vikiradTG2007
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OK, so now, with one week left until the end of the race, we have the pre-race quotes from the three factory LMP1 teams:
Official scrutineering starts tomorrow morning in the town of Le Mans.
Audi Sport said:Logical lightweight construction, downsizing, efficiency and the best possible aerodynamics ? the same subjects which currently occupy the brains of the automobile industry development departments are also key elements in the 24 Hours of Le Mans held for the 77th time on the weekend of June 13/14.
In the world?s most famous endurance race it is, in addition to speed, also more a question of reliability and efficiency ? and to set trends afterwards. Audi has used Le Mans since 1999 to test technical innovations under racing conditions and has, in the process, repeatedly set milestones thanks to its technology leadership. In this way, the Audi R8 successfully introduced gasoline direct-injection TFSI, with the Audi R10 TDI in 2006 a diesel powered car won for the first time in the history of the race.
The Audi R8 and Audi R10 TDI have one thing in common: Both were victorious on their Le Mans d?buts. Audi Sport Team Joest now aims to continue this phenomenal trend with the new Audi R15 TDI in Audi?s 100th anniversary year. A ninth victory ? with only eleven participations ? would see Audi draw level with Ferrari in the French endurance classic?s all-time winners list. Only Porsche has achieved more victories in its long Le Mans history.
The R15 TDI is packed with technical innovations. Among them a more compact, more efficient V10 TDI engine, logical lightweight construction, a totally new aerodynamic concept never before seen on a Le Mans sportscar and a novel vehicle power supply system using for the first time a lithium ion battery as used in hybrid vehicles of the next generation. It is lighter than a conventional battery and instead of supplying the more common twelve volts usually found in production cars, it supplies 15.2 volts. As a result of the higher power, electric consumers such as the starter motor can be designed to be smaller and lighter and thus increase the efficiency.
Logical lightweight design and construction
In general the Audi R15 TDI was trimmed logically for lightweight construction. The minimum weight of 900 kilograms originally stipulated by the regulations was significantly undercut through complex and intricate measures in order to facilitate the best possible weight distribution. That the Automobile Club de l?Ouest (ACO) ordered the minimum weight to be increased by 30 kilograms for diesel cars at short notice before the race hit the Audi Sport technicians hard. As a result, the R15 TDI was robbed of one decisive advantage.
To fit the additional 30 kilograms in the aerodynamically refined car several R15 TDI components had to be modified and their durability checked in extra endurance tests. The green light for the final version was thus only given following a successful 30-hour test at Le Castellet at the end of May ? less than three weeks before the race. A few days later, on May 29, the roll-out was made at a test track close to Ingolstadt for the three newly built-up race cars with the chassis numbers 104 (start number ?1?), 105 (start number ?2?) and 101 (start number ?3?).
The new Audi R15 TDI demonstrated its potential in March on its victorious race d?but at Sebring (USA). Many details have been optimized on the diesel racing sportscar for Le Mans since then. Improved cockpit cooling also numbers among the modifications.
Aerodynamic Cd optimized
Furthermore, an aerodynamic version designed for efficiency is used for the first time at Le Mans. While the R15 TDI still races with maximum downforce, a more favorable Cd value for the long straights at Le Mans is of prime importance. The R15 TDI nevertheless generates more downforce than its predecessor model the R10 TDI thanks to its innovative aerodynamic concept incorporating the uncompromising implementation of air-flow through the car.
Key factor tire wear
A very decisive factor during the 77th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans will be the lowest possible tire wear. Since only two, instead of the previously allowed four mechanics, can change tires during pit stops the standing time in the pit almost doubles. Therefore it will depend more than ever on being able to drive for as long as possible on the same set of tires without losing too much performance.
The six-hour free practice session on Wednesday evening and Thursday evening?s four-hour qualifying session are therefore of particular importance. Because there was no additional test day for the first time before the race, Audi Sport Team Joest will use both days efficiently to find the optimum car set-up and to find the best tire choice for the race. Indeed, grid positions in a 24-hour race are of secondary importance for the final result.
Last year?s winners Dindo Capello (Italy), Tom Kristensen (Denmark) and Allan McNish (Scotland) drive the Audi R15 TDI with car number ?1?. The three Germans Lucas Luhr, Mike Rockenfeller and Marco Werner share car number ?2?. Sharing driving duties in the R15 TDI with car number ?3? are Timo Bernhard (Germany) and the two Frenchmen Romain Dumas and Alexandre Pr?mat.
