Le Mans Series 2010

[The Badger]

Best of luck to them , they would be a bloody sad loss .

[isynge]

Goes without saying that if they appear at Paul Ricard I will cheer long and hard for them.

It's definitely far too soon to define my Pescarolo Sport t-shirt as being retro chic rather than topical sports support!

[davehenrie]

Originally Posted by isynge

Goes without saying that if they appear at Paul Ricard I will cheer long and hard for them.

It's definitely far too soon to define my Pescarolo Sport t-shirt as being retro chic rather than topical sports support!

I tend to root for underdogs, so generally, over the years, I've rooted for anyone pitted against Audi. But 2005 at Le Mans was different. If I recall, the French made several rule changes that clearly favored Pescarolo to Audi's detriment. The Pescas were faster but Audi won in the end. I think that was the only time I was actively pulling for the AUDI boys until the Pug 908 began to overpower the Audi diesels.

But, I will say the various light blue and green paint schemes they have come up with over the years have been some of the best looking cars on the grid.

The way things are going, Oreca will take over Pesca, perhaps having them run the Jr team.(pure conjecture on my part. No inside info) Odd how life can take such circles eh?

[The Badger]

Im kinda suprised Oreca didnt net Bouillion ?

[Marcel ten Caat]

Meanwhile the list keeps growing... Pierre Ehret and Phil Quife will be racing in a second CRS Racing Ferrari.

[mirkob]

Signature just received the Lola AM

[The Badger]

I hear OAK are returning to the Judd V8 ?

[HORNDAWG]

Originally Posted by The Badger

I hear OAK are returning to the Judd V8 ?

Not that big of a suprise, if they are, IMO.





L.P.

[Marcel ten Caat]

They are...confirmed in a press release.

[jc_nl]

But still sponsored by Mazda.

Will this mean Judd's badged as Mazda's or just a sponsor deal?

[joeb]

Originally Posted by jc_nl

But still sponsored by Mazda.

Will this mean Judd's badged as Mazda's or just a sponsor deal?

sort of an interesting arrangement isn't it? Maybe Mazda still sees this as a good marketing opportunity even without their parts being raced.

[ubrben]

Originally Posted by joeb

sort of an interesting arrangement isn't it? Maybe Mazda still sees this as a good marketing opportunity even without their parts being raced.

To be honest the "Mazda" engine itself is a badge engineered AER unit. The real sportscar purists know that, so the marketing wouldn't work on them. To the casual viewer seeing "Team Mazda France" on the car has the same impact whether it's an AER or a Judd under the cover, so I guess the deal makes sense from that point of view.

Ben

[isynge]

I've absolutely no problem with Mazda badge engineering - it's something they've been doing for decades and has consistently put resources into sportscar racing.

As Ubrben says - it's not going to fool anyone who's bothered to look, but if you're that interested (like most of us here) you're probably going to appreciate the funding, and if you're a casual observer then there's a direct marketing benefit.

I can see the Oak effort being a a serious contender for the title this year. The Judd engine's strong, there's clearly nothing wrong with the chassis, and Dunlops are increasingly looking like the tyres to have in LMP2 - more grounds to look forward to getting underway.

[davehenrie]

Even back a few years ago the MG engine in the RML car was an AER. The Nissan engine in the(OFF TOPIC ALERT!!!) BTCC Supertouring cars was a Judd. The Aim is a Freshened Judd. The Rebellion is also a Judd at heart. As he said, the purists will know, the casual fan will not care.

The AER Mazda would be a very competitive package IF it could survive the Green Movement. The Green friendly fuels chosen by the ACO detonate excessively when high boosts are used in the smaller turbo engines. The V8 turbos don't seem to suffer as much, but whose using a V8 turbo these days? The moment the Dyson car turned up the wick to try for a win against Fernandez at Mosport, the engine exploded. Oak frankly plodded around to some podiums last year by not stressing the mill after RML suffered failure after failure early in the season. RML did some private development work before Silverstone and BP experimented with other alternate fuels at the end of the ALMS season to try and find a Green fuel that didn't make the Mazda into little tiny bits of shrapnel.

It is a shame we can't have active competition between brands with a level playing field.
dh

[jc_nl]

Originally Posted by davehenrie

Even back a few years ago the MG engine in the RML car was an AER. The Nissan engine in the(OFF TOPIC ALERT!!!) BTCC Supertouring cars was a Judd. The Aim is a Freshened Judd. The Rebellion is also a Judd at heart. As he said, the purists will know, the casual fan will not care.

All true, but wasn't the current AER 4 cil turbo a design commissioned by Mazda (and as such a Mazda engine)?

From what I can recall it is a fundamentally different engine that the old AER (MG badged) engine.

[knighty]

correct, the new AER Mazda 4 pot is a far more evolved and advanced design compared to the MG comissioned LMP675 design, the MG engine was lead by a bloke called Mike Mills who is a good engine designer, but not from an F1 background, more from rallying & touring cars - top bloke......the latest Mazda AER 4-pot was lead by Oliver Alan, who is a former Ilmor F1 engine designer......to be honest, I have seen plenty of "ex F1 engine designers" try and ply their trade in LMP endurance and WRC rally engines, and its lead to nothing but tears, the net result being a fragile and unreliable design.

In all reality i think its been proven in 2009 that AER pushed their luck way too far with the latest LMP2 design, its proven to be very unreliable and lacking in the performance department......I think Oak's press release says it all......"we will be returning to Judd engines, with whom we enjojed both reliability and performance in the 2008 season".......ouch

[pablocomics]

AER is failing a lot on their late engines, just look to that diesel V10... Acording with some teams the AER engine has about 100 hp less than the judd competence, that´s too much. (and also less torque)

On the other side the AER is a really small and compact engine and very light too

[WMUCarGuy]

So has anyone put together a "where we are now" LMS prospective entry list?

[The Badger]

EI are reporting that OAK have switched alligence to Judd and retain Mazda France backing ..... Odd !!!

Didnt their MXR-01 run with a Judd too ?

Be great to see Mazda pump a few quid in Judd's direction .... FSI perhaps ?

[gino]

Originally Posted by WMUCarGuy

So has anyone put together a "where we are now" LMS prospective entry list?

Like this?
http://www.planetlemans.com/lms-2010-season-entry-list/

[pablocomics]

According With endurance series, Fisichella will do the LMS with one Ferrari 430
http://www.endurance-series.com/gian...s-series/6108/

I don´t know the team, but it was said by himself on the Ferrari F10 presentation

[arakis]

my guess would be one race with AF to backup melo/bruni when the alms/lms schedules clash

[The Badger]

Salo-Fisichella-Alesi would be one hell of a line up for Le Mans , as well as a huge publicity scoop !!!

Where the hell is Irvine got to , he has expressed interest in Le Mans again ..... probably living it up as usual , good lad !!!

[rich07]

Originally Posted by arakis

my guess would be one race with AF to backup melo/bruni when the alms/lms schedules clash

Hopefully he does Le Mans too.

[Tom908V12]

Originally Posted by The Badger

Salo-Fisichella-Alesi would be one hell of a line up for Le Mans , as well as a huge publicity scoop !!!

Where the hell is Irvine got to , he has expressed interest in Le Mans again ..... probably living it up as usual , good lad !!!

Why not adding Johnny Herbert ??? On Endurance-Series(interview)he told his dream was to be back at LM