Le Mans Classic 2014 round-up

So that brings The 2014 Le Mans Classic to an end, just as the sun starts to break through 

Apart from the weather it has been yet another breath-taking event. The statistics alone are mind boggling .. around 110,000 spectators have fought the weather.. around 450 superb, fully functioning,  racing classics driven hard by around 1,500 ‘pilots’ have given us some splendid racing.

Add to that the massive 8,500 strong collection of road going classics on display ranging from the exotic Ferraris, Lamborghinis and Aston Martins to the slightly more humble MGB. There must be at least one of virtually every marque ever built. The crowds are cheerful, well behaved and very knowledgeable.

The whole operation has taken a big step up this year.. we are convinced that there are far more than just the 1,000 additional spectators than we saw two years ago.

Maybe they all brought a car along because the traffic was as challenging, or maybe even more so, than at The 24hrs of Le Mans.

There was so much to see beyond the actual racing and club displays. At the outstanding Artcurial Auction, there were examples everywhere of the French skills in ‘carrosserie’ (coach-building).

There were very classy retail outlets persuading you to part with €€€, even a re-creation of the ‘Drive in Cinema’ where you could relive films like ‘Un homme et une femme’ , ‘Bullitt’’ Le Mans’ the movie. You can even take another look at the infamous ‘ That was a rendezvous’’ shot at speed in the streets of Paris! If your nerves could stand it there was a traditional ‘Wall of Death’ or in French , more dramatically, ‘Mur de la mort’!  There were cafes, bistros, diners and even an ‘English Hall’.

You need at least three tiring, foot sore days to this weekend justice. Outside the Circuit bars and restaurants are serving ‘normal’ food not ‘menu rapide’… and so on.  It is expensive  we agree and that may deter some enthusiasts . We do feel that food and beer prices in the circuit were excessive but where else can you enjoy such a feast of exotica?

Why not pencil in a visit for two years’ time .. You won’t be disappointed.

Final results can be found on this link 

Jock Simpson and Tony Light

Artcurial Auction .. Classic Cars booming?

Wow.. pause for a sharp in-take of breath! 

Artcurial are an important French Auction house and they have held one of their most prestigious auctions here at The Le Mans Classic since 2007.

The results are spectacular to say the least ! They sold more than €13M worth of cars ( that is around $17M). 15% of their sales went to America and 52% remained in Europe.

Photo: Artcurial

Two of the ‘star cars' in the auction have 'Le Mans' in their genes. The 1961 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Roadster went for €1,115,600 is one. The 300SL Gullwing started it all when Hermann Lang stepped out of the car after winning Le Mans in 1952. The ‘Gullwing’ did go into production and even to this day they turn heads everywhere. There are two examples racing here at Le Mans Classic. Despite its good looks it was a few problems.. It apparently suffered from serious understeer, which is strange bearing in mind it was a powerful rear wheel drive  machine, but just when you thought you had got on top of the understeer you would be greeted with ‘snap oversteer’ when the rear swing axles gave up the unequal struggle.. Drum brakes slowed the car up but really didn't do much to stop the car. Plus the interior was cramped and got very hot. OK it looked a bit smart with all that chrome and bright red leather – for some reason , who knows why,  SLs were known as tart traps! 

But the Gull wing did spawn the far more civilised 300 SL Roadster, many say that while it is less iconic it is in fact a much better bet and almost as desirable nowadays .. hence European collector who paid €1,115,600 for one here at Le Mans!

Another car in the auction with actual Le Mans history was the 1964 AC Cobra 289 MkII. This fetched €761,000 ($1,034,522).

Photo: Washington Post

This Cobra 289 raced here 50 years ago , it was driven by Jean de Mortemart and Régis Fraissinet and they came 18th overall. It is alleged that Régis Fraissinet, wealthy heir to a dynasty of industrialists, calmly announced to the press that he raced motor cars in order to provide a different perspective on his everyday life : " There are those who like to play tennis and those who prefer golf. I play tennis and golf but, most of all, I prefer to race cars...” I wonder if he had any idea what would happen to AC Cobra prices fifty years later !

Take a look at www.artcurial.com 

Après Le Deluge !

This seemed an appropriate quote to start the day with.. until I looked up its correct origins only to discover the full quote is “après moi, la deluge” which is attributed to Louis XIV and at the time it seems he meant  "when I'm dead, all others may die too". So not quite so apt.. however it has been a pretty miserable night and as the French might say “pisser avec la pluie” . 

But after a very wet start the rain has relented a bit. Our thoughts go out to the marshals, drivers of open cockpit cars and those brave souls out there camping.

At least the live motoring extravaganza that is the roundabout by L’Arlequin was upto scratch. Even our chum in his 14.5 litre Le France/Simplex beast was doing a bit of ‘showboating’ and it is not like him at all. Arnage was heaving with very jolly (over jollyied?) fans and the locals were certainly making a brisk living, at least they did last night. 

This morning dawned badly for your team.. one member wound up in the medical centre. The symptoms were ‘indigestion based’ but this didn’t stop the doctors giving him a full 10,000 mile service and check up!  After being royally looked after he asked if he could contribute to a local charity, the staff simply said “ Non..Money is money and health is health”.. which is a  refreshing attitude to medicine. He is now proclaimed fit and back on the team!

Strange how you miss effective wipers when you normally take the things entirely for granted, how did the heroes of yesteryear cope? The driver’s side wiper cried enough and chose to simply move water around rather than remove it. Even that is now cured with a rather short replacement blade found in the boot!

If you have been following Tony’s Tweeting (if not why not !)  you will notice that keeping on top of results is well-nigh impossible. The provisional results are posted and then hours later all the penalties arrive and they are then re-posted. Some penalties are heroically draconian.. one driver was penalised five laps and he hadn't actually completed any laps.. so he went ‘minus’! It is very easy to fall foul of the stewards during this event .. speeding in the pit lane, circuit limits, taking your pit stop early, late or not at all, not stopping long enough during your stop and so on. The tricky bit is that they don’t explain on the results what heinous crime had been committed. So it is all as clear as mud to us.

There is one scheduling problem and that is irritating fact that the ‘big bangers’ in Grid 6 go out at midnight on Saturday,( time to in bed or bar!)  then again at 08:00hrs ( coffee and croissants time ) and finally they end the show at 16:00hrs on Sunday.  Having been a lucky lad I have driven various ‘classics’ in the dark on the public roads and the headlights give a cheery glow ‘illuminating’ the road about a foot in front of the car on main beam and then six inches on dip. This may be why the older cars don’t go out in the dark during the Classic.

