LM24 Le Mans 2005 - "Test Day" week-end thread - Page 5

Fab · 6 Jun 2005, 04:27 (Ref:1321034)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dani Filth

what kind of times did Sebastian do ??

Full report by Laurent on Infocourse : 3'45 at his 6th lap. According to Laurent, he kept on working on Le Mans track in the place (on a computer game)...

He had to calm down and put wet rubbers for the end of the stint, and it remained only few seconds when he got the chequered flag for his last lap (on 10).

Fab · 6 Jun 2005, 04:31 (Ref:1321035)

Quote:

Originally Posted by sportscarsRULE

I think Corvette sandbagged b/c of what happened last year. Remember? They flew during testing and Prodrive really got their stuff together for the race and snatched the pole away from the Vettes at the last instant. I think (and I hope!) P&M are just hiding their hand until race weekend.

No need to sandbag : Pescas pilots mentionned the possibility for Oreca to practice with full tank and old tyres, and really focus on the setp-up and trim... Corvette could have done the same (I know nothing about it, just my 2p here). They're not that far... (I mean : on the track, they look balanced and powerfull).

Graham Goodwin · 6 Jun 2005, 05:58 (Ref:1321054)

Doug Fehan knows EXACTLY what he was doing over the weekend - The C6Rs were not, shall we say, stretching themselves

rdjones · 6 Jun 2005, 07:38 (Ref:1321090)

I have been at Brands Hatch with the BTCC all weekend, so I have spent the last hour catch up with yesterday events at Le Mans. Its all very interesting the Judd power cars seem to very quick, I spotted something on DSC earlier Martin Short said that the 5% cut in restrictors has hurt the turbo cars more than the things like the Judd.

In LMP2 the Lola's seem to have the speed over the Courage's, it will be interesting to see who things pan out in 9 days time when qualifying starts. As for Corvette, yes they seem of pace but as Graham said they know what they are doing and I expect them to be right on tails of the Aston come quailfying and the race. Into GT2 - Raymond Narac 3rd fastest where did that lap come from.

6th quickest in GT2 was the Scuderia Ecosse Ferrari, they have been quickest thing in BGT field this year and they seem to have taken that speed to Le Mans, I'll be following that car come race week as one of my favourite drivers Anthony Reid is in the driving strength. Also the Spyker seems to have found some speed since Sebring and end up 8th quickest in class.

I know one thing it looks like this year's Le Mans looks like its is going to be cracker, I can't wait.

AllonFS · 6 Jun 2005, 12:01 (Ref:1321271)

What's the consensus on the relative times for the Audis and the Pescas? Are the Pescas really that much quicker or were the Audis doing testing rather than fast laps. Even if that is the case, it looks like quite competitive and closely matched contest at the top end of P1. Good news - looks like a good year, and that is even before the GT1 class which should be a fine 3 way battle.

Fab · 6 Jun 2005, 14:04 (Ref:1321370)

Quote:

Originally Posted by AllonFS

What's the consensus on the relative times for the Audis and the Pescas?

My 2p, based on what I saw - and everybody knows I'm not a tech at all

-

There's a dramatic gap at speed up ; when you're on the side, say at Mulsanne or Arnage, the Audis can't match the Pescas, and have difficulties to follow the AM.

The Audis are suffering of a real lack of power now.

That said, the chassis is still a marvel (at Tertre Rouge, at Dunlop...), and the teams are sharp.

With reliability, there's a balanced grid now...

I was amazed by the easyness of the Pescas, at every spot I stayed...

LC2guy · 6 Jun 2005, 14:27 (Ref:1321393)

IMO if anyone is going to stop the VAG juggernault, its gonna be the Pesca's. I am a bit dissapointed with the Creation and Jota cars. How did they look Fab ? Both cars have a lot of grip i believe, so were they just breathless down the chute ? The Dome Mugen and Courages need to be in the Pesca ballpark on ultimate pace to have a chance against the Audis i would have thought, as you can expect to see metronomic 3.38 / 3.39 race pace from both champion and Oreca, whereas the normally aspirated cars won't be able to keep to their ultimate pace as easily or for as long i wouldn't have thought. All IMO of course, all these cars may have been doing the same as Audi and being conservative. Either way, i can't wait, see you guys in 11 days time !!!!

