Next weekend sees the 83rd running of the most famous motor race in the world. This year LMP1 has 14 entries, works teams from Audi, Porsche, Toyota and Nissan and Rebellion Racing and Team ByKolles also preparing cars for the senior category. All the runners in LMP1 will be on Michelin tyres but there the similarity ends. Audi have a 4 wheel drive turbo diesel hybrid, Porsche have a 4 wheel drive turbo petrol hybrid, Toyota a 4 wheel drive naturally aspirated hybrid petrol engine and Nissan a front wheel drive turbo hybrid petrol engine. Rebellion and ByKolles will use Toyota naturally aspirated petrol engines prepared by Advanced Engine Research of Basildon in Essex. The engine rules in LMP1 are a based on the total power output of the internal combustion engine and the hybrid system. The 4 wheel drive system is not full time, the drive to the front wheels is only activated over 120 kph.
LMP2 has 19 entries with cars from Ligier, Morgan, Oreca, Dome, Gibson, Alpine and BR Engineering. They will use tyres from Dunlop and Michelin and engines from Nissan, Judd, Honda and SARD (a Japanese tuning company who prepare Toyota engines). LMP2 cars are heavier than LMP1 and don't have hybrid systems. They are limited to 5 litre naturally aspirated engines and 3.2 litre turbo or supercharged units. LMP1 cars must have closed cockpits LMP2 can have open or closed.
The rest of the field is made up of GTE cars split in to Pro (9 entries) and Am (14 entries). These are cars you will recognise as the field is made up of Ferrari 458's, Porsche 911's, Chevrolet Corvettes, Dodge Vipers and Aston Martin Vantages.
Here's the entry list, you may recognise some of the drivers:
Qualifying is this week (10th and 11th) and takes place during daylight and in the evenings. If you have never seen these beasts running at night, take time out to watch some of the qualifying on Eurosport. The race starts at 3pm CET on Saturday 13th and, strangely, finishes on Sunday at 3pm CET.
At the front, expect a titanic battle between the Audis and Porsches but don't rule out Toyota as the race can have a really high level of attrition and sometimes cars spend long hours in the pits having major work done to them. You will see cars with huge speed differentials racing on the same track without any major complaints from the drivers about problems with blocking or the need for blue flags. LMP1 have white headlights, LMP2 yellow so the GTE boys know just how fast the cars coming up behind them, flashing their very expensive headlights are.
Try and take some time to watch the race. Although an endurance series these guys really do go flat out in each driver stint and will hit some incredible speeds along the Mulsanne straight, even with the chicanes.
Enjoy, I know I will.
LMP2 has 19 entries with cars from Ligier, Morgan, Oreca, Dome, Gibson, Alpine and BR Engineering. They will use tyres from Dunlop and Michelin and engines from Nissan, Judd, Honda and SARD (a Japanese tuning company who prepare Toyota engines). LMP2 cars are heavier than LMP1 and don't have hybrid systems. They are limited to 5 litre naturally aspirated engines and 3.2 litre turbo or supercharged units. LMP1 cars must have closed cockpits LMP2 can have open or closed.
The rest of the field is made up of GTE cars split in to Pro (9 entries) and Am (14 entries). These are cars you will recognise as the field is made up of Ferrari 458's, Porsche 911's, Chevrolet Corvettes, Dodge Vipers and Aston Martin Vantages.
Here's the entry list, you may recognise some of the drivers:
Qualifying is this week (10th and 11th) and takes place during daylight and in the evenings. If you have never seen these beasts running at night, take time out to watch some of the qualifying on Eurosport. The race starts at 3pm CET on Saturday 13th and, strangely, finishes on Sunday at 3pm CET.
At the front, expect a titanic battle between the Audis and Porsches but don't rule out Toyota as the race can have a really high level of attrition and sometimes cars spend long hours in the pits having major work done to them. You will see cars with huge speed differentials racing on the same track without any major complaints from the drivers about problems with blocking or the need for blue flags. LMP1 have white headlights, LMP2 yellow so the GTE boys know just how fast the cars coming up behind them, flashing their very expensive headlights are.
Try and take some time to watch the race. Although an endurance series these guys really do go flat out in each driver stint and will hit some incredible speeds along the Mulsanne straight, even with the chicanes.
Enjoy, I know I will.
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