2008 24 Hours of Le Mans Official Thread

[Wouter Melissen]

It just amazes me how quickly you discard this great effort and label it as 'brutal'. This is a very ambitious program with plenty of potential, but with a limited budget and experience, you can hardly expect a race winning performance within two months after the car first turned a wheel.

[Kitdy]

Originally Posted by Wouter Melissen

It just amazes me how quickly you discard this great effort and label it as 'brutal'. This is a very ambitious program with plenty of potential, but with a limited budget and experience, you can hardly expect a race winning performance within two months after the car first turned a wheel.

I edited my previous post to include. I think my assessment of the team as brutal may be harsh and as I said before, I said it with levity, but the fact of the matter is that I was not taking into consideration their performance per dollar or budget at all - just their hard results. As I mentioned before and as you refused to acknowledge was the fact that I said this was an absolute assessment, not a relative one. I am not that familiar with their financial situation but people seem to say the effort is doing well for what it is, in a relative sense.

I am by no means writing off the team getting better in the future as well, if they treat the Le Mans race this year as a learning experience and continue to develop the car in the coming weeks and years as long as cash doesn't run out, who knows? One day they may be battling for the fastest of the petrols.

Finally, people have different opinions, and I don't understand why you think what I said is so amazing to you.

[Wouter Melissen]

Well it's not entirely fair to judge an endurance racer by its qualifying times. Particularly if there is absolutely nothing to be gained by said car to go two or three seconds faster in qualifying. If you would look closely at my shots of the car, you can tell it really is something special.

[togos452]

The Epsilon Euskadi ee1 Judd hasn't had as much testing or as many ex-F1 drivers testing/qualifying/racing it like the Peugeot 908 and Audi R10.

Their first test was less than ten days before the offical LMS Paul Ricard test earlier this year.

Revised ee1 Judd:

Planetlemans.com | Several improvements for the Epsilon Euskadi prototype

Racing Box's Lucchini LMP2 Judd out:

(has previous 'XV' V-8)

Planetlemans.com | Racing Box withdraws Le Mans entry! Epsilon-Euskadi in?

New # 21 ee1 Judd for Le Mans - 2008

Shinji Nakano, Jean-Marc Gounon, and Le Mans winner Stefan Johansson

Planetlemans.com | It’s officially confirmed, the second Epsilon Euskadi is in!!!!

[Zytek_Fan]

Good thing Racing Box withdrew. That Lucchini is agonizingly slow.

[Kitdy]

Originally Posted by Wouter Melissen

Well it's not entirely fair to judge an endurance racer by its qualifying times. Particularly if there is absolutely nothing to be gained by said car to go two or three seconds faster in qualifying. If you would look closely at my shots of the car, you can tell it really is something special.

You can judge them based on the results however, and these have been poor.

I have seen the shots of the car that you have taken and for sure it is very pretty and elegant.

[The_Canuck]

Originally Posted by Kitdy

You can judge them based on the results however, and these have been poor.

What results?

[RacingManiac]

Wednesday Quali Times are up...

Motorsport.com: News channel

Sarrazin clocked a 3:18.5.....somehow they found another 3 sec over the test day....

Fastest Audi is at 3:24s.....

Fastest Gasoline P1 is Pescarolo, which crashed out late in the session. At 3:28s

Dome ran a 3:29s...

Fastest Epsilon Euskadi is at 3:39s....definitely lacking lots of pace...

Corvette got under 3:50s to be the fastest in GT1 over Saleen.

Porsche fastest in GT2(and P2 at 3:33s).



For reference in qualifying, 1989 Sauber C-9 Group C car ran a 3:15.0 on a Le Mans without Chicane, and 1971 Porsche 917LH ran a 3:13.9 on a Le Mans without Porsche Curves, and Peugeot 905, the previous fastest car on the "Chicaned" Le Mans, ran a 3:21s.....

[Wouter Melissen]

The Dome is faster on the straight than the Audis and the Peugeots are another 5 miles faster still.

[Kitdy]

Originally Posted by The_Canuck

What results?

The first three races of the LMS.

[Kitdy]

I'm surprised that the Lola Aston Martin finished so low - in some races they were biting at the heels of the Audis.

The Peugeots went ridiculously fast again however.

[Wouter Melissen]

Originally Posted by Kitdy

I'm surprised that the Lola Aston Martin finished so low - in some races they were biting at the heels of the Audis.

The Peugeots went ridiculously fast again however.

The Lola has some major setup issues, which have been found very difficult to fix.

[Dino Scuderia]

Vid of the Lola/Mazda flip in night qualy.

YouTube - Hideki Noda Huge Le Mans 24 Hours Qualifying Crash LIVE

[RacingManiac]

Anyone knows of anywhere you can stream Le Mans Broadcast online? Proxies, Video viewer...anything really? Will be helpful if its usable from N. America too...

[RacingManiac]

I found this for quali now: mms://ulswmod015.bcst.uls.yahoo.com/slot010?StreamID=66220936&pl_auth=744b77ad02204656 fca8f4fcdedc4158&ht=30&b=4i1sgtt44172248515940&CG_ ID=1605391&s=2023392747&br=300&mid=8252169&nid=825 3766&pg=MTcwNDAwOTIwNjQ4NTAyZj&q=b8383bbd4cdb82d10 49e8c&sl=86400&so=%252Feseurosport%252Feseurosport %252Flive%252Fvideo%252FES-24hLeMansQualifyinground-110608-22h

open in VLC...