As well as by their car numbers, the three Audi R15 TDI can be distinguished by the different additional colors yellow (car #1) red (car #2) and black (car #3).
Some of the team has been in Le Mans since Wednesday (June 3). The three Audi R15 TDI cars arrived in the paddock on Friday. The public technical scrutineering in the Le Mans town center is staged on Monday (June 8), practice begins on Wednesday evening. The start is scheduled on Saturday (June 13) at 3:00 p.m. Eurosport broadcasts almost the entire race ?live?.
Quotes before the 2009 Le Mans 24 Hours
Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich (Head of Audi Motorsport): ?The target is clear: We want to carry on where we left off in the previous years and continue our winning streak at Le Mans. We have a new car, the Audi R15 TDI, and were successful immediately with this car in its first race at Sebring. We know, however, that our competitors have improved in many aspects compared to the previous years and therefore expect possibly the toughest Le Mans race that we have ever contested. It?s a shame that we have to start with 30 kilograms more than we did at Sebring, particularly as weight optimization was an essential development target with the R15 TDI. We had to change quite a lot on the car because of the extra weight and complete additional endurance tests.?
Dindo Capello (Audi R15 TDI #1): ?It was good to have completed so many kilometers with the R15 TDI during the last test at Le Castellet. I think we are well prepared from both the driving and technical points of view. Obviously it will be a hard race since the competition is even stronger than last year. To win we have to be even better than in 2008 ? no easy task. Le Mans has always been the most important race of the year for Audi, but this time it?s even more important. Audi even stopped its ALMS and LMS involvements to be able to develop the new R15 TDI for Le Mans. This shows how important the race is for the brand. We have to be completely focused on the task in hand and produce a perfect team performance.?
Tom Kristensen (Audi R15 TDI #1): ?We had a fantastic race with the new Audi R15 TDI against strong competition at Sebring in March. We?ve been working hard ever since, but have also been given 30 kilograms additional weight. We had to extend our test program because of this ? one reason was to be absolutely sure we were on the safe side despite the higher weight. Another was obviously to optimize the car so that we could run as long as possible on a single set of tires despite the weight. Last year?s race was a genuine classic. Our lap times were not the quickest, but we won thanks to good team work and efficiency. We hope to close this performance gap with the R15 TDI. We want to exert pressure on the Peugeot team, which also never rests, just like Aston Martin and the other opponents. We are well prepared. I?m really looking forward to competing in the world?s greatest and fastest long-distance race and to be in the thick of the tough competition. I think we can expect a fantastic race.?
Allan McNish (Audi R15 TDI #1): ?Le Mans is the world?s greatest sports car race. It was fantastic that I was able to win it again last year ? especially as we had battled with Peugeot for 23 hours and 45 minutes. I?m fully aware that the competition is getting stronger and stronger and that as defending champions we are the hunted ones. I believe that this race with be even tougher than 2008. Peugeot is looking for revenge, Aston Martin aims to show what they are capable of and we at Audi want to continue our amazing winning streak. I expect a sprint race for 24 hours, during which absolutely every one, no matter whether mechanic, engineer or driver, must do a perfect, mistake-free job so that we have a chance of winning. There was no test day at Le Mans this year, which means we?ll only see the genuine relative strengths on Thursday evening in qualifying.?
Lucas Luhr (Audi R15 TDI #2): ?It?s an honor for me and I?m absolutely delighted to be a part of the Audi Le Mans squad for a third year. Unfortunately, the first two races were not quite so successful. Nevertheless, it gave us a lot of food for thought and we learnt a lot. I hope that we?ll be able to fight for victory in the third year ? even though we haven?t driven at Le Mans in this driver combination before. However, I drove in this line-up the last two years at Sebring. They say that Sebring is the dress rehearsal for Le Mans. In this respect nothing totally new awaits us. I?m confident of being able to get a good result as a part of this driver combination. The Audi R15 TDI is entirely new and starts for the first time at Le Mans. We tested extensively over the winter, even though the weather didn?t play ball. There is an element of the unknown with a completely new car. However, I believe that Audi Sport and Team Joest have that absolutely in control. Whoever knows Audi knows just how high the demands are.?
