2011 Endurance Racing Thread

And speaking of new cars, tomorrow we should be seeing the Audi R18 unveiled to the world's media. Also, if you're wondering "why the leap from 15 to 18", R16 and R17 are the codenames for a DTM car (possibly the project for the new 2012 regulations) and the R8 LMS GT3 car (although which one is which, I have no idea).


Rumour around the endurance racing people is a V6 TDI-powered closed-top prototype... the powerplant is not yet certain, but the fact that the car is a closed car is pretty much 99.9% confirmed.
 
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Or maybe the GT4-spec TT they announced a while back?

I'd be surprised if the next DTM car had a designation preceding the R18 since AFAIK the DTM technical regulations from 2012 onwards still haven't been confirmed.

Really looking forwad to seeing what Audi will unveil today...
 
I'd be surprised if the next DTM car had a designation preceding the R18 since AFAIK the DTM technical regulations from 2012 onwards still haven't been confirmed.

Well the talks between the manufacturers and the DTM organisers have started last year concerning 2012, so the project number might have been allocate last year and R&D started already until the rules are confirmed and something can be built.
 
That Audi looks awesome! Visually it's really an improvement over the R15+.
 
So Audi finally decided to go for a closed cockpit. Not the prettiest thing I've ever seen but luckily Le Mans isn't a beauty contest.

Also, massive headlights are massive.
 
YEEEHAAA! It has the same tail lights as the R15! That was my only hope for this car, lol. :cool:

It's looking rather aggressive as well, I like it. :)
 
They've gone for rear tires on the front as well (in terms of width), a la Acura ARX-02, that's why the front wheelarches are so incredibly wide. In any case, looks pretty menacing, on first impression just a very tiny bit like a R15 with a roof. Shame about the fin, but that'll take some getting used-to.

So... until both cars hit the track, I don't know what else there is to say except for speculation and assumptions. All I can say is... Le Mans 2010, Audi vs. Peugeot, round 5... bring it on, baby! Especially since both teams will most likely keep the same driver trios from last year (Audi - officially confirmed, Peugeot - unoficially confirmed by the team manager soon after LM).
 
oh god that thing is scary
 
That thing looks looks quite odd actually. I guess it's the huge front wheel arches that make the effect but the cockpit looks absolutely tiny and the body around the cockpit and wheelarches looks really low... And the fin is horrid!

It'll be interesting to see how this beast looks in it's natural environment...
 
but the cockpit looks absolutely tiny

Which is odd, because from comparison shots, the cockpit is actually pretty massive compared to the one on the Pugs. Haven't seen yet a comparison shot with the closed Lola, but it might be comparable with that, the Lolas are built to accomodate drivers of all sizes so the cockpit is somewhat larger than that of the Peugeot (at least that's my impression).
 
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Old R8 and Bentley speed 8 were so much more elegant:

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bentley_speed8_02.jpg


But anyway, its a race car, so as long as it wins races who cares.
 
I have a feeling though that Le Mans 2011 in GTE is going to be an absolute Corvette benefit. The car was scarily fast this year, the 458 will still be somewhat unsorted in its first year, while Corvette will have about two years' worth of previous experience with the car itself, plus lessons learned from this year's event. As for the Porsche... if there's enough of them, they'll be around to pick up the pieces if anything goes wrong for the yellow cars and for the more resilient Ferraris.
 
In other news, 4 customers confirmed in LMP2 for the Judd/BMW HK 4.0 V8 engine: OAK Racing with a Pescarolo chassis developed in-house for P2, AF Corse with a Lola for Russo and Perez-Companc, Team RLR (the ones who ran RML's old open Lola this season) and Race Performance with an Oreca 03 replacing the Radical from this year.
 
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