ILMC /LMS Imola 6 Hours - Round 4 - July 1-3, 2011

[chernaudi]

Does anyone think that Audi and Peugeot might add downforce as the weekend goes on?

It seems that both cars were running hybrid LM/sprint aero (the 908 running the LM nose and Audi were not running the full sprint diveplane/gurney package) hoping that the track would rubber in before changing their set ups. That, of course, was before the storms rolled in and basically rained out the second practice.

With Imola being laid out the way it is, you'd think that it would favor the higher downforce cars, but neither Audi or Peugeot are really running (as of yet) full high downforce packages (most gasoline LMP1s were from the few photos I've seen), and it sort of shows--the 908 being about 10km/h or about 6mph faster in the speed trap, in spite of similar laptimes and the fastest Audi and Pug ideal laps were separated by less than .2 of a second.

Were Audi and Peugeot just feeling out the track by running a base set up (by timing and scoring it didn't seem like they were really pushing yet), or do they have plans to stick with the current aero or change their setups as track conditions require?

I do think that in race trim that the higher downforce should pay off, as it makes the car more predictable/manuverable in traffic, and should be easier on its tires.