Mike Rockenfeller (Audi R15 TDI #2): ?Marco Werner, Lucas Luhr and I drive together at Le Mans. We already competed in this combination at Sebring and were also pretty good ? even though we weren?t as succesful as we?d hoped to be. We are well prepared for Le Mans. This is now my third year with Audi at Le Mans and I?m really looking forward to it. We made an enormous step forward with the new R15 TDI. Nevertheless, we have to survive the challenge of Le Mans. I?m highly motivated and our target must be to win. We want to extract the maximum for Audi.?
Marco Werner (Audi R15 TDI #2): ?I?ve already driven with Mike Rockenfeller and Lucas Luhr in 2008 and also this year at Sebring. We are already quite a well-rehearsed team. Winning the American Le Mans Series last year united Lucas and I. We are a fabulous team. I?m looking forward to Le Mans, and we are all delighted with the new car. We know that everything is in its infancy. Our tests were plagued by bad weather. Personally I wasn?t able to try much till now. Except for Sebring I only drove the car in the rain, so there are a few question marks. But everybody knows how Audi works and that the team prepared something perfect.?
Timo Bernhard (Audi R15 TDI #3): ?It?s a great honor for me to compete for Audi at Le Mans. I?ve already competed three times with a GT car at Le Mans. I took class victory on my debut in 2002. The race is fascinating. For me it is one of the world?s top three motorsport events and is the sports car race par excellence. I?ve been driving the Porsche RS Sypder for the last three years in America and won the American Le Mans Series twice. This brought me a lot of experience. I?m happy to be able to use it at Le Mans. It?s always been my dream to fight for overall victory at Le Mans. Firstly I?d like to thank Audi and Porsche for this opportunity. I won?t underestimate the task at hand. It?s anything but easy. Obviously I?d like to finish on the podium.?
Romain Dumas (Audi R15 TDI #3): ?I?ve been given a great chance this year. I?m delighted to have been signed by Audi. I?ve been driving at Le Mans since 2001. I raced for Pescarolo in an LMP1 car in the last two years. But I?ve never sat in a car with a real chance of winning. I was third two years ago. We knew that Audi would be unbeatable before the start. As a race driver you obviously always want to fight for overall victory. After last year?s race I said that I must do everything possible to sit in a car capable of winning in 2009. Now I?m one of the lucky ones who have such a chance. However, a 24-hour race is long. I hope that the Audi R15 TDI takes overall victory. If our car should succeed then it?s even better. To compete for such a team at Le Mans as a Frenchman is already a great event, from which I will hopefully benefit.?
Alexandre Pr?mat (Audi R15 TDI #3): ?My third start at Le Mans is coming up. I?m very impatient. It?ll be a fantastic week and it is one of the world?s greatest races. I drive with two new team mates Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas, which means I share the cockpit with a second Frenchman. It?s great, I?m sure we?ll savor this adventure. We have ambitious goals just like in the previous two years: We want to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans, this time with the new R15 TDI. An extraordinary car which provides us everything with which to achieve our goal. We?ll do everything for this. It would be fantastic if Timo and Romain, who came from Porsche, scored a super result together with me. Although the race lasts 24-hours it has become a real sprint race. It was extremely difficult last year in the fight with Peugeot.?
Ralf J?ttner (Technical Director Audi Sport Team Joest): ?The pre-event program was strenuous with several endurance runs, among other things, to the modified weight limit. Time was short, but we are well prepared and also confident as far as our new car is concerned. However, we?ll only know at the earliest on Wednesday evening exactly where we stand as we haven?t met our competitors since Sebring. There?s a lot of new things at Le Mans this year, including the pit stops during which only two mechanics can change tires. We thought about the best way to approach it and have also practiced what we devised. We also don?t know what the others will do here, I hope and believe, however, that we will retain the small advantage that we had in the past. The missing test day is of course very serious. The information which you usually collect there will be missing. Therefore, it?ll be all the more important to schedule Wednesday properly. It?ll be a difficult day. To do your homework correctly can be race-decisive here.?
Source: http://www.planetlemans.com/2009/06/05/le-mans-debut-for-new-audi-r15-tdi/
Peugeot Sport said:After the disappointment which followed its unsuccessful bid to win the 2008 Le Mans 24 Hours with the 908 HDi FAP, which stood out as endurance racing?s best car, Peugeot Sport has not eased up in the slightest.
Twelve months on, it returns to the French classic even stronger thanks to the invaluable additional experience it has gained during its build-up to this year?s competition. Having been able to focus solely on the race, the team goes into the 2009 event feeling composed and confident.
