If
you go down to the woods . . .
Round
2 of the 2009 Le Mans Series looks set to
be one of the highlights of the year, not
only because the Spa 1000 Kilometres has become,
in effect, a dress rehearsal for this year's
Le Mans 24 Hours, but also because the support
bill of races is simply astonishing. The hills
and forests of the Ardennes will reverberate
to the roar and rumble of perhaps the largest
collection of contemporary sports and GT cars
ever assembled . . . and the racing should
be pretty good too.
In
December 2008, with the the global "credit
crunch" (now officially an economic recession)
in full swing, the Automobile Club de l'Ouest
moved to make the sport they govern more financially
manageable. Various proposals were aired and
subsequently enforced, one of which was the
cancellation of the traditional pre-24 Hours
official test. In years gone by this was actually
a "pre-qualification" event, and
those team's entered for the Le Mans 24 Hours
that failed to achieve the necessary times
could (and did) find their entry rejected.
More
recently it lost that competitive edge and
became a straightforward test session, but
still a rare opportunity for teams and drivers
to become acquainted to the full 15 kilometre
Sarthe circuit. From that point of view it
was extremely valuable, and teams could work
on set-up for new cars, and rookie drivers
could learn what is recognised as one of the
sport's most demanding tracks.
While
cancelling the event does save the teams money,
it adds to their Le Mans challenge by changing
the emphasis of the Wednesday and