Bourdais, who was recently confirmed for another season in Formula One with Scuderia Toro Rosso, returns to the French manufacturer's line up after finishing second in the No.8 908 HDi at Le Mans in 2007.
"In 2007, I started this great adventure with the whole Peugeot team," Bourdais said. "In 2008, there was a problem with the time schedule so I couldn't do it again, but I always agreed with (Peugeot team manager) Serge (Saulnier) that I could do something this year."
Brabham won the GT1 class with Aston Martin in the 24 Hours last year, and has extensive prior experience in prototypes having raced for Jaguar, Toyota, Panoz, Bentley, Zytek and Acura in his career.
The Australian is already confirmed for a full American Le Mans Series campaign in Acura's new LMP1 car.
"It is a great honour for me to be a Peugeot driver with the history of my brother Geoff's victory," said Brabham. "That was a big occasion, and hopefully we'll have another one this year."
Bourdais and Brabham have teamed up once before, when they finished third in the GT2 class of Petit Le Mans with Panoz in 2006.
The pair take the places of Jacques Villeneuve and Ricardo Zonta in Peugeot's 2009 line-up, with Nicolas Minassian, Marc Gene, Christian Klien, Pedro Lamy, Franck Montagny and Stephane Sarrazin all retained.
When was the last time an active F1 driver raced at Le Mans while contesting a full F1 season?
And the other development is also interesting. Two former Aston Martin Racing teammates will be duking it out head-to-head in two different machines... and in LMP1.
7
Mulsanne's Corner has the information up about the new acura. Take a look, its pretty interesting.
http://www.mulsannescorner.com/AcuraARX-02.html
370Carroll Shelby did it in '59 (he and Roy Salvadori giving Aston their only overall Le Mans victory 50 years ago).Originally Posted by vikiradTG2007
76
Sexy. I really like the rear wing.
33
There are much more recent examples. Eddie Irvine did both in 1994, as he replaced Roland Ratzenberger in one of the Toyotas. Although in truth he did not do a full season in F1 because his three race ban after the shunt in Interlagos. I can't think of any more recent examples from the top of my head...
167Interesting that they gave it a 4-liter NA engine, when the maximum size limit is 5.5 l for purpose-built LMP1 engines and 6 l for GT1-sourced engines. I see that the purpose is handling, but I can't help feeling that it's either going to be somewhat underpowered or less reliable than the diesels/Judds.
As for Bourdais racing for Peugeot at Sebring and Le Mans, I think the reason he was allowed to do it is simply because he drives for a Red Bull-backed team, which means a more laid-back approach to out-of-F1 stuff, and since Sebring and LM don't clash with F1 races, they were more than happy to allow him to do it.
13But i dislike it that the new regulations proihibit the rear wings to be as wide as the bodywork. That used to be definitely cooler.
33
Propably, but I also think that because the Red Bull teams are not in any way manufacturer backed they are free to drive any make of car outside F1. I would think that others would be allowed to do the jump as well if they could drive for the same people they represent in F1. Say, Kimi and Felipe could perhaps drive a Ferrari (or Alfa, or Maserati...) in Le Mans, and Lewis or Heikki could use a McLaren or Mercedes. Of course they might have clauses that deny this but seeing Kimi in rallies with Fiat would lead me to believe that he might be able to do Le Mans as well.
7
Yea I was surprised that they only put in a 4.0L also. At the same time Acura has managed to maximize the packaging of the smaller unit to make up for some of its short comings. Its not that down on power though, 650HP. It is down on torque especially compared to the 908. All things considered it should be pretty fast. The Acura P2 cars did mix it up with the R10 a few times, now just image a little more HP and you get the picture.
167BIG NEWS!
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/73231
Audi's new Le Mans racer revealed
By Simon Strang Wednesday, February 11th 2009, 19:33 GMT
Audi's new R15 TDIAutosport can exclusively reveal the first image of the car Audi hopes will continue its unbroken record of diesel-powered victories at Le Mans in June.
This spy-shot of Audi's new R15 TDI, seen in secret testing at Vallelunga, (more of which can be seen in this week's Autosport magazine, on sale tomorrow) reveals just how radical the German manufacturer's approach has been to the car that will replace their all-conquering R10.