That said, surprises are always possible in such an unforgiving contest as Le Mans, an event with a unique blend of human motion and technical prowess which all manufacturers dream of winning one day, and the legend of which has been forged by countless dramatic turnarounds. Peugeot Sport has taken onboard the troubles it encountered in 2008 and its programme has since focused on working on the traction control system which gave rise problems when rain started to fall in last year?s race, as well as on preventing the radiators from becoming soiled, optimising the tyres with the efficient help of Michelin to match the characteristics of the 908 HDi FAP and on improving wheel-centering to assist the mechanics? work during wheel changes.
In parallel to this work, and to the experience the team has gained at the different circuits it has visited since last June, Peugeot Sport?s technical staff have also had to deal with the regulation changes introduced by the Automobile Club de l?Ouest with a view to curbing car performance in 2009.
This work has focused on five main areas, says Peugeot Sport?s Technical Director Bruno Famin: ?To begin with, the ACO?s measures mean a drop in engine power because our car must run with a smaller air restrictor, the diameter of which has come down from 39.9mm to 38.3mm. Meanwhile, the requirement for closed cars to have air conditioning to prevent the cockpit temperature from exceeding 32?C has called for the incorporation of a power take-off at the end of the gearbox to drive the compressor. We have also worked with our partner Bosch to optimise injection and combustion.
?We have paid special attention to aerodynamics, too. The regulations dictate a smaller rear wing, the width of which has come down from 2 to 1.6 metres. We have consequently had to revise the overall package in order to rebalance the car by reducing front downforce. This explains the new front-end bodywork we will be running for the first time at Le Mans.?
?Then, in April, the ACO forced us to carry 30kg of ballast, and that has had a significant impact on the resistance of certain mechanical parts, notably suspension and brake components. Lastly, the fuel filler pipe is now narrower, and that will add almost three seconds to fuel stops.?
To validate the latest developments, and to enhance the package?s reliability as a whole, Peugeot Sport has worked through an extensive test programme at a variety of circuits.
Olivier Quesnel, who took over as Director of Peugeot Sport on January 1, 2009, placed the emphasis on two priority objectives: ?The first was to work on reliability by carrying out a high number of endurance simulation tests rather than give the team a busy race programme. I also wanted to make sure that the mechanics were raring to go and not too tired on their arrival at Le Mans. It was also important to complete the line-up with experienced drivers, which is why I went for David Brabham and S?bastien Bourdais whose passion for Le Mans and will to win are a secret for nobody.?
Olivier Quesnel has chosen not to juggle with the make-up of the crews and refers to them using jargon from the world of cycle racing, his other passion:
N?7 908 HDi FAP: crewed by routier-sprinters Pedro Lamy Christian Klien (AUT) and Nicolas Minassian (FRA).
N?8 908 HDi FAP: a balanced, all-French crew of sprinters, with S?bastien Bourdais, Franck Montagny and St?phane Sarrazin.
N?9 908 HDi FAP: a rearguard team of battle-hardened drivers with extensive race-craft, namely David Brabham (AUS), Marc Gen? (ESP) and Alex Wurz (AUT).
At the end of May, a three-day fitness and team-bonding course was organised in Chamonix to put the final seal on the bonds between the drivers who make up the three crews. The other members of Peugeot Sport haven?t been forgotten, either, since the mechanics have all been following fitness training programmes and will be tended by an osteopath throughout the race itself.
Last but not least, Olivier Quesnel saw the presence of a fourth car as a key part of the team?s bid for success at Le Mans. Bruno Famin and Peugeot management agreed at once to having a fourth car run by Pescarolo Sport, an obvious choice given Henri Pescarolo?s past association with Peugeot and his background as a living Le Mans legend.
Despite all this groundwork, Olivier Quesnel is aware that Peugeot?s main rival, Audi, which has won eight times, will once again start as favourite, with Peugeot in the role of challenger, albeit a challenger with an avid appetite for success.
Source: http://www.planetlemans.com/2009/06/03/peugeot-a-challenger-avid-for-le-mans-success/
Aston Martin Racing said:The 77th Le Mans 24 Hours marks a milestone in the history of Aston Martin as the iconic sports car manufacturer celebrates the 50th anniversary of its first win at Le Mans.
