2011 Endurance Racing Thread

vikiradTG2007

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Even though we have one last major race this season, I figured that a spy shot published on Autosport.com today is the perfect occasion to start talking about 2011.

Peugeot have started testing at least part of the 2011 package, as we can see below... not sure whether it is the 90X in full though:

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/87813

https://pic.armedcats.net/r/re/renaultfan/2010/10/29/1288363523.jpg

The Honkin' Great Fin is much in evidence on the engine cover; it looks like a 908 at the front, but from the driver back, it's all different: new aero package on the rear (rear wing mountings, rear bodywork, rear fenders), smaller air intake on the fender and a big roof scoop, which suggests a different engine... basically looks like a 908 tub hack with 2011 engine and part of the 2011 aero kit, so not a final 2011 car.

EDIT: Also, someone on Ten-Tenths made a good point: the HDi FAP stickers have disappeared... so could this be a petrol-engined car?

In any case, this will be the thread for all discussions about the 2011 racing season in sportscar racing, endurance racing primarily but GTs are also allowed as a subject. Le Mans itself will get its own thread when the entries are officially published in February. :)
 
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I believe it's part of the new regs, I'm sure Vikirad can confirm this
 
The fin is mandatory for pure 2011 cars, I'm not exactly sure how it works for grandfathered cars and 2010 cars with 2011 engines, it's rather too complicated for my brain at this early hour of morning. Also, we suspect the 90X might be a petrol car, but nothing is definite yet, there have been varying rumours from the Peugeot camp; on the other hand, Audi's R18 will still be a diesel.


EDIT: New high(er)-res photos:

2010_Le_Mans_Presentation_90X.jpg

00_Presentation_90X_01.jpg

00_Presentation_90X_02.jpg


Weirdly, in these photos, the HDi stickers are back. Perhaps Peugeot are currently evaluating two different engine configurations...
 
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Autosport.com:
The 90X was not running with its final engine configuration during the test. Peugeot is expected to use a hybrid power unit, and the team's technical director Bruno Famin said no definite decision on the engine type had been made so far.

"We are still exploring several options with regard to the engine and technology we will use," he said. "Work on the engine's development is ongoing."


Have to say, the fin does look odd if you're used to the current cars.
 
Looking through other discussions about the car, particularly on French-language forums, there are a couple of points that spring immediately to view:

- looks like the front wheels use the same rims as the rear wheels now... clue towards a wheel layout like the Acura ARX-02A? I.e. "rear tires" (in terms of width) on the front?

- apparently according to L'Equipe, the car actually ran for the first time at the end of July (July 29th).


In any case, we're going to have a lot of new car talk this winter, the 90X has broken cover (at least in an interim-ish version), we should see the new Audi as well pretty soon, Aston Martin's new LMP1 car, and in GT the developments for Porsche-Corvette-BMW-etc. and also the brand-new 458 Italia GT2/GTE.
 
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The new GT Endurance Series in detail!

SRO Motorsports Group revealed details of its newly planned GT Endurance Series in an mail to teams and manufacturers last week. The series, to be launched in 2011, will not replace any of the GT3 series already promoted by SRO, but as Stephane Ratel said before, will be a new endurance series for teams that want to run their cars in races longer than the current one-hour sprint races.

SRO made it clear that the new GT Endurance Series will be an international series with FIA approval rather than an FIA Championship. It will be promoted by SRO, but presented by the Royal Automobile Club of Belgium. The blue riband event of the series will be the 24 Hours of Spa, with four three-hour races completing the new series.

The series is to kick off its inaugural season at Monza on April 17. The second round should be taking place at the Hungaroring at the end of may, even though it is yet to be confirmed. After the 24 Hours of Spa, round three of the series, the teams will then go to either N?rburgring or Magny-Cours at the end of August or first weekend of September. The season finale will be held at the Silverstone circuit on October 9.

- 17th April: Monza
- 22nd or 29th May: Budapest (TBC)
- 30th July: 24 Hours of Spa
- 28th August or 4th September: N?rburgring or Magny Cours
- 9th October: Silverstone

Each weekend will have two one-hour long free practice sessions, three qualifying sessions of 15 minutes each, one for each of the three drivers and then one three-hour race. During this race there will be two mandatory pit stops with tyre and driver change. All cars must have three drivers for each race.

Customer tyres, either registered by the FIA for the FIA GT3 European Championship or coming from a single tyre supplier in GT3 national series are allowed.

