[LM24] Le Mans Test Day June 4th 2006

[WouterM]

Originally Posted by FIRE

Did all other rookies get their 10 laps?

One of the LNT drivers did not get his laps in. I believe Tom Kimber Smith.

[FIRE]

So Warren Hughes is back in the LNT car?

Is the ACO very strict in this 10 lap (and 3 timed laps?) qualification rule?

[bernard b]

well, if he's not french, they'll probably be strict ...

[PascaLM]

Originally Posted by gwyllion

...So the rumors of diesel engines having a power advantage does not seem true at the moment; of course they still have their big fuel comsumption advantage.

The cars take 25 seconds from the old exit of the pits to the new one, at the Dunlop chicane. Minus about 10 seconds as it took before, it gives 15 seconds more which is significant.

[Suze]

Originally Posted by isynge

Initially I read Suze's "not surprised" comment as a reflection of Burgueno's difficulties in getting to grips with the Lola - but re-reading it the crash looks like one that I'd want to get out of pretty quickly - a big one through and through.

Apologies - the "not surprised" was aimed at the fact he wanted to get out of it quickly!

[russ250575]

Originally Posted by PascaLM

The cars take 25 seconds from the old exit of the pits to the new one, at the Dunlop chicane. Minus about 10 seconds as it took before, it gives 15 seconds more which is significant.

Sorry im struggling a bit to keep up with the pit lane drama going on here. Are we saying the pit lane has been extended by 25seconds ? by my reconing thats approx half a mile @ say 60mph ? Are the cars still restricted here by pit lane speed limits ? or are they picking up speed as they are out the pit area ? Also I cant see how this gives anyone an advantage or disadvantage as they all have to pit every15 laps or whatever

[Dani Filth]

400m I belive

time spent in the pits or at slow pace it's lost time ..
and as Audi is gonna pit less . obvious they have the advantage

[E46]

Originally Posted by isynge

To be honest though there's a part of me that's quite pleased that he didn't get his 10 laps in - he seems a touch all at sea with an LMP2 and to my eyes is all too reminiscent of John Woolf's unhappy encounter with the 917.

Burgueño is a real fast driver and ran a superb race at Spa.




Edited by Ayse on 6.6.06 to avoid any further unnecessary annoyance

[Dani Filth]

come on guys .. keep it clean
let the times "talk"

[SALEEN S7R]

Hmm, some very interesting times from the test days. Good to see the Pescarolo's splitting the R10's at the test days, I have to wonder though whether or not they will actually be able to do that in qualifying and indeed the race itself. Should be close though. LMP 2 looks as close as it has done IMO, 3 very quick cars in the shape of RML, Intersport and Rollcentre. Also the best LMP 2 grid Le Mans has had so far, IMO.

GT1 looks like its going to be good also with the works Aston Martin's seemingly back at their 2005 pace, Corvette of course will be their main challenger but the Luc Alphand C5R looks like it could cause the main challengers to look over their shoulders too. GT2 looks like it could be good too with the Scuderia Ecosse 430's already running at what I beleive is record pace for a GT2 car. Can Porsche and Panoz match them in the race? In qualifying at least I think they will be hard pushed.

[Bentley03]

Originally Posted by E46

Sincerely, you don´t know a shi*t about you´re speaking. Burgueño is a real fast driver and ran a superb race at Spa, of course like he isn´t British then he is slow. Fantastic argument, and typically British.

isynge who? Now you can attack me, come on.

I suspect 'isynge' may be confusing Burgueno with Miguel Amaral (the new owner of the car). Burgueno and de Castro had a fine race at Spa but Amaral seemed like an accident waiting to happen when he took over for that final stint.

[ss_collins]

Will the audi stop less? less than the pescas - yes because I think I've worked out Henri's strategy - less than the dome and works courages? no I'm pretty sure they won't unless they take it easy. (and the Pesca's aint gonna let that happen)

had another interesting dinner last night this time with some Japanese fellahs,

a quote from one of them regarding a major new (manufacturer) arrival at le mans in the very near future - "dealing with them is like meeting a beautiful woman, you take her to dinner but don't get near the bedroom, but you still want to take her to dinner again, we have now had a lot of dinners with her and finally we are at the bedroom door."

I'm not sure what I'm allowed to give away yet but this car will likely not be a hybrid electric.

more of course on radio le mans

[isynge]

Originally Posted by Bentley03

I suspect 'isynge' may be confusing Burgueno with Miguel Amaral (the new owner of the car). Burgueno and de Castro had a fine race at Spa but Amaral seemed like an accident waiting to happen when he took over for that final stint.

You're absolutely right - and I'll put my hand up to a mea culpa on this one. Amaral was who I was thinking about in the John Woolf comparison - many apologies for impugning Burgueno's abilities here.

Feeling actually quite sheepish now...

[E46]

Originally Posted by isynge

You're absolutely right - and I'll put my hand up to a mea culpa on this one. Amaral was who I was thinking about in the John Woolf comparison - many apologies for impugning Burgueno's abilities here.

Feeling actually quite sheepish now...

I´m sorry, my post was too rude and I should have thought before to reply.
Forgive my reply.