There have been no mishaps to speak of and  as far as we know the level of retirements has been very low as well. Even so a few have fallen by the wayside, despite this the grids remain 60-65 cars strong. 

Jock Simpson 

On Your Marques! The 2014 Le Mans Classic is up and running!

On Your Marques! The 2014 Le Mans Classic is underway..

It is Saturday, it is Le Mans Classic and ‘the weather is here ..wish you were lovely’!  I try and avoid clichés like the plague as you know.. actually the weather is unimpressive, cloudy, overcast with rain and with the threat of more to come. Despite that it is really rather busy. We get the feeling that it is far busier than it was two years ago when we are told 109,000 people braved the weather and came to watch. Someway to go then before it rivals the 263,000 spectators at the man event but still rather impressive for any type of motorsport outside F1.

The first thing that strikes you is how many ‘classic’ road cars there are in The Sarthe at the moment. Unlike the 24hrs of Le Mans everywhere you go you stumble upon groups  of half a dozen or so enthusiasts happily haring around the minor roads having a ball. We had lunch about 40kms from Le Mans and were surrounded by a number of Healeys, a TR , Jensen, Lagonda and a crazy Simplex. (more of this later!).

It is not too surprising when you consider that there are 119 Motor Clubs of one sort or another parked up on the Bugatti Circuit alone. Porsche Club France has 900 cars here, while The TR Dorset Club have 8! Just to get you googling ( and to save us the trouble)  ever heard of  Les Amis des Automobiles Michel Hommell ( 15 cars) or Club Automobiles Martin? 

Back in the main event the basic rules are relatively straightforward.. it gets harder as you go along!

There are Six ‘Grids’ , each grid starts the weekend with 75 cars so there are 450 cars here! To be eligible they have to be an example of a model  that raced at Le Mans. If the actual car raced at Le Mans it gets priority of course. Each grid has six reserves. You are allowed a maximum of four drivers per car. Each race lasts 43 minutes and each grid gets three races. So your track time during the 24 hour period is about 2hrs 15 mins. However a considerable number of drivers are involved  with driving more than one car which makes the project rather more financially attractive ! 

The date spans of the six grids are as follows:-

Grid One 1923-1939

Grid Two 1949-1959

Grid Three 1957-1961

Grid Four 1962-1965

Grid Five 1966-1971

Grid Six 1972 -1979 

That will do for a start .. we will back later ..

Jock Simpson 

Freaky Friday

IT IS FRIDAY. .. WHAT ON EARTH DO WE DO NOW! 

With that rather shortened qualifying session done and dusted, today is the day that the teams set about repairing and rebuilding their cars. AF Corse will be starting all over again with their replacement car and moving all the settings across. The drivers will be off to Le Mans town centre to take part in the famous "Driver's Parade"and then back to the circuit for the pit lane walkabout and maybe to sign even more autographs.

Your Club Arnage Team will also be recharging their batteries... Bit like a human hybrid! Part of the team is back in the Media Centre ready to assist the ACO and the other bit will be wandering around the shops trying to resist buying a memento.

Our only main appointment is a lazy lunch which has been a long term feature of our event. Our restaurant of choice is up for sale and closed which after so many years is a serious blow. In retrospect we realised that maybe we helped to close it down by keeping it "our little secret" and forcing our friends never to reveal the name and place. .. Even under torture! However we are told it will be back in action under new management for next year so all is not lost. We are going boldly to seek out a new venue for today and The Classic.

Lennart is building up our Twitter feed which can be found at @clubarnage. So if you get the chance take a look and better still send us any feed back. Remember this is for you guys so lets make it as relevant as possible.

It was a sunny, hot and sticky day yesterday and today looks like being much the same. Lennart, who is our insider in the world of European weather forecasting, is looking at totally incomprehensible charts and graphs and radar data and he reckons that Saturday and Sunday will be dry with plenty of sun but the odd cloud here and there. There is a shower or two lurking around to the West of Le Mans so there is risk of an isolated shower.

Tony is beavering away in the Media Centre gathering information from every source imaginable.. Given time he could become a Trussers clone! 

Jock is waiting for the pubs to open and Le Grand Fromage is busy with ACO tasks until lunchtime. ... He hopes!

So.. Relax..Enjoy. . Keep an eye on Twitter and The Blogs..

Jock Simpson

Final Qualifying Session - Toyota take pole at Le Mans

After all the excitement in the 2nd session the 3rd and final session started at 21:30 make up for the lost time in the previous session and will last for 2hrs 30min. So the start of the ‘in the dark bit’ wasn't quite as dark as it usually is! 

Nobody can recall such a strange couple of days of qualifying session and maybe questions will have to be asked about the masses of red flags and incidents  and of course the number of accidents at the Porsche Curves. We also heard that James Calado ( #71 Ferrari 458 Italia) was taken to hospital and will probably stay in overnight for observation after his accident. The team are asking if they can use a new chassis and Colado says he is fine  ‘just a bit of a bump’ .. It will all become clear tomorrow morning… hopefully! 

I should never have written that! We have just got a note from The ACO saying that AF Corse can replace the chassis assuming the scrutineers had checked  it out and that Pierre Kaffer will make up the team replacing Colado. We wish James a swift and full recovery.

Quick bit of ‘hot news’ … Lotus revealed their new LM P1 here today will debut at Austin USA in September. The new car  is called the P1/01 and shares nothing with last year’s T128 LM P2 car. This bit of lotus isn’t based in Norfolk.. it hails from The Czech Republic. 

Traditionally it seems to be late in this session when it is cooler when things begin to pan out. The quick drivers don’t seem in the least bit bothered that it is actually dark! After all they know the circuit pretty well by now ! 

As far as stoppages were concerned this was a better session that its predecessors, but that isn’t saying much really. All the teams were way behind with their planned schedules for qualifying and this meant that everybody was working to different agendas.  The big question that was teasing the Radio Le Mans Team and us was who is actually the quickest? Porsche started the session at the top of the timing sheets and as the ‘shoot out’ in the dark got closer they simply sat tight , no doubt playing mind games with Audi and Toyota. Everything was teed up nicely as Nakajima did a blindingly quick lap and looked set for pole. But Audi and Porsche were keeping their powder dry.

