Le Mans Le Mans and the WEC

[Fenderman]

24 hours of some of the scariest and bravest driving I've seen in one single event for yonks. Just tried to go to sleep but I guess my cat naps must have been enough! My memory of the last hour of the race is really fuzzy so I'm not sure I really took any of the last laps in!

Brilliant results for a host of "F1 rejects". Some of those guys are often slagged off in F1 related threads but Le Mans always sorts the wood from the chaff. Huge event for automotive technology as well ...

 

[siffert_fan]

You couldn't have a better driver in the lead than TK in this situation.

Or any other situation, IMHO.

I have to say that tv coverage of the race was virtually nonexistent here in the US. I guess that we will really have to look into satellite tv in the hope that racing coverage is better than on cable.

Of course, the crappy tv coverage gives us another excuse to go to more races than we had planned on this year. Darn!! And we had already planned on going to Le Mans next year.

 

[Chad Stewarthill]

Saw most of the race but, perhaps mercifully, missed the start and that crash. Condolences to Allan Simonsen's loved ones, such a sad day for them and for Aston Martin.

Couldn't post on here at all due to a) my internet being down and then b) my internet being hogged by the wife once it was back up again. At least that left me free to watch the race!

Congrats to Audi, McNish etc. but particularly to Tom Kristensen, who's been a bit of a hero of mine since seeing him driving a Honda Accord at a BTCC race at Donington, where my son and I got his signature in the paddock.

Well done also the #8 Toyota drivers including Ant Davidson, and Oliver Jarvis in the #3 Audi.

And a mention for one other driver who has not had the best press here on the CTA Formula 1 forums in the past, a certain Bruno Senna. He did a stirling job I thought, in helping to put the #99 Aston into a winning position in GTE Pro, only to be cruelly denied when his team mate spun and crashed into the barriers at the Mulsanne chicane in the wet. Ah well, there's always next year...

 

[Galahad]

Having caught up on some sleep, just wanted to post in praise of Andre Lotterer, who was untouchable over the first three hours and, if it hadn't been for the alternator problem, would surely have given his car a lead it wouldn't have lost. McNish and Kristensen are, I think, still the best all-round drivers at Audi, but no longer the out-and-out quickest, and with Duval, Jarvis and to a lesser extent di Grassi, they've got an outstanding crop of youngsters to take on the mantle.

The Playstation drivers, Ordonez and particularly, Jannn Mardenborough, were quick and, more importantly, sensible in very trying conditions. Jann could be a sportscars star of the future if they don't lose him to F1.

Porsche kept plugging away and got their reward, but cruel luck for Aston Martin to lose a likely win for the Makowiecki car. Another debutant who performed superbly.

Tinged with sadness as it was, it was a great race, maybe contrary to expectations, and every reason to expect 2014, with the Porsche LMP1, an ever-improving Toyota team and a new Corvette, to be just as good.

 

[siffert_fan]

Dispensing with any false modesty, I direct everyone to postings 192 and 194, made by yours truly.

 

[Fenderman]

Smug git ...

 

[Chad Stewarthill]

That was a bit like predicting that Manchester United would win a home game against QPR, while they were already 2-0 up just before half time.

 

[KekeTheKing]

I have to say that tv coverage of the race was virtually nonexistent here in the US.

Wow, I thought that SPEED's coverage was quite good, and extensive. They took a two-hour break in the middle of the day for NASCAR Qualifying, but had an excellent stream online for those two hours. The feed was the worldwide feed, with the SPEED interviews of course. Other than full 24 hour coverage, I'm not sure they could have given Le Mans fans much more.

 

[Greenlantern101]

The Garage 56 entrant for 2014 has been shown for the first time.
I give you The Nissan Zeod RC. Looks like an evolution of the Delta Wing. It can switch between full electric and a small turbo engine. Looking forward the LeMans 2014 already.

 

[Fenderman]

That is a prime example of why I believe that Le Mans and endurance prototype and GT series have become the 21st century pinnacle of motor sport.

Aside from technological advances in aerodynamics F1 has remained stilted in all the other engineering developmental areas. The V8's are at least six years old in concept - the reg's have actually frozen their evolution since 2009 - and the new turbocharged V6's will be little more than upgraded old hat. The new restrictions on the size of the front wings will mean that overall downforce and therefore cornering speeds will be reduced - at least in the short term until Adrian Newey finds a way to fix that and the others copy him later. Therefore, F1 2014 will be slower, never mind the fact that it has not yet, on balance, caught up with F1 2010.