[bernard b]

Originally Posted by ss_collins

Will the audi stop less? less than the pescas - yes because I think I've worked out Henri's strategy - less than the dome and works courages? no I'm pretty sure they won't unless they take it easy. (and the Pesca's aint gonna let that happen)

that's exactly what Pirro said on sunday afternoon: yes they use less fuel, but not when they are pushing hard (= unlike Sebring)
Pescarolo's only chance is to run flat out all the race (at least until R10 have problems )

[ss_collins]

only one pesca will go flat out

[isynge]

Originally Posted by ss_collins

only one pesca will go flat out

Assuming the "flat out" Pescarolo will be the No16 car would it make sense for them to switch Montagny for Bouchut? That, to my eyes, fits more closely with the notion of one hare and one more conservative crew.

[PascaLM]

Originally Posted by russ250575

Sorry im struggling a bit to keep up with the pit lane drama going on here. Are we saying the pit lane has been extended by 25seconds ? by my reconing thats approx half a mile @ say 60mph ? Are the cars still restricted here by pit lane speed limits ? or are they picking up speed as they are out the pit area ? Also I cant see how this gives anyone an advantage or disadvantage as they all have to pit every15 laps or whatever

I timed 25 seconds, for any car.
The speed limit is 50 kph till 100 metres before the chicane. I'd say it's more than 15 seconds lost at each stop.

[neiltbag]

Originally Posted by ss_collins

only one pesca will go flat out

Ah, so Henri is going for a hare and tortoise approach. Very interesting.

[off-topic for just a mo] - picked up the latest Racecar Engineering yesterday, and loved your editorial on F1 supposedly being the pinnacle of technology, when in reality their lack of usage of alt fuels puts them very far behind many other forms of motorsport (most notably LMP cars). Good stuff, and well-written!

[JAG]

Originally Posted by bernard b

that's exactly what Pirro said on sunday afternoon: yes they use less fuel, but not when they are pushing hard (= unlike Sebring)
Pescarolo's only chance is to run flat out all the race (at least until R10 have problems )

Maybe it's just vain hope, but I get the feeling Audi are very worried about pushing the R10 at this early stage in it's development.

I'd also expect more driver errors with that huge torque and lack of engine note.

[Dunlop Corner]

Yes, expect Capello to give Kristensen and McNish a hard time keeping up. But Tom and Alan are so good i think they will be there.

Now that Pescarolo has shown quicker pace in the testing, we can hope they are equal in race pace. This is going to be the most exciting Le Mans since 1999 if that is the case. Last year Pesca had a big advantage, and Audi got lucky they ran into some problems early on. But hopefully Pescarolo are more reliable this year, and Audi can match their pace.
It will be a great race.

[PascaLM]

Originally Posted by Dunlop Corner

Yes, expect Capello to give Kristensen and McNish a hard time keeping up. But Tom and Alan are so good i think they will be there.

Now that Pescarolo has shown quicker pace in the testing, we can hope they are equal in race pace. This is going to be the most exciting Le Mans since 1999 if that is the case. Last year Pesca had a big advantage, and Audi got lucky they ran into some problems early on. But hopefully Pescarolo are more reliable this year, and Audi can match their pace.
It will be a great race.

Yes, and the race in others categories will be interesting too, almost in GT1 with Aston and Corvette and in GT2 with Ferrari and Porsche.
A race to be followed.

[dj4monie]

GT1 should be very interesting.

Not only are the factory Aston Martions on pace, but the private cars are as well. I don't expect Luc Alphand to challenge too long. He has a 550 the same year Prodrive won Le Mans and he was on the same lap as the top 4 cars until something happen (not sure) and put them a couple of laps down and they never recovered.

His C5R isn't subject to the extra weight the current C6R has and that might explain there on pace lap times as well.

My darkhorse pick is still Acemco and they ended up about 4 seconds off the top times, but within a few tenths of the 3:55 limit that ACO has impossed on the class. I'm sure its more about finding balance in the car. But I'm slighty disapointed about the cars lack of top speed. It never got close to the 300km that the Vettes and Astons ran at. I hope that find some speed over the next week or so.

I didn't pay much attention to LMP1 because frankly its Audi's race to loose. Pecsa was fast last year, but even setting the fastest laps didn't get them the win they wanted. They need to have a MISTAKE free weekend to have a shot. I don't think their pit stops will be as fast, so they'll have to continue to outlap the R10 and that's asking for mistakes to be made on the track that could cost them not to finish at all.

My other main interest lies with GT2 and I'm disapointed LNT didn't show anything, but Multimatic did and ran on pace with the leading Ferrari and Flying Lizard car. That's good news for LNT has they were off-pace at Sebring as well until the race started, then they found some speed.

What I don't agree with is that this might be the best 24hrs since '99. Its not even close... You don't nearly have as much factory involvement for one or interesting cars.

It would be fair to compare next year's event to that one, that is the year everybody is targeting for sportscar to return to International importance.

All in all, it will be a great 24hrs as usual as long as it doesn't rain and it doesn't look like it will, ya global warming...

[skycafe]

Originally Posted by ss_collins

I'm not sure what I'm allowed to give away yet but this car will likely not be a hybrid electric.

=

gasoline I assume, and not diesel?

[ss_collins]

Japanese don't really go in for oil burners no, though the fact that Mazda are going to run Hydrogen is very interesting too.