At last we were set for the shoot-out with 15 mins to go.. and it all went to bits! The #90 Ferrari 458 driven by Montecalvo went off causing damage to the surrounding countryside. It wasn’t a particularly big accident by current standards but it gave the Race Director the chance to try out using the new ‘Slow Zone’ procedure. This simply slows the cars down around an incident and saves deploying the safety car. This of course screwed up any chances anybody had to put in a series of pole position winning laps. The Shoot Out was on hold with 15 mins to go! The disaster was that it stayed in place until the chequered flag came out and that was that! A huge anti-climax if ever there was one! So the timing sheets stayed the same and none of the burning questions had been answered. How quick are the Porsches.. we  don’t know… are the Audi actually rather quicker than they were letting on .. we don’t know… are the Toyotas the fastest cars out there.. again we don’t know. All in all very frustrating.

So in the end the Toyota # 7 on pole from #14Porsche and #8 Toyota in LM P1, #12 fastest LM P1-L

In LM P2 #46 Ligier was fastest ahead of the  #38 Zytek and the  #35 Ligier

In GTE Pro #51 Ferrari was fastest ahead of the  #73 Corvette and #97 Aston Martin 

In GTE Am #81 Ferrari was fastest ahead of the  #98Aston Martin and #95 Aston Martin 

In the end the #0 ZEOD, whose progress we have been watching with interest  finished up a respectable 27th overall.

Tomorrow is a rest day and we will take a closer look at LMP2 and the GT’s. As always seem to happen we  got distracted by the potential  dramas in LMP1 and the astounding number of red flags, accidents and chaos.

Jock Simpson

Second Qualifying Session

De Grassi hit the barrier in the run-up to Arnage
then Roussel in #29 Morgan had a shunt while
avoiding the stricken Audi while it was limping home 

After the very muddled and interrupted session yesterday, the time had come for the teams to get stuck in and do some serious running. Strangely it carried on being very fragmented with everybody popping in and out of the pits, mending, and tweaking, swapping drivers and so on. No real pattern seemed to emerge.

The ‘new’ #1 Audi has made it out and was going remarkably well, bearing in mind that they were still shaking down the car. We will never know just how hard Audi had worked to arrive at this point! Some suggested that this was a ‘Testing’ chassis so pretty well sorted and complete.. Others swear blind it was a new chassis and tub. Whatever.. It is up and running, it has a strong set of drivers and is on the pace.

It was very hot for this session with the air temperature hovering around 26.6 C.. The track was 30.0C and the humidity was 45%. It felt a lot stickier than that over lunch! The downside was that it seemed to be causing the most grief to the Porsches. There have been reports that both the batteries and the turbos have been getting far too hot. The battery has its own cooling system because lithium ion batteries apparently run pretty hot even on a good day. You may have noticed how warm your cell phone gets.. now multiply that a thousand times and you will feel the difference. Why the turbo were overheating is a bit of a mystery, it is not as if Porsche are new to ‘turbo technology’!

Things were bubbling along OK until 19:45 when #71 Ferrari 458 Italia driven by James Colado went off... You guessed.. in the Porsche Curves. The red flags came out and the medical team swung into action to extricate Colado. He was taken to the medical centre and the marshals set about clearing up the mess yet again.

Racing restarted at 20:10. Ten minutes later it all kicked off again! This time the #1 Audi, with De Grassi at the wheel,  spun at Indianapolis .. It is not entirely clear what happened but he hit the barriers pretty hard, bounced back and set off back to the pits. You could almost hear the groan from the hard pressed Audi mechanics! The poor old #1 had taken another hit! But there was worse to come, just as the #29 Morgan Nissan, driven by Roussel was passing the damaged Audi #1 (that had almost made it back to pit entry by then), the Audi swerved slightly left for no obvious reason, leaving Roussel nowhere to go and he had to take to the grass. Then he hit the wall spun across the track and it all ended with a hefty rear end impact. #1 Audi in the meantime headed off to the pits and Di Grassi was off to the Stewards. And our 7th Red Flag came out!

Elsewhere the #79 Porsche driven by Bret Curtis had a big off into the barriers at The Dunlop Eases. We are not sure which incident brought out the red flag!

The green flag was waved at 20:45…

With all this time lost.. again.. the final session will be extended by 15 mins. It must nearly be time for a bite to eat and a rest! But no chance! The # 98 Aston driven by Dalla-Lana, #60 Ferrari with Giammaria at the wheel and finally the #92 Porsche driven by Makowiecki all in got involved in the same incident. The exact sequence of events is hard to work out but we think the #92 Porsche was hit by the Ferrari which then spun off into the gravel. The Porsche staggered back to the pits and the others were extricated from the gravel! The #98 Aston spun avoiding the chaos.

Finally the chequered flag came out and we will wander off and try and work out what happened!

Jock Simpson

Shuffling the deck at Le Mans

Porsche were leading the timesheets going into the second qualifying session

We got confusing messages from Audi and The ACO. Suffice to say that it Loic Duval will not be driving the car again at this year’s 24 Hours. The Official Bulletin issued by the ACO says that having taken the views of the team manager and the FIA Medical Delegate, the Stewards have decided to accept the request from Audi to change the driver.  So spaniard Marc Gené will drive in place of Duval. The knock on effect of this is that Gené having moved to the Audi it now leaves the #38 Jota Sport Nissan short of a driver! So Jota have been allowed to draft Oliver Turvey into their car, providing that he passes all the administrative checks, has the correct race suit etc. and has a special briefing from the Race Director. Just to ‘square the circle’ you may recall that Turvey was to have been in the #22 Oreca Nissan that was withdrawn. 

This same bulletin suggests that Duval was ‘seriously injured’.. Which was worrying and while we hope this is not accurate it does make the stewards decision that it is OK to replace Duval a lot easier. Plus the Stewards consider that, quote “...it is more safe to go with three drivers rather than two”, We also gather that a team of engineers came down from Ingolstadt to get on with rebuilding what is now once again known as the #1 Audi. Despite the fact that not much, other than maybe a wheelnut and brake light, might be carried over from the wrecked #1. It is expected to run in the final session tonight.  