**FIRE** · 6 Jun 2005, 14:52 (Ref:1321422)

Frenchman Lerouch of G-Force did not qualify for the race because he was not able to do 10 laps because of technical problems (starting engine). Therefore the Belgian team is looking for an other 3rd driver. Possible candidates are Marc Goossens, Anthony Kumpen, David Saelens and David Hart, but it depends on budget because Lerouch was bringing a part of the budget to the team. Source: http://pitstoptv.belbone.be/nieuwsbe...hp?newsid=8685

Mal · 6 Jun 2005, 15:00 (Ref:1321436)

Is there any infor on straight line speeds. The Audis are having problems in this area and could well struggle to pass the faster GT1 / LMP2's on the straight, meaning they have to take more risks to pass.

Also the Pescarolos have been fairly reliable in the past, so if they can maintain that and run a few seconds faster they have a real opportunity this year.

I can see the Audis running 4th or lower for the first few hours and then it will be a question of reliability and staying out of trouble. It will be an interesting night.

LC2guy · 6 Jun 2005, 15:24 (Ref:1321453)

Will the Audi's be able to go further on a tank of fuel, or will the Pescarolo cars be more economical ? The answer to this question i believe may hold the key. If the Audi can go 1 lap further, then the Pesca cars will need to be faster as they will stop more over the 24 hours, whereas if the Pescarolos can go 1 lap further AND are quicker, the Audi's look in trouble. Does anyone know which cars are likely to go the furthest between stops ?

jhansen · 6 Jun 2005, 15:32 (Ref:1321456)

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought the hybrids and the new reg. cars have a larger fuel tank in comparison to the grandfathered LMP900 cars.

paul-collins · 6 Jun 2005, 15:40 (Ref:1321465)

Yes, the 900s and 675s should be at 80L as opposed to 90L for hybrids and true P1s (and P2s for that matter).

Bentley Beermon · 6 Jun 2005, 16:34 (Ref:1321510)

Does anybody know what happened to the zytec ?

Fab · 6 Jun 2005, 16:47 (Ref:1321524)

Quote:

Originally Posted by LC2guy

I am a bit dissapointed with the Creation and Jota car.

I was too...

Quote:

Originally Posted by LC2guy

How did they look Fab ?

The Creation looks reasonabily fast, but not at ease - well, not as easy as the top cars. I think they should improve, but the P900/P675 (RFH Dome and DBA/Zyteks) are clearly more penalized than the Audis with the new regs.

What I saw : lack of speed in the kinks (Arnage, Mulsanne, Tertre Rouge), lack of speed up after the curves. Look at the times : they're not much faster than the best GT1s (AM), and I saw them struggle dramaticaly to match the AM and the Vettes in pure speed (in the starting straight). I even remember the Creation taken over by a Corvette at the end of that straight... impressive...

It's not impossible that the track is more difficult and tricky than it appears, though... the pilots make a large difference.

The Jota is not ready as it should be - only IMHO here. Sander could help, I think.

Again : it's pure amateur conjectures, not a technical POV

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bentley Beermon

Does anybody know what happened to the zytec ?

The Work Zytek was not on the ACO's list, unfortunately.

Edited : Oops ! You were talking about the Jota... answer's following under by FIRE

**FIRE** · 6 Jun 2005, 16:48 (Ref:1321525)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bentley Beermon

Does anybody know what happened to the zytec ?

They were 12th.

Bentley Beermon · 6 Jun 2005, 17:01 (Ref:1321538)

That's dissapointing why no works zytec ??

Fab · 6 Jun 2005, 17:03 (Ref:1321545)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bentley Beermon

That's dissapointing why no works zytec ??

