Home  
Site Partners: SpotterGuides Veloce Books  
Related Sites: Your Link Here  

Go Back   TenTenths Motorsport Forum > Saloon & Sportscar Racing > Sportscar & GT Racing > 24 Heures du Mans

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 19 Apr 2002, 11:26 (Ref:264775)   #1
AllonFS
Veteran
 
Join Date: Nov 2001
United Kingdom
Bristol, UK
Posts: 1,052
AllonFS has a real shot at the championship!AllonFS has a real shot at the championship!AllonFS has a real shot at the championship!AllonFS has a real shot at the championship!AllonFS has a real shot at the championship!AllonFS has a real shot at the championship!
Right Hand drive at Le Mans

I was looking again at a poster I got last year at LM which has pictures of all the winning cars. I noticed that nearly all the cars are RHD, and even where the driver is pretty central they tend to be on the right side of central! Bentleys and Jags I can understand, but Alfas, Ferraris, GT40s, Matras and Porsches?

I vaguely know that sportscars and touring cars have reasons for using LHD or RHD, something to do with centre of gravity, clockwise vs. anticlockwise track etc. If anyone can offer more techinical reasons I would appreciate it.
AllonFS is offline  
Quote
Old 19 Apr 2002, 16:23 (Ref:264931)   #2
fausto
Veteran
 
Join Date: Jan 2002
Wales
Posts: 563
fausto should be qualifying in the top 10 on the grid
Audi and WM are/were LHD....
fausto is offline  
Quote
Old 19 Apr 2002, 23:01 (Ref:265275)   #3
cybersdorf
Veteran
 
Join Date: Oct 2001
Austria
Vienna, Austria
Posts: 3,580
cybersdorf should be qualifying in the top 10 on the gridcybersdorf should be qualifying in the top 10 on the grid
Here's my attempt at an explanation:
Most European race tracks are raced in a clockwise direction, and on most of those the pit lane is on the inside of the track; so when the driver comes in to make a pit stop, he is on the right side (literally) of the car without getting in the way of oncoming traffic.
That's the scientific explanation.
The one that makes more sense to me is that post-war motor racing basically originated from Britain, and most sportscars, and later puropse built racecars, came from there as well. So I guess the world just stuck with the RHD for racing puropses. The gear change is on the right side of the driver in most racecars anyway so it probably isn't so difficult for drivers from "LHD countries" to adjust.
Does it make much of a difference, though; as the example of the R8 shows, LHD isn't a handicap at all
cybersdorf is offline  
Quote
Old 20 Apr 2002, 01:12 (Ref:265365)   #4
choked_wasp
Racer
 
Join Date: Sep 2001
Location:
CA,USA
Posts: 133
choked_wasp should be qualifying in the top 10 on the grid
It also depends on the way the gearbox is setup. If the linkage is on the right of the gearbox then it is easier to put the driver on the right.
choked_wasp is offline  
Quote
Old 20 Apr 2002, 05:06 (Ref:265447)   #5
mac
Veteran
 
Join Date: May 2001
Posts: 5,702
mac should be qualifying in the top 3 on the gridmac should be qualifying in the top 3 on the gridmac should be qualifying in the top 3 on the grid
As a clockwise circuit, it is only natural that the driver wants to get as close to the apex on as many corners as possible. The cars are usually purposely built for LeMans and there are more right handers than left handers, consequently the driver would prefer to be on the right hand side. It is easier to be more accurate on corners where you are on the inside. Try it in your road car. That's my theory anyway.
mac is offline  
Quote
Old 22 Apr 2002, 11:10 (Ref:267198)   #6
AllonFS
Veteran
 
Join Date: Nov 2001
United Kingdom
Bristol, UK
Posts: 1,052
AllonFS has a real shot at the championship!AllonFS has a real shot at the championship!AllonFS has a real shot at the championship!AllonFS has a real shot at the championship!AllonFS has a real shot at the championship!AllonFS has a real shot at the championship!
Quote:
Originally posted by mac
The cars are usually purposely built for LeMans and there are more right handers than left handers, consequently the driver would prefer to be on the right hand side. It is easier to be more accurate on corners where you are on the inside. Try it in your road car.
I did, but my Peugeot 306 kept being lapped by the R8s!

Thanks for the responses, all seem to make sense. So now my little 306 has two lots of racing heritage; Le Mans winning marque and RHD...
AllonFS is offline  
Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Left/Right Hand Drive racer69 Australasian Touring Cars. 13 26 Sep 2002 05:39
[LM24] Enge to drive at Le Mans with Rydell and Menu... f2001 24 Heures du Mans 7 15 Feb 2002 11:05
[LM24] Christian Pescatori to drive for Audi at Le Mans Heeltoe6 24 Heures du Mans 4 6 Jun 2001 12:06
[LM24] Who do you want to see drive the Audi at Le Mans? rdjones 24 Heures du Mans 8 5 May 2001 16:10


All times are GMT. The time now is 02:37.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Original Website Copyright © 1998-2003 Craig Antil. All Rights Reserved.
Ten-Tenths Motorsport Forums Copyright © 2004-2021 Royalridge Computing. All Rights Reserved.
Ten-Tenths Motorsport Forums Copyright © 2021-2022 Grant MacDonald. All Rights Reserved.