Meanwhile we have a plethora of innovations coming into Le Mans. LM series reg's already incorporate Energy Recovery Systems* for LMP1 ahead of F1 which only moves to that in 2014. There is greater variety and latitude in engine/power unit configurations including normally aspirated, turbocharged and hybrid. The inclusion of the GT categories with homologation tied strictly to production of road car counterparts means that there is a direct relation to road vehicle technology available to the (although wealthy for the most part) public.

Add to the above the nature of endurance racing with regard to how long a driver is in the cockpit in all weathers, day and night and in my book there is no comparison in terms of the test of man and machine. Dragsters and land speed record machines may go faster in a straight line but they do not run round corners, through chicanes and past other traffic for 24 hours. In terms of out and out pace on a road circuit only Le Mans do that, reaching speeds of around 350kph at La Sarthe.

I love F1 but I fucking love Le Mans prototypes!

*Note: Energy Recovery Systems (ERS) recover energy from braking, deceleration and heat from exhaust. F1's KERS only recover kinetic energy from braking/deceleration.

 

[Greenlantern101]

KERS in F1 next year will also recharge from the turbo

 

[Fenderman]

My apologies for being pedantic but next year the systems allowed will be known as Energy Recovery Systems (ERS) since that label encompasses recovering kinetic energy from braking and heat energy from areas of the exhaust systam, brakes and even the cooling system of a car. It is correct to say that the heat energy recovery will be allowed from the turbo (see TR clauses below). Recovering heat from other parts of the exhaust system and other areas is excluded.

1.24 Energy Recovery System (ERS) :
A system that is designed to recover energy from the car, store that energy and make it
available to propel the car and, optionally, to drive any permitted ancillaries (including any
ancillaries and actuation systems necessary for its proper function).
1.25 Motor Generator Unit - Kinetic (MGUK) :
The Kinetic Motor Generator Unit is the electrical machine mechanically linked to the drive
train as part of the ERS.
1.26 Motor Generator Unit - Heat (MGUH) :
The Heat Motor Generator Unit is the electrical machine linked to the exhaust turbine of a
pressure charging system as part of the ERS.
1.27 Energy Store (ES) :
The part of ERS that stores energy, including its safety control electronics and a minimal
housing.

5.2.6 The ERS may only recover energy from the car via a single MGUK and/or a single MGUH.
5.2.7 The MGUK may only recover energy from or give back energy to the car via its mechanical link
to the drive train. This mechanical link must be of fixed speed ratio to the engine crankshaft
and may be clutched.
5.2.8 The MGUH may only recover energy from or give back energy to the car via its mechanical link
to the exhaust turbine of a pressure charging system. This mechanical link must be of fixed
speed ratio to the exhaust turbine and may be clutched.
5.2.9 With the exception of a single ERS, the total amount of recoverable energy stored on the car
must not exceed 300kJ. Any which may be recovered at a rate greater than 2kW must not
exceed 20kJ.
5.2.10 Cars must be fitted with homologated sensors which provide all necessary signals to the FIA
data logger in order to verify the requirements above are being respected.

from FIA 2014 F1 Technical Regulations July 2011

 

[Greenlantern101]

Its not just kinetic energy from braking.
The battery charging system what ever its new name is, is not just recovering heat from the turbo, its a mechanical link. That is a fast spinning turbo with kinetic energy connected via the MGUH (catchy name) resulting in the turbo charger, charging the batteries.
Regulation 5.2.8

 

[Fenderman]

In the competition to be the most pedantic Greenlantern101 has taken the lead ... can Fender's salvage anything from this disastrous performance?

p.s.. I knew that

 

[Chad Stewarthill]

Ooh, pedantry! Can I join in? Can I?

Ok then:
It's "it's", not "its" (as in, "it's not just kinetic energy from braking").

There, was that alright?

 

[Fenderman]

 

[Greenlantern101]

I have a new desktop picture

 

[FB]

Any details on the power plant Porsche will use? Presumably it won't be a diesel?

 

[Greenlantern101]

Its just a 'coming soon' message on the tech side of things on the website.

http://www.porsche.com/microsite/mission2014-resettozero/international.aspx

 

[Galahad]

It will certainly be a petrol engine, with associated hybrid gubbins. The rumours are that it will be a 4-cylinder turbo, but nothing is confirmed.