2012 WEC / 24 Hours of Le Mans

[henk4]

Originally Posted by Dino Scuderia

Nakajima took out some interest in the race too.

he was prone to go out anyway...and the collision with the Deltawing was an indirect consequence of that bloody Ferrari driver, as he caused the safety car.

[Dino Scuderia]

Losing the Deltawing was no loss IMO, I still don't see the point of that exercise other than to make a car look weird.

[Sledgehammer]

What about a weight class where their are go carts running next to 4000 double engined behemoths?

[Ferrer]

Well two brand new car against an established team with four cars? It was bound to end this way, unfortunately.

Any way, the pace of the Toyotas is certainly encouraging.

I hope #2 wins, old dogs teaching newbies how it's done.

[henk4]

it looks like they will listen to your wishes, fitting farewell to Capello, who is doing his final Le Mans, so they say.

[henk4]

Originally Posted by Dino Scuderia

Losing the Deltawing was no loss IMO, I still don't see the point of that exercise other than to make a car look weird.

the point was that with half the weight and half the power (and related fuel consumption) you can get around at the same speed as "normal" cars. ACO asked to go no faster than 3.45 (they did a 3.42 in practice) and most likely they could go down to 3.30 if they had really wanted.
But yes, acceptance of the concept requires some out of the box thinking.

[Ferrer]

Originally Posted by henk4

it looks like they will listen to your wishes, fitting farewell to Capello, who is doing his final Le Mans, so they say.

That'd be excellent.

It is also his birthday today.

Originally Posted by henk4

the point was that with half the weight and half the power (and related fuel consumption) you can get around at the same speed as "normal" cars. ACO asked to go no faster than 3.45 (they did a 3.42 in practice) and most likely they could go down to 3.30 if they had really wanted.
But yes, acceptance of the concept requires some out of the box thinking.

The concept is certainly interesting, if seriously ugly.

[henk4]

the number three Audi went into the barrier, again and at the same place, only difference, now Gene was driving. It is limping back to the pit, whether it will make it is doubtful...

[Ferrer]

#2 has just crasehd as well... what a race.

PS. And now the SC has been deployed.

[henk4]

and also the old Allen has lost control in the Porsche curves, so no birthday present for Dindo.

[Ferrer]

They are out of the pits already, excellent job by the mechanics.

Maybe there's still race left yet...

[henk4]

Originally Posted by Ferrer

They are out of the pits already, excellent job by the mechanics.

Maybe there's still race left yet...

they are very experienced in replacing dameged front parts...and they have the spares. Also a reason why a privateer team would never be able to beat a factory team.

and having seen how his drivers behave, I suppose Dr. Ulrich will tell them to stay where they are now, and no racing anymore.

[RacingManiac]

The eTron repair might be more challenging with extra halfshaft and whatnot....

IMO its still arguable if you need to make a car looking like DW to do the half the weight, half the power thing...given the technical leeway allowed a normal car probably can be as fast if not less efficient...but more relevant if what ACO wanted is ways to transfer racing technology to road car...not taking anything from DW, the car worked remarkably well in the short time it was given. But its hardly the future...

And building a car as light as they did, the robustness was probably sacrificed.....as it showed...

[henk4]

Originally Posted by RacingManiac

And building a car as light as they did, the robustness was probably sacrificed.....as it showed...

well, that is because the it was hit by was twice the size...imagine how things would be in a field of DWs.

and looking at the laptimes now, Dr. Ulrich clearly has ordered to consolidate.

[Ferrer]

Yep no more racing for Audi, or pretty much anyone else for that matter.

As for the robustness of the DW, indeed crashing into a barrier (regardless of the cause) doesn't bode well for reliability...

I would like to see the same concept (lightweight, smallish enigne, reduced aero) applied to a conventional car though.