Those of you with a semblance of memory left on your mental hard drive will recall the famous ‘replacement’ of the destroyed JLOC Lamborghini that mysteriously evaporated in 2009 only to be replaced by an entirely different car that didn't even look like original ! Even longer ago a Venturi did a similar smoke and mirrors trick and reappeared with different livery and lots of gaffer tape .. Likewise last year the Ferrari of Tracy Krohn was badly damaged and a spare car was rushed in overnight. So there are plenty of precedents to support the Audi situation and we understand that there is a clause in the regulations that permits chassis change at the discretion of the race stewards.

The only other car we were waiting to hear about was the #99 Aston Martin that stopped the last session. We have just heard that it has been withdrawn because it was too badly damaged.

Another car that is technically OK, in other words it hasn't actually crashed yet, is the #0 Nissan. However it has hardly been exposed to any risk out on the track since it hasn't yet completed a lap this week under its own or any other sort of power for that matter! Tony pointed out that so far it must be easily the most eco-friendly car out here because it has done most of its track time being pushed by human beings!! 

Jock Simpson

Qualifying Session One : Le Mans 24hrs 2014

There have been huge sighs of relief since news has reached us that Loic Duval survived that huge accident with no broken bones and is in hospital taking interest and has been speaking to the team.  The only injuries appear to be the odd graze here and there. Great credit is due to Audi who have clearly built an immensely strong car with a tub that looked after the driver.  

This is where things start getting serious. These are proper qualifying  times and they now ‘ count ‘ and should the weather change they could well decide the final grid positions. However it still rather strange that surely over a 24 hour race a grid position here or there would not seem to matter… but these guys are racing drivers and the teams are massively professional. Also of course appearing on TV is a major feature as well.

It was a lovely evening with a fine sunset. As the action began to get into a bit of a rhythm the Red Flags came out again, this will be the 4th time today.. The car involved with this Red flag was the #37 Oreca driven by Minassian went off at the Porsche Curves. We didn’t know how serious this accident was but it seems to take a long time to clear up the mess each time.

Just when you thought it was safe to go racing again we had yet another Red Flag.. This was caused by the #99 Aston Martin V8 Vantage driven by Fernando Rees. It was unclear what happened but the car was ‘parked’ across the track! We were told that Fernando was fine. These stoppages were  ruining any continuity the teams might have been hoping for, this important session was becoming very fragmented.

A bit of trivia.. I noticed that when the Corvette pitted they peeled off a layer of windscreen, rather like visor rip offs. I wonder how many they will use in 24 hrs?!

At 23:30 hrs with 30 minutes still left in the session it has been abandoned. It seems the barriers were too badly damaged after the #99 Aston Martin accident. This is a great pity all round since over the years this last part of night qualifying has always give us some fabulously quick laps. 

There be a #1 car out tomorrow but Loic Duval will probably not be driving it. It comes as a bit of a surprise to see that the two Porsches are lying 1st and 2nd with #20 on provisional pole and #14 beside it. Then came the two Toyotas #7 & #8.. Maybe Audi were working a plan but they might be a bit disappointed to be behind the Porsches and Toyotas. However there are two more sessions tomorrow so watch this space..

Don't forget our live feed is @clubarnage on Twitter 

LM P1 quickest #20 Porsche from #14 Porsche and #7 Toyota
LM P1-L #13 Rebellion fastest from #12 Rebellion
LM P2 #26 Morgan fastest from #36 Alpine and #47 Oreca
GTE Pro #51 Ferrari fastest from #97 Aston and #92 Porsche
GTE Am #72 Ferrari fastest from #61 Ferrari and #77 Porsche

Free Practice 1.

At the third stroke  the time was  4 o’clock precisely ( that dates us!), the pit lane exit light went green  and Le Mans 24hrs 2014 was up and running. The Club Arnage Team are in place.. if a little fragile after ‘over-training’ the previous night. Tony is on pole ready to deploy our secret weapon .. looking out of the window and into the pit-lane.. hi-tech eh?  Lennart is exploring the ins and outs of Twitter  and other ‘social media’  Jock is scribbling as and when required. Le Grand Fromage is buried deep in the bowels of the ACO bit doing live texting for them under what appear to be rather trying circumstances.

Just as we started writing the #0 Nissan ZEOD RC ground to a halt on its ‘out lap’.. 12 whole minutes of racing. By the way ZEOD RC means Zero Emission On Demand Racing. The engines were working but not talking to each other so it seems the gearbox maybe the trouble and that was changed during a long stop. 

Would you believe that there are 42 ‘Rookies’ here this year.. where do they find them ! 

While we settling into the ‘Le Mans’ routine reality kicked in very suddenly when at 17:07 we saw pictures of the remains of #1 Audi which had a huge accident at the Porsche Curves. Loic Duval was at the wheel  and it was very worrying that the marshals couldn’t immediately start extracting Duval until a team technician arrived to ‘power down’  the hybrid system. Obviously the red flag came out and the session was stopped immediately. Loic was extricated  from the car and then sent off to the Medical Centre. We heard later that he had been on the phone talking to Dr Ulrich. The car almost certainly won’t be back for the race this year but Audi may have a spare tub etc to build up another one by tomorrow.

The session restarted again at 17;55hrs. 

We have already blogged a fair bit about the Hybrids and the technology. Finally we have found what you might call “ A Dummy’s  Guide to Hybrids”. After this you will have no excuses and will be able to impress your mates down the pub!

	Audi R8 e-tron quattro	Toyota TS040 Hybrid	Porsche 919 Hybrid
Engine	V6 4.0 litre turbo	V8 3.7 litre non turbo	V4 2.0 litre turbo
Fuel	Diesel	Petrol	Petrol
Power	540+ bhp	520+ bhp	500 bhp +
Torque	800+ Nm	Unknown	Unknown
ERS	Inertia Flywheel	Supercapacitors	Lithium –ion battery
Fuel tank	54.3 litres	68.3 litres	68.3 litres
Weight	870 kgs	870 kgs	870 kg

Audi Pros:-Well known , well tested hybrid technology, plenty of power from V6 TDI engine

Audi Cons:- The hybrid system is heavy and cumbersome for very little gain.

