Performances comparaisons between 2001 and 2002

[Fab]

Well, prepare for my rubbish english... let's go.

I was curious of who made at the 2002 PQ best performances than last year, and who did not... I looked through the 20 first cars only...

Here is what I found, you'll give your own opinion :
- three 2001 cars are not here in 2002 : n°7 Bentley, Den Bla Avis Dome and the third Oreca
- three cars are new in 2002 : the Riley Scott, the Vaillante and the Leader
- I considered that Chrysler Mopar = Dallara Judd (this is not scientifical at all, I have to admit !), the 2002 third Audi is the 2001 Champion, the Goh Audi is the 2001 Johansson, the 2002 Courage is the 2001 SMG Courage, etc...
- Two cars have the same place : the n°2 Audi (first) and the Courage (10th), but with a gain of 2 and 3 seconds (!)
- Three cars made a trumendous performance : the first Dallara (gaining 4 seconds !), the two MG (gaining 7 seconds !!!) - Remember the poll about the surprises ?
- five cars made a good perf : Bentley gaining 1 place and 2 seconds ; second Dallara gaining 2 places and 3 seconds ; the Ascari gaining 3 places and three seconds ; the first Panoz gaining 7 places and 6 seconds ; the second Pescarolo gaining 1 place and half a second
- four cars gave quite a deception (relatively) : the n°1 Audi lost one tenth and one place ; the third Audi (let's say Champion even if it's not) won one second but losed one place (not really a deception I have to admit !) ; first Pescarolo losing one place but winning half a second
- three "catastrophic" cases (just kidding) : the fourth Audi lost one second and six places ; the first Cadillac lost more than two seconds and 8 (!) places ; the second Cad lost 3 tenths and 5 places...

Well ! All that stuff doesn't mean so much... but it looks to me that the performances increased a lot (with the new curve) : some cars have a worst place, even gaining time... and there's a real move in the troops, regarding... Formula, formula... formula what ?

[Aysedasi]

Well I thought it was an interesting post, Fab!

Perhaps we'll have to leave the comparisons until after the race.....

[FG1]

No comments is a reflection on the fact that the post says it all!

[AllonFS]

Thanks for that Fab, really helps to make a bit of sense of the times.

For me the interesting thing is that the gap seems to have narrowed to the Audis. Last year they were in a league of their own at this stage, I expect Audi to improve but at least there should be some others to push them a bit more. (Hopefully marshalls when they break down on the Mulsanne!)

[Adam43]

I am surprised with the MG! I wonder if this relative performance can be trnaslated into race pace.

Despite the gain the Bentley has made, I thought it might be a bit closer to the Audis.

[Fab]

Thank you very much for the interrest you putted in that thread !

As you can see (sorry Rusty !), as a "almost local", I'm more concerned by the questions bonded to the race than by the "matérial" questions (camping, cold beer...). Not that I'm don't FEEL concerned (as say Larry in his first thread, I'm very sorry by the complication you have in coming in Le Mans and have a good welcome by ACO ), but I'haven't got a lot of experience myself in those problems and cannot help a lot...

Francis, in that junky way off wrinting english (I'm speaking of mine, not yours, indeed !), I'm sure you'll find other comments to do, more accurate in particulary !

To come back to the thread, I'm very impressed myself by the increasing of performances (a new curve, which new curve ?); the question by know is : who's gonna hold them 24 hours ? I'm always wondering if certain cars are not prepared for the... four hours of Le Mans ! I'm afraid for the Judd engine... and I really would like to see MG in the lead ! What a lesson it could be !

[SL]

I think you will see MG in the lead after the first round of pit stops for the LMP900 class. The MG should be able to last a little longer on a tankful. How this will unfold thoughout the race depends on the pace.

Simon