Audi won the 2008 Le Mans 24 Hours, both Le Mans Series and American Le Mans titles, and Petit Le Mans, but the need for a new car was apparent as the German manufacturer was outdone for pace by Peugeot's 908 HDi FAP last year.
The R15 features a radical high-nose concept that looks similar to the approach used by the Renault Formula One team with their new R29. It is a major departure from the pointy, low-nose of its predecessor.
The car's radiators also appear to have been moved closer to the front wheel, probably in an effort to improve the car's weight distribution, hence the interesting scalloped ducts and shaping of the sidepods and rear cowling.
Other interesting developments on the car include a much lower, tidier rear end in an effort to regain some of the downforce lost to the new LMP1 regulations (which call for a 20 per cent reduction in aero) as well as innovative wing-mounted rear lights.
In a statement released by Audi yesterday, the team said the car has many 'technically innovative features' and will use a new 'smaller, lighter and even more efficient turbocharged diesel engine'.
The R15 has been testing in secret since before Christmas and will be raced for the first time in a two-car attack on the Sebring 12 Hours on March 21.
Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich said of the programme: "So far the R15 TDI has performed as we expected. Now it must also prove itself in race conditions. Sebring is a particularly hard race and is therefore perfectly suited to reveal even the smallest of weaknesses."
Allan McNish, who is one of the drivers to have tested the car said: "I drove it for the first time before Christmas as planned in Spain and everything went well. Since then Audi Sport has been busy with extensive testing and everything is progressing very well and on schedule - it's a tremendous car.
"I have been in the Audi 'family' for a few years now and have confidence that the team in Ingolstadt have again designed and built us a worthy successor to the R10 TDI," added the two-time Le Mans winner.
Audi Sport Team Joest has also confirmed their driver line-ups for Sebring with McNish sharing one car with his usual partners Rinaldo Capello and eight-time Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen, and the second machine piloted by Germans Lucas Luhr, Mike Rockenfeller and Marco Werner.
7
WOW!
The front end reminds me a lot of the most recent Lister LMP. You can really see how much the lower deck was lowered along with the acura style rear wing mount. Seeing this car really makes me question Audi's choice not to compete in ALMS even more. Clearly they built a whole new car, yet don't plan on racing it all that much.....
167AND it's going to be obsolete next year, don't forget.
33
The back end.
0
The high res pic
273
^It looks angry!!
7
Its mad since the R10 was slower than the 908's last year.
Anyways I was reading that they have dropped the power in the diesel cars considerably this year. I guess acuras P1 4L engine is not looking so bad after all with all its weight distribution and packaging advantages. The sad part is that there will be no one (no factory cars) racing againt the acura P1's this year. Audi you beg for competition, then you ditch out when it shows up. I guess sebring will be a race to watch since everyone will be there.
1672009 24 Hours of Le Mans entry list and reserves confirmed! And there are some surprises...
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/73437
Pescarolo to run a Peugeot at Le Mans
By Steven English Thursday, February 26th 2009, 11:17 GMT
Pescarolo Sport will enter a privateer Peugeot 908 in this year's Le Mans 24 Hours alongside one of their own cars.
In addition to the respective works Audi and Peugeot teams, the customer 908 and the two Kolles-run R10s mean there will be five Audis and four Peugeots in the LMP1 class this year, as well as potentially three examples of Aston Martin's new prototype.
Pescarolo finished third behind one Audi and one Peugeot at Le Mans in 2007, but their highest car was only seventh last year behind Audi and Peugeot's three cars each.
The arrival of the first customer Peugeot LMP1 car is the biggest news of the 2009 Le Mans entry list, which was released by race organiser the ACO this morning.
The list also features three Porsche RS Spyders in the LMP2 class, with the already-announced Team Essex car joined by entries from FIA GT champions Vitaphone Racing - in their prototype debut - and former Audi LMP squad Team Goh, who took overall victory in 2004.