Toyota Pros:- A competitive and reliable hybrid system based on superconductors. Rapid ‘restocking’ and disposal of energy

Toyota Cons:- Drivers have to use the extra power under acceleration instantly

Porsche Pros:- F1 technology

Porsche Cons:- Weight of the battery . Question marks over reliability 

Back to free practice .. with about 30  mins to go the #67 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR driven by Erik Maris went off at the 1st Chicane , known this year as The Forza Chicane . We are not all that  familiar with  computer games but this is apparently a driving game on the Xbox! Anyway this brought out the Red Flags again and the session was stopped for about twenty minutes and restarted with 15 mins to go. The Red Flags came out because there was debris all over the track and it was too dangerous for the marshals to clear it all up.

In the end the session was stopped and that was the first free practice over.

Have a look HERE for detailed timing.

So, what can we pick out of that? To date your team have not made their traditional, alcohol fuelled predictions. Last night was an away win for the alcohol and we forgot!

In LMP1 it has been said all along that the Toyotas are not lacking in pace but of course this is free practice and nobody is going to show their cards . You may recall that Porsche got their wrists smacked for their ‘flexible’ bodywork and it didn't take long to explain to them that it as illegal and would have to go... and robbed some of their original straight line speed! Audi as usual seem to be working at their own very professional pace and while some say they lack speed they will make up for it in clockwork efficiency.  We are told that Audi can rebuild , if that is the right word, the #1 car that crashed. In effect it must be going to be based on a new tub, bodywork.. everything!

The #13 Rebellion car only did 6 laps while his team mate in the #12 car did 15. They are still off the pace despite a number of concessions but as always they surely won’t see the podium .

LMP2 needs watching.. it is producing some of the best racing at the moment but always gets ‘lost’ in amongst the LMP1 hype..the first six cars all share the same second.  OAK are up front followed by Murphy Prototypes and SMP racing.

Changes to the ‘Balance of Performance’ since Silverstone now means that a well driven ‘Am’ car can mix it with the ‘Pro’ drivers.  This means that the ‘ Aston Martin #95 ‘Am’ car is ahead of the #51 Ferrari 458 Italia by 0.013 secs !! Corvette #73 is fourth and the Manthey factory Porsches are languishing 7th and 8th . We rather suspect there maybe more to come..

By Jock Simpson

Tyre wars at Le Mans this year?

This year at Le Mans the “tyre war” if any, can only be in the LM P2 class, where Dunlop provides tyres for 12 cars and Michelin for 5. In the other classes Michelin have a de-facto monopoly in 2014. Dunlop have withdrawn from the GTE classes as they rationalise their production this year having closed down their racing operations in England and moved to mainland Europe. They may well return in future years to challenge Michelin and other tyre manufacturers in GTE and maybe even LM P1.

Surface

One key difference in racing at Le Mans is the track surface. Because about 70% of the circuit is used by the public for the rest of the year it brings special problems for tyre companies. The rubber particles and diesel spillage over the year make for a very highly polished surface which makes the track less “grippier” and conditions can change dramatically on different parts of the circuit.

Straights

Durability is important here because of the long straights. Even though the track is low on abrasion it is important to keep heat in the tyres and sometimes tyres can be too cold coming off the straights. Tyre companies therefore concentrate on designing compounds to warm up quickly and still ensure that the construction is strong enough.

Downforce

At Le Mans, teams run bespoke aerodynamic packages with an emphasis on straight line speed. Tyre companies help teams compensate for a lower downforce set up by having an increased contact patch and compounds that maximise grip.

Temperatures

Temperatures at Le Mans drop at night, sometimes as low as 4C but grip levels are different here. Therefore it’s important to achieve as wide an operating window as possible as conditions change during the race.

Pressures

Car set up and driver styles are all different and there may be subtle differences between the 3 drivers in one car. Therefore tyre engineers have to liaise closely with the team engineers, throughout the week the set up and tyre pressures need to be optimised to get the best performance. This can change due to changing weather conditions and as the track cleans up and “rubbers in” during practice and qualifying.

Award
This year at Le Mans there will be the "Michelin Total Performance Award", which is intended to reward the competitor with the most efficient use of energy and materials. This is measured by five criteria combining durability and energy efficient performance. 

Today the skies are overcast but the forecast is for warm conditions for the race, the tyre engineers must be ready for every eventuality!

Le Mans 24 Hours scrutineering 2014

The KCMG Oreca-Nissan arrives in the square.

The scrutineering and driver sign-on process (known to the French as 'pesage') is given a festival atmosphere in Le Mans city centre. What would normally be a relatively dull set of inspections takes place in the Place de La Republique where a set of tents and metal barriers define the short lap of the square. The local population are however given a uniquely intimate and close-up view of both cars and drivers. While the cars are processed, the drivers have licences checked, race suit and helmet authorized and official head shots taken. Finally they appear on a small stage to answer questions in front of an appreciative crowd. It has to be said, the 'pesage' is fairly low key, but it does have a relaxed party atmosphere that contrasts sharply with the more serious events of later in the week. 

Driver interviews are a public favourite.

This year, it was no surprise that all cars and drivers passed muster without incident. There were a few highlights during the day such as the revelation of the #75 Prospeed Porsche in its unique 'Art car' livery and the surprise unfurling of a giant banner by the Corvette team thanking the people of Le Mans for their support. 

The 'Art car' of Prospeed brought Celtic art to the 24 hours

Rumours of a Ferrari prototype programme were given credibility with the promise of an announcement on Saturday that is expected to reveal a Garage 56 project for the Prancing Horse, leading to a possible factory LM P1 programme the following year.... watch this space!

There have been major changes this year. Following the fatal accident of Allan Simonsen during the 2013 race, the ACO have implemented improvements to the safety barriers at the Tertre Rouge and Corvette (formerly the Karting “S”) corners. Tec-Pro barriers have also been added at the Porsche curves, and beefy inner kerbs have been added at the Ford chicane to dissuade corner cutting. At test day a few drivers were caught out by the big kerbs, including the flying Porsche #91 that retired with broken chassis and #66 Ferrari sustaining suspension damage. Additionally, a slow zone system will be utilized for minor incidents by limiting all cars in one section of the circuit to a speed to a speed of 60kmh (37mph). 

The #24 Oreca Nissan is entered by 9 times World Rally Champion Sebastien Loeb.

Rookies and drivers who have not raced at Le Mans for the past 5 years will be required to participate in a half-day simulator training course. All cars will be fitted with an in-car marshalling telemetry system to help the race controller send out information.

Here is a quick reminder of the classes running at the 24 hours 2014.

