Le Mans Le Mans and the WEC

I found an interesting technical tidbit about the Delta--the car's entire braking system (all 4 wheels combined) weighs a scant 29.2 pounds!
 
These F1 teams should try and learn a lesson from the Delta Wing. 8 hours on Michelins equates to about 1 on Pirellis, better than most of them can do! Seriously, though, does that extremely low tire wear have anything to do with the tires staying grounded all the way around?
 
First qualifying is on between 2100-2300 tonight (UK time). One or other of the Eurosport channels may be showing as much coverage as they can be bothered with.

Four more hours of qualifying tomorrow!
 
First qually results

Delta wing car in 26th

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Great performance by the Strakka team. Fisichella crashed the AF Corse Ferrari hence the lack of a time. The Pescarolo 03 - a lightly revised version of last year's AMR-One - has had myriad problems.
 
Those delta wings really look awesome
Hmm, indeed they (or should that be "it") does, but slow. Unless they improve their lap times, in the race they will be lapped every 10 laps. Although I thouught competing with P1's was a bit of an ask, I did wonder if they would be competiitive with the P2 class prototypes. If the concept is worth anything they really need to beat the P2's or at least split the top four.

It's an interesting concept but intrinsically flawed. One only has to compare the stability of sitting on a 3 legged stool against that of being sat on a 4 legged stool to understand the problem. The justification for the design appears to be about maximising the efficiency of the aerodynamics so that the car will meet less air resistance due to its reduced frontal area. However, that doesn't help confer adhesion to the track. The reason Le Mans prototypes have flat floors is to induce ground effect and the body shape and spoilers induce downforce. The Delta Wing is lacking in both those areas due to the reduced surface area of the aero surfaces on top and beneath the chassis. Couple that with the inherent instability of a 'tripod' footprint compared to a 'quadrapod' footprint and basically one has a "lemon at Le Mans".

http://www.deltawingracing.com/news/2012/6/11/so-how-does-the-nissan-deltawing-work.html
 
http://mathforum.org/library/drmath/view/53267.html

"There are different kinds of stability! A three-legged stool is
guaranteed not to wobble, because the ends of its legs always form
a plane. But a little wobble is only an inconvenience. More important
for practical purposes, such a stool is LESS stable than one with more
legs in the sense that its center of gravity is further inside its
base: the more sides a regular polygon has, the greater its apothem
(the distance from the center to the middle of an edge). That greater
distance means that the sitter can lean farther out in any direction
without tipping over. So if you don't mind a little tipping but don't
want to fall on your face, or if you have a reasonably even floor,
more legs are better. In a barn, I'll take the three-legged stool
over the upholstered desk chair any time!"

If you have any further questions, feel free to write back.

- Doctor Peterson, The Math Forum
 
After four and a half hours, 25s cover the top four - Audi1, Toyota8, Toyota7, Audi3. In Gt the top three are even closer, Ferrari, Aston and Corvette covered by 5s.
 
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