2009 Le Mans entry list:
LMP1
No Team Car
1 Audi Sport Team Joest Audi R15
3 Audi Sport Team Joest Audi R15
2 Audi Sport North America Audi R15
14 Kolles Audi R10
15 Kolles Audi R10
7 Team Peugeot Total Peugeot 908
8 Team Peugeot Total Peugeot 908
9 Peugeot Sport Total Peugeot 908
17 Pescarolo Sport Peugeot 908
16 Pescarolo Sport Pescarolo Judd
007 Aston Martin Racing Lola Aston Martin
009 Aston Martin Racing Lola Aston Martin
008 AMR Eastern Europe Lola Aston Martin
13 Speedy Racing Team Sebah Lola Aston Martin
10 Team ORECA Matmut AIM Courage-ORECA AIM
11 Team ORECA Matmut AIM Courage-ORECA AIM
6 Team LNT Ginetta Zytek
23 Strakka Racing Ginetta Zytek
12 Signature Plus Courage Judd
20 Epsilon Euskadi Epsilon Euskadi Judd
4 Creation Autosportif Creation Judd
LMP2
No Team Car
5 Navi Team Goh Porsche RS Spyder
31 Team Essex Porsche RS Spyder
49 Vitaphone Racing Team Porsche Rs Spyder
25 RML Lola Mazda Coupe
44 KSM Lola Mazda Coupe
30 Racing Box Lola Judd Coupe
33 Speedy Racing Team Sebah Lola Judd Coupe
24 Oak Racing Pescarolo Mazda
35 Oak Racing Pescarolo Mazda
40 Quifel-ASM Team Ginetta Zytek 09S
41 Gac Racing Team Zytek 07S
26 Bruichladdich Bruneau Radical AER
GT1
No Team Car
63 Corvette Racing Corvette C6.R
64 Corvette Racing Corvette C6.R
72 Luc Alphand Aventures Corvette C6.R
73 Luc Alphand Aventures Corvette C6.R
60 Gigawave Motorsport Ltd Aston Martin DBR9
66 Jetalliance Racing Aston Martin DBR9
55 IPB Spartak Racing Lamborghini Murcielago
68 JLOC Isao Noritake Lamborghini Murcielago
GT2
No Team Car
76 IMSA Performance Matmut Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (997)
77 Team Felbermayer-Proton Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (997)
80 Flying Lizard Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (997)
78 AF Corse Srl Ferrari F430 GT
82 Risi Competizione Ferrari F430 GT
83 Risi Competizione Ferrari F430 GT
84 Team Modena Ferrari F430 GT
89 Hankook - Team Farnbacher Ferrari F430 GT
92 JMW Motorsport Ferrari F430 GT
96 Virgo Motorsport Ferrari F430 GT
97 BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari F430 GT
99 JMB Racing Ferrari F430 GT
87 Drayson Racing Aston Martin V8
85 Snoras Spyker Squadron Spyker C8 Laviolette
Reserves
No Cl Team Car
R1 GT2 Team Seattle Advanced Eng Ferrari F430 GT
R2 GT2 Endurance China Team Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (997)
R3 GT2 IMSA Performance Matmut Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (997)
R4 LMP2 Barazi Epsilon Zytek 07S
R5 LMP2 Gerard Welter Zytek
R6 LMP1 Epsilon Euskadi Epsilon Euskadi Judd
R7 GT2 Team Felbermayer-Proton Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (997)
R8 GT2 Snoras Spyker Squadron Spyker C8 Laviolette
R9 GT1 Team Larbre Competition Saleen S7R
R10 LMP2 Racing Box SRL Lola Judd Coupe
9 DIESELS!
7
Vikirad you are always posting the best information.... high five.
Man its nice to see privateer 908, R10 and RS in le mans! Thats an epic field. If only the new Acura P1 would race over there.
I am not that on top of the rules for le mans as I am with the ALMS but I am guessing that the rules still slightly favor the diesel cars over there. From what I can gather the diesel cars at Sebring in march will be running a new restricter leading to a 10% decrease in performance. This should make the smaller and lighter 4L unit from acura more competitive despite the torque disadvantage it has.
167Actually Sebring and the ALMS normally work with the regulations formulated by the FIA and the ACO, who owns the Circuit de la Sarthe and organises the 24 Hours of Le Mans. It's just a matter of different sporting regulations on each side of the Atlantic.
EDIT: If you can read them, here are the technical regulations for the 2009 Le Mans Prototypes (both LMP1 and LMP2):
http://www.mulsannescorner.com/2009LMP12.pdf
26 Vitaphone Spyder!
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