The series will follow the FIA-style point scale. 25-18-15-12-10-8-6-4-2-1 in each of its categories. At the 24 Hours of Spa there will be double points, with one quarter at six hours, one quarter at 12 hours and half after 24 hours.

As was expected the GT Endurance series will not be open to GT2 cars. Only GT3 and GT4 homologated cars will be allowed in the series and at the 24 Hours of Spa, all cars have to conform with the latest FIA homologation forms. In the two classes a total of five categories will be accepted.

1) GT3 Pro Cup
- Three drivers at all races, including the 24 Hours of Spa. No driver categorisation.
- GT3 cars in the latest FIA Homologation Specs and FIA Balance of Performance only.

2) GT3 Pro-Am Cup
- Three drivers at the three-hour races and four for the 24 Hours of Spa. For this category there will be two options for driver categorisation: Platinum or Gold/Bronze/Bronze with the addition of an extra Platinum or Gold driver at Spa and Silver/Silver/Bronze and the addition of an extra Silver driver
- GT3 cars in the latest FIA Homologation Specs and FIA Balance of Performance only.

3) GT3 Citation Cup
- Three drivers at the three-hour races and four for the 24 Hours of Spa. The driver categorisation will be: Silver/Bronze/Bronze and another Silver driver for Spa.
- GT3 cars with older specifications and Models will be allowed in this class.

4) GT4 Cup
- Three drivers at the three-hour races and four for the 24 Hours of Spa. The driver categorisation for the GT4 Cup will be Platinum or Gold/Bronze/Bronze and for Spa the addition of an extra Platinum or Gold driver or Silver/Silver/Bronze and the addition of an extra Silver driver. -
GT4 cars in the latest SRO Homologation Specs and SRO Balance of Performance are accepted.

5) Supersport Cup
- Three drivers at the three-hour races. The driver categorisation will be Silver/Bronze/Bronze.
- Supersport cars in the latest SRO Homologation Specs and SRO Balance of Performance are accepted.
 
(...) on the other hand, Audi's R18 will still be a diesel.
Other rumors say, the new Audi R18 is going to have the turbocharged 2.0l 4 cylinder petrol-"global racing engine".

This secret will possibly be disclosed in the beginning of december because several sources say, that this might be the time for Audi to present the R18.
 
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Still on the subject of Audi, a relatively strange decision: the current plans state that the R18 will NOT make its debut at Sebring, grandfathered (and choked by air restrictors) R15s will race for that event alone before the R18 makes its race debut... somewhere (possibly Paul Ricard or Spa).

In any case, if Audi bring out a diesel engine, it's supposed to be a 3.7 V6 TDI. Several people have concluded from studying the photos of the Peugeot 90X, and comparing wheelbases to the 908, that it carries a V8 HDi engine (if it is still a diesel).
 
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Official Le Mans Series calendar is out! Provisional at the moment, it requires FIA approval (even though it is an ACO-sanctioned series). Interesting calendar though, and with all races capped at 6 hours instead of 1000km.

If you can't be bothered to click the link, here's the calendar:

March 11-12: Official Test Session (Paul Ricard)
April 1-2-3: 6 Hours of le Castellet (same location)
May 6-7-8: 6 Hours of Spa (ILMC round)
July 1-2-3: 6 Hours of Imola (ILMC round)
September 9-10-11: 6 Hours of Silverstone (ILMC round)
September 23-24-25: 6-hour race in Portugal (track as of now unconfirmed... Portimao is most likely I guess, the only alternative might be Estoril)

Interesting choice to put Imola on the calendar, and also as a ILMC race... which should mean a Le Mans-like entry list. And Imola is a tight track. Does anyone see any problem with that? :p


EDIT: Also, the full ILMC calendar.

March 19th: 12 Hours of Sebring
May 8th: 6 Hours of Spa
June 11th-12th: 24 Hours of Le Mans (double points round)
July 3th: 6 Hours of Imola
September 11th: 6 Hours of Silverstone
October 1st: Petit Le Mans
November 12th: 6-hour race in China (location unconfirmed at the moment)
 
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5241092119_7fdf335b7d_o.jpg


Yes, this is a spyshot of the new Ferrari 458 Italia in GT2 spec testing at Fiorano... with what looks like Jaime Melo driving.

EDIT: Driver confirmed by others to be Pierre Kaffer.
 
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