As will be the case in 2009, Aston Martin entered three factory cars in the 1959 race: for Stirling Moss/Jack Fairman, Roy Salvadori/Carroll Shelby and Paul Fr?re /Maurice Trintignant.
At the time Ferrari was the dominant force in endurance racing, so the Aston Martin team entered the race as underdogs and had to come up with a clever race strategy to defeat the Italian squad. It was decided that the Moss/Fairman car would act as a ?hare? to try and force the Ferrari team into an unsustainably quick pace, while the other Aston Martins would follow.
The tactic worked brilliantly, and at 4pm on Sunday 21 June 1959 the Salvadori/Shelby DBR1 crossed the finish line at Le Mans ahead of the sister car of Fr?re/Trintignant after 24 hours and 4347.9 kilometres of racing. The closest Ferrari, a privateer example in third, was a full 25 laps down.
While the race was a resounding success for Aston Martin and the DBR1, not everything went entirely to plan 50 years ago, as Salvadori remembered. ?At the start we quickly got into the hunt and took the lead in the late evening,? he said. ?Then we ran into a severe vibration problem. I made a pit stop but the trouble could not be diagnosed so I was sent off again to complete my stint. This cost us a lot of time and we had to make two more pit stops before the fault was found: a large chunk of tread had come off a rear tyre but due to the dark and the aerodynamic spats over the rear wheels this could not be seen.?
The number 5 Aston Martin DBR1 pitted in the night to have the offending tyre changed, and then it started gaining on the lead Ferrari. ?We were faster than the Ferrari and catching it all the time,? added Salvadori. ?When the Ferrari retired on Sunday morning, I received a ?slow? signal from the pits. But I slowed so much that I had to be speeded up again, as Paul Fr?re and Maurice Trintignant in the other DBR1 were catching us up!?
A one-two at Le Mans was just one of the high points of a tremendous season for Aston Martin, in which the company also won the World Sportscar Championship.
Aston Martin returns to the top class at Le Mans 50 years later as the underdog once more, but the team is hoping to take the fight to the mighty diesel-powered opposition. These days, there are three drivers to every car as opposed to two in the DBR1?s day, but according to Salvadori a strong working relationship between team mates is still an essential ingredient to success.
?Carroll and I were the ideal partnership,? he said. ?We were chosen together because we were the same height and we could both put our left foot between the brake and clutch pedals. We were comfortable together and the team thought that it was a good partnership. At Le Mans back in 1959 we only did one day of practice, or seven laps each.?
The Aston Martin Racing team is preparing for Le Mans this year through participation in the Le Mans Series, which has so far resulted in a win at Barcelona and a podium in Spa. With no Le Mans test day this year, all the teams will have limited running at La Sarthe before embarking on the endurance classic on June 13 at 3pm local time.
Last year?s pole time at Le Mans was 3m18.513; in 1959 the winning DBR1 was set a target lap time of around 4m20s, whereas the fastest lap (set by Moss) was 4m01s. According to the team?s strategy, the Salvadori/Shelby crew concentrated on reliability by keeping their car relatively unstressed and adopting a conservative rev limit.
By the very end of the 1959 race, with a huge margin over the third-placed competitor, the leading Aston Martins could afford to lap at around 4m50s. By contrast, Le Mans these days is more like a series of sprint races punctuated by pit stops ? with the race laps not hugely dissimilar to the qualifying laps.
Shelby said: ?The DBR1 was a very good handling car but slower down the straight. However, we were definitely superior to the others in terms of handling. And you always felt safe in the car ? you always wanted to drive the Aston. I never heard a driver criticise it. At the end, I couldn?t believe we?d won Le Mans because we?d dreamed of it for so long. To win at Le Mans at last was the epitome. Aston Martin was like a personal family and I was very happy for the team.?
The odds are stacked against Aston Martin this year, just as they were in 1959 but Le Mans is a race where miracles can still happen. Just as was the case 50 years ago, winning the Le Mans 24 Hours is not simply a question of having the quickest car or the best-funded team ? and that is one of the very few things that has never changed at the Circuit de La Sarthe.
The Aston Martin Racing team is now completing its final preparations for the epic race, hoping for the smallest chance that history might repeat itself. Whatever the outcome, just getting to the end of what is arguably the world?s toughest race is a human and mechanical triumph in itself.
Source: http://www.planetlemans.com/2009/06/05/aston-martin-goes-back-to-the-future-1959-2009/
Official scrutineering starts tomorrow morning in the town of Le Mans.
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