The #3 Audi has Britain's Oliver Jarvis in its driver line-up

LM P1 (9 Cars)  : The premier class in endurance racing, competing with purpose built prototypes. LM P1-H is for manufacturer entries and Hybrid technology, free engine size, while LM P1-L (Light) is for privateer teams and with engine size limited to 5.5 litres and they are also 20kg lighter (850kg minimum - but see #12 Rebellion Racing). Hybrid cars can run in any of the Energy Recovery System classes – <2MJ (chosen by

Drivers of #66 JMW Motorsport Ferrari 458 Italia, Spencer Pumpelly and Seth Neiman sign autographs 

Audi), <4MJ, <6MJ (chosen by Toyota & Porsche) or <8 MJ. The cars carry Red number panels and have White headlamps. HY on engine cover denotes hybrid system installed. No bronze rated drivers allowed. Fuel tank size is 68.3 litres for petrol engine cars and 54.3 litres for diesel. The cars have a 7 speed gearbox. All cars are running on Michelin tyres.

LM P2 (17 Cars) : The second prototype class, featuring purpose built cars with a cost cap of €400,000. 5 litre normally aspirated or 3.2 litre turbo engines allowed (petrol only). Each entry must feature at least one bronze or silver rated driver. 

The cars carry Blue number panels and have Yellow headlamps. Fuel tank size is 75 litres and minimum weight 900kg. The cars have a 6 speed gearbox.

The only class with a “tyre war”, with  12 cars running on Dunlop tyres and 5 on Michelins (#24 Oreca, #27 Oreca, #33 Ligier, #37 Oreca and #50 Morgan). 

GTE Pro (9 Cars)  : The top production based category in Le Mans racing. The cars share a basic resemblance and some components with their road car cousins. The maximum engine size is 5.5 litres for normally aspirated cars or 4 litres for turbos (petrol only). GTE cars must be approved road going vehicles of which at least 100 have been built (25 in the case of small manufacturers).

The cars have Green number panels and Yellow headlamps. No restrictions on drivers. Fuel tank size is normally 90 litres and minimum weight 1,245 kg, but may be adjusted by Balance of Performance changes. The cars have a 6 speed gearbox. All GTE Pro and Am cars are running on Michelin tyres.

GTE Am (19 Cars)  : The same regulations as GTE Pro. They must feature at least one bronze rated driver and one bronze or silver rated driver. 

The cars have Orange number panels and Yellow headlamps. The cars have a 6 speed gearbox.

Innovative Technology (1 Car)  : An entry which demonstrates new automotive technology. The Nissan ZEOD RC is powered by electric motors and a small petrol engine. The car aims to complete the first all-electric lap of the famous 8.5 mile circuit. The car has Black number panels.

A look back at Test Day, and a look forward to the 24 hours.

The 24 hours 2014 is destined to be a vintage one, whatever the final outcome. With three manufacturer teams in LM P1, a well stocked P2 grid and ultra-competitive GTE categories, there is will be tough fight for overall and class honours.

Photo: Romain Scholer

In addition to the traditional classes, there is also the 'Garage 56' entry in the unusual shape of the Nissan ZEOD RC. At test day last week it turned its first laps on the 24 hours circuit, putting in times in between the bottom of LM P2 and the top of LM GTE Pro. The car is lightweight, agile and powered by a three cylinder engine weighing only 40kg but producing 400hp. The car also has an electric motor that it is hoped will be able to take the ZEOD RC around an entire lap of the circuit on 'zero emission' mode when required. Having only completed 24 laps on Test Day due to fuel pump failure and a cracked exhaust manifold. Its best time was 10 seconds slower than the Deltawing in the 2012 24 hours.

Image: Dave Davies

In LM P1 Audi have long experience and the law of big numbers on their side. Toyota have a completely different approach to hybrid technology and cars which have demonstrated a higher top speed than Audi at Spa WEC. Facing them is the new Porsche factory effort that has been two years in gestation. The 'Mission 2014' project has resulted in two very quick LM P1 hybrid prototypes that have the potential to pull off a victory, but only if they can last the 24 hours. In the LM P1 privateer class, Rebellion's pair of new Toyota engined R-One are unopposed since the withdrawal of the Strakka Dome that had an accident in recent testing. Rebellion might even climb onto the overall podium if there is attrition in the factory teams.

Image: Dave Davies

In LM P2 it is anyone's guess as to the front runners. G-Drive appear to be strong after winning at the Spa WEC, but competition is very tough in the second largest individual class of the 24 hours (17 cars despite the loss of Millennium Racing). During test day the P2 times were slightly faster than at test day in 2013 and most of the field were lapping within a second or so of each other.

The two GTE classes, Pro and Am are essentially comprised of cars running to the same technical regulations, but with year-old cars in the Am class and a limit of one professional driver per car. It is traditionally the toughest fought class and the Am contingent are the most numerous (19 cars).  Two new factory Corvettes in Pro are pitted against a pair of factory Porsche 911, Aston Martin Vantage V8 and three Ferrari 458. In Am there is an army of 11 Ferraris two Astons and four Porsche 911. Fireworks are pretty much guaranteed with enthusiastic 'gentlemen' drivers.

On test day last week Bonanomi in #3 Audi topped the morning session and Buemi in the #8 Toyota was faster in the afternoon though not as quick by 0.5 secs as last year's test day. The Toyota, Audi and Porsche works teams all completed their programmes successfully over the 8 hours. All three ran 13 lap stints but no one attempted 14. The Porsche #14 had a small flash fire in it's pit but no damage was done, neither human nor mechanical. The Rebellion #12 hit the barriers at Porsche curves and sustained front bodywork damage which brought the 2nd session to a slightly early end.

In LM P2 the Oak Racing Morgan #26 set the fastest lap with Rusinov at the wheel on a low fuel/new tyre run late in the day. It was faster  than last year's test day time by one second. The Jota Zytek #38 of Simon Dolan had tyre blow our resulting in bodywork damage.

In GTE Pro the Porsche #92 set fastest lap by Makowiecki faster than last year by 1.6 seconds. In the morning, Porsche #91 got airborne over new kerbs at Ford Chicane and missed afternoon session, the chassis having sustained damage and had to be replaced. Ferrari were given dispensation to run new aero configuration despite their design being notionally frozen at end of 2013.