Dunno. Maybe because they didn't enter the whole LMES last year...

Read all about it here, we had a poll and a 15 pages debate about cars missing - Zytek and LTN TVRs mainly...

Bentley Beermon · 6 Jun 2005, 17:07 (Ref:1321549)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fab

Dunno. Maybe because they didn't enter the whole LMES last year...

Thanks Fab' I thought we would have had some photo's from yesterday posted by now.It is getting very frustrating not being there this year.

**FIRE** · 6 Jun 2005, 17:11 (Ref:1321552)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bentley Beermon

Thanks Fab' I thought we would have had some photo's from yesterday posted by now.It is getting very frustrating not being there this year.

http://tentenths.com/forum/showthread.php?t=69891

Fab · 6 Jun 2005, 17:42 (Ref:1321585)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bentley Beermon

Thanks Fab' I thought we would have had some photo's from yesterday posted by now.It is getting very frustrating not being there this year.

For pics, try those ones :
- ACO
- Paddock.net
- PlanetLeMans (seeing the cameras Sander and Vinnie brought on the spot, I couldn't wait for the result !)
- n138.com (Karl Kling kindly hosting some of mine)
and probably soon :
- Zoom24, by BernardB
- Infocourse
- Jérôme Mugnier's Virages

Sorry for those I forgot !

**Adam43** · 6 Jun 2005, 18:49 (Ref:1321643)

I was think oalong similar lines to LC2guy. Do we have any clue as to how many laps the Pescas will do compared to the Audis who are reknowned for their fuel economy? If there is a performance advantage then is it enough to do a couple of extra stops, if need be? No doubt every team has been checking fuel consumption figures, but I bet none of them ran a stint to the maximum of what they can do!

In addition, how are they on their tyres? Will all the front runners be able to double and triple stint as easily as each other? Did teams change tyres after every stop? I guess they might have because they probably had to test quite a few compounds.

and then there is reliability! That is too random and too difficult.

I doubt we have any of these answers. However were any of the teams practicing pit stops whenever they came in?

Dunlop Corner · 6 Jun 2005, 19:03 (Ref:1321657)

I am really confused with what rules the LMP1s run under.
So what i would like to know is, which cars is true LMP1s, which are hybrids and who runs as LMP900?

Fab · 6 Jun 2005, 19:03 (Ref:1321658)

Quote:

Originally Posted by AdamAshmore

However were any of the teams practicing pit stops whenever they came in?

Champion and Oreca at least, but Pesca too. For the others, I don't know.

paul-collins · 6 Jun 2005, 19:23 (Ref:1321669)

There are no true LMP1s, only hybrids (Dome, Courage, Pesca), LMP900s (Audi, Rollcentre, RfH) and LMP675s (Creation, Jota).

There are two true LMP2s - Lucchini and Lola. The 675s that went hybrid are the Courages; I don't think the WRs or Pilbeam are hybrids, they're old 675s grandfathered down instead of up like the Zyteks (and Dyson Lolas over here).

As to Creation's performance, apparently they were suffering from understeer, and were running high downforce at front to partly compensate, but that had an effect on straightline speed. (per dailysportscar)

19dodge · 6 Jun 2005, 19:26 (Ref:1321674)

the Pilbeam MP93 is a full spec LMP2 , just like the Lucchini and Lola. the WR i believe is a hybrid, but dont quote me on that.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Forum's 2005 "Indy 500" RACE "Pick 'Em" Contest	Tim Northcutt	IRL Indycar Series	26	31 May 2005 08:36
Belcar: On this week on Sky Sports "World Motorsports"	SALEEN S7R	Sportscar & GT Racing	3	15 Jan 2005 21:56
"Open Test" Thread	Tim Northcutt	IRL Indycar Series	46	1 May 2004 17:31
F1 Week On Speed Channel's "Windtunnel"	GP Racer	Formula One	8	23 Sep 2003 01:14