For GTE Am it was the 8Star Ferrari #90 fastest with a time set by by Paulo Ruberti, making it the fastest 458 of the day (including GTE Pro entries), and 3.4 seconds faster than last year's test day. The IMSA Porsche #76 of Raymond Narac (winner last year in Am) had big off at the Dunlop chicane and sustained considerable  frontal damage. The JMW Ferrari #66 had an airborne moment over new kerbs at Ford Chicane, damaging its suspension.                            

Today (Sunday) is the first day of race week activity with scrutineering and driver sign-on that takes place this year in the Place de la Republique in the city centre. The event is popular with the local population of Le Mans and the region, being rather too early to attract race fans from further abroad. It is however set up as a spectacle in its own right, but more of that later....

Worst kept secret of 2014? Nissan announce LM P1 programme.

Nissan announce LM P1 programme for 2015.

After weeks of speculation, hints and leaks, Nissan finally owned-up to their plans to race an LM P1 prototype in 2015 for the first time since their R391 in 1999. Although it appears that it will take the name "GT-R LM", the chances of it being a recognisable evolution of its road-going namesake are pretty slim. Of course Nissan will be at Le Mans in 2014 with their Garage 56 entry the ZEOD RC.

OAK Ligier JS P2 is ready for Test Day

After a test programme with drivers Olivier Pla and Alex Brundle covering 8300km, the Nissan powered Ligier JS P2 developed by Onroak Automotive is ready just in time for Le Mans Test Day.

Image : Onroak Automotive / DPPI

On Monday an FIA team paid a visit to the Onroak premises at Le Mans to homologate the Ligier JS P2, the final step in the development programme.

Alex Brundle : “Working with OAK Racing on this project has been a pleasure as always. We have really racked up the miles and the debut at the Le Mans test will be my 14th day behind the wheel. The team has been incredibly professional and flawless preparation means there have been very few issues with the car. I really can't complement the work of the design team at Onroak Automotive enough in the initial conception and continued development. I can't wait to get out there and show what the JS P2 can do!”. 

The #35 Oak Racing Ligier JS P2-Nissan will be driven at Test Day by Alex Brundle, who will be joined by Nissan driving academy alumni Jann Mardenborough and Mark Schulzhitskiy.

Audi's most efficient R18 yet.

Audi say that they will field the slipperiest and least thirsty R18 to date at Test Day in under three weeks from now on the 1st of June. They proclaim that R18 e-tron quattro uses less fuel than any of its predecessors. They have developed two variants of the R18, a low drag one for Le Mans and another for the remainder of the WEC. The two body versions can be easily distinguished by the position of the openings above the front wheels. The low down-force variant having them on the inside of the front wing rather than on top. 

The Le Mans 24 version of the R18 e-tron quattro. 

Picture : Audi Motorsport

Jan Monchaux, who is the head of Aerodynamics at Audi Sport said: “We analyse its performance potential by means of CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics)...  this eliminates the need for considerably more complex wind tunnel tests. We then continue to elaborate the strengths of the initial design step by step and reduce potential deficits in the process,”

Although appearing to be slightly off the pace at Spa WEC they still went away with a respectable 2nd place finish, and of course the 24 hours of Le Mans favours the long game rather than outright speed. After Toyota's win and Porsche's pole position in Belgium, it has been a long time since three works teams so well matched have measured up to each other in La Sarthe. We have the prospect of a real battle of titans for the 82nd running of the 24 hours of Le Mans on 14th and 15th of June 2014.

Source: Audi Motorsport press information.

The heir of the 917 is the 919, but what of the Porsche 918?

We all know about the fabulous Porsche 917 and we now know a fair bit about the Porsche 919, (even if we are not nuclear scientists and don’t fully understand how on earth it works). So what happened to the Porsche 918?

At least amongst their more esoteric machinery Porsche don’t cop out by simply calling them a ‘911’, regardless of how it might have evolved since the ‘60’s, instead they give them numbers which are the factory reference codes. The 2014 Le Mans entries are listed as 911RSR despite the Manthey cars being different from the Team Proton 911RSR. If you are 'of a certain age' you will recall various other 911RSR models over the years. So why not call this a Porsche 991RSR too?  Porsche did pop back to Le Mans in 2008 to win LM P2 with the Penske Porsche RS Spyder, and hardly broke sweat! 

Anyway, back to the sensibly described Porsche 918. We saw the emergence of the  Porsche 918 Spyder ‘plug-in’ hybrid at the 2010 Geneva Show. It came as a bit of a surprise but Porsche didn’t hide the fact that they planned to put the car, in some shape or form, into production. As a result of some serious customer interest official production plans were confirmed last summer. In the US the price on the screen was a mere $845,000. But if you want one hurry up because there will only be 918 built.

Image: Porsche AG

The 918 Spyder is of course a hybrid, Porsche wouldn't be spending all this money on promoting hybrid technology if they thought they were wasting their time. The engine is a 4.6 V8 that traces its ancestry back to the 2008 Spyder RS racers. It has been house trained to make it more durable and user friendly and it pushes out over 600 bhp at a modest 8,000 rpm ( the red-line.. if you are feeling bold.. is at 9,150 rpm.) Add to that the two hybrid electric motors ( 270 bhp) and you will find that you have about 875 bhp on tap for your trip to Sainsburys.  If it snows you can rely on the fact that like the 919 it is a 4 x 4 with the petrol engine chugging away doing the back wheels and the washing machine engines looking after the front end. Getting this lot organised and getting all wheels turning to order is Porsche’s very own  7 speed Doppelkupplung PDK gearbox. 

What will she do Mister?  Various figures have been published and there is every indication that the figures are ever so slightly awesome. In optional ‘ Weissach’ trim, which sheds 41kg from the 1,674kg kerb weight due to titanium bolts and magnesium wheels, the 918 will hit 60mph in 2.5 seconds, reach 186mph in just under 20 seconds. 

 The cherry on the cake though is always  a lap of the Nurburgring and Porsche tell us that the car was recently confirmed as the world’s fastest globally road homologated car to the lap the Nurburgring! The record was achieved on September 4th, and saw the 887hp German hypercar sprint around the track in just 6 minutes and 57 seconds! Porsche factory race driver Marc Lieb was at the wheel and the final 6:57secs time shaved a full 14 seconds off the Porsche 918 Spyder’s Nurburgring lap time set last year before Porsche embarked on giving it significantly more power.

For some reason McLaren were a bit cagey about what the P1 has achieved as are Ferrari with their ‘LaFerrari’ . What is even more impressive is that the 918 can achieve astounding fuel efficiency with CO2 emissions of 72g/km and fuel efficiency never seen before in a hypercar. Oh yes and they tell us that it stuffed the fabulous Carrera GT’s time by about two seconds ! 

OK, Porsche are back building ‘proper’ cars so we can forgive them for the Porsche Cayenne and maybe even for the diesel powered  Panamera!

Jock Simpson

WEC 6 HOURS OF SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS THE MAIN EVENT

What a difference a year makes… last year the place was deserted with a smattering of hard core endurance racing fans, this year it was simply heaving!  We are told that 46,000 spectators have been here over the two days.  Helped maybe by a glimpse of the sun plus Mr Webber and Porsche being on parade. We gather that even with a few minutes to go to the start there were still people queuing to get onto the circuit. For all its benefits Spa-Francorchamps is not an easy place to get into. What it must be like for F1 GP is hard to imagine.. and thinking back there was Bernie E giving Silverstone a hard time about access !! However we believe  the ‘Bambino Trust‘ may have a financial interest here at Spa !! 

As always we like making unreliable predictions based on little else but a frank exchange of views over a beer or two, followed by  a moist finger in the wind, but this time we have a bit more feel for things after Silverstone.  During qualifying Porsche found some the raw pace they seemed to be lacking at Silverstone and were looking to challenge Toyota if things went according to plan. However Toyota do look very strong and are not short of speed or talent. Audi may well be playing the ‘long game’ and while they are off the pace they may have to fall back on their  legendary reliability as back up if they want  a podium place. We can’t see them on the top step  of the podium but by attrition they could be there or thereabouts. 

In GT the Porsches shone at Silverstone and picked up some extra ballast for their efforts. Normally they are rather more canny than that and would probably have done a wee bit of sand-bagging leading up to Le Mans. They do have another chance to seek a change prior to Le Mans so maybe there is wisdom at work here. Aston Martin on the other hand under-performed at Silverstone and lost 25 kgs of ballast and as you may recall they came alive during qualifying so were powerful during the race. Ferrari are of course a force to be reckoned with here.

As the pace car pulled off we held our breath expecting the wild west performance that we had at Silverstone. Maybe the team managers had suggested that destroying the car in the first few laps of a six hour race was a bad policy and the start was by previous standards quite sensible. They were joined by the new #13 Rebellion R-One which we thought was starting from the pit lane as a result of not completing enough laps during qualifying. Another surprise was the return of the #37 SMP Racing Oreca 03 that had that hefty thump yesterday. Anyway it emerged with a wheel at each corner and looking fine .

The #20 Porsche was heading the field until it had to pit with a serious suspension problem on the front right and lost the lead. Repairing it wasn't exactly a ‘rapid service ‘ item and it lost 22 laps.. From that point on it became a test session for Le Mans.  It was running way back down the field but still putting in laps on the pace of the front runners.

Marc Lieb lost the lead in the #14 Porsche when it ‘stuttered’ getting away from the pits.. we are not sure if you can stall one these things but anyway the long lap of stutter lost Porsche the lead. Much later in the race the same car, this time driven by Dumas suddenly slowed but didn't pit, then speeded up, slowed and then managed a complete recovery and was back bang on the pace. The problem? Nobody seemed to know or tell us!  But like a computer it appeared that switching it on and off a few times seemed to cure it.. very hi-tech!

Whoever makes the tricky technical decisions about performance in LMGT have done a superb job. There was a race long battle going on involving Ferrari, Aston Martin and Porsche on what seems to be a splendidly level playing field all of them clocking in around 2:20 second laps.

The #92 Porsche left the equation after a long stop (by today’s standards at any rate) when  it needed its power steering and hydraulic fluid topped up. The entire race in LMP and LMGT has been rather like a game of 3D chess! It all came down a slight stutter from the Porsche.. and a last minute stop for tyres when they didn’t quite make it into top three at the flag. There were the  usual canny tactics as always from Audi, but could not match the very strong showing from the Toyotas who seemed far quicker all round than the rest of the Hybrids. When the #20 Porsche rejoined the race, way out of contention. Webber set about putting in lap times around the 2:02.682 sec which was right up with the Audis and Toyotas. It was just fractionally slower than his team mate Jani. 

Much the same applied to LMGT Pro where first the Aston Martins looked very impressive and leading the class but then the ever experienced AF Corse Ferraris came into the mix. Remember they were nowhere at Silverstone! Then #91 Porsche entered the fray, also having worked its way tactically up the field as did the #92 Porsche until it fell away with that stop for hydraulic fluid. It was tremendous stuff and so well matched on performance that it all came down to drivers and tactics. Just what endurance racing is all about.  

There were so many twists and turns it would need a book to cover them all. The new #12 Rebellion car made it to the flag and is all set for Le Mans, a great effort.  Let’s be clear and emphasise that any doubts anybody had about Hybrids have proved to have been unfounded.. the general equalisation and balance of performance throughout were all spot on. There were no safety car interventions, no accidents (except the odd harmless nudge and occasional spin), plus a huge crowd and excellent weather.. what more could we want?

Mind you it was a very convincing win for #08 Toyota .. they didn't put a foot wrong and above all the Toyotas are very quick and must be looking for a podium at Le Mans. The only flaw could be that that like Porsche their tactical options are limited by have just two cars.

You remember we thought that maybe Audi would pull something out of the hat and they did! The #1 Audi never appeared to be quick enough to pull off the second step on the podium but as we often said you simply can’t ignore Audi! It is quite hard to work out how they brought a car home in 2nd place! Audi won’t be over confident and Porsche might still prove to be ‘work in progress’.

Porsche will be unhappy to lose out when pit stop went wrong and the weird electrical gremlin that struck the #14 car. The #20 car had a nightmare event with two broken drive shafts and other problems that kept it out of contention and in the pits for far too many laps.

In LMP2 the #26 G-Drive Morgan-Nissan was a class act and Pla in particular drove superbly.  Gene did his best but simply couldn't crack it. LMP2 is alive and well and with more time and space available we will do a better job covering it at Le Mans.

Whatever you do try and catch up with this race on TV it was a cracker! One thing is certain that if we can carry all this through to Le Mans it should be a classic.. assuming of course all this incredible technology holds together for 24 hours! Club Arnage will be there keep an eye on things as always. 

As always the full results can be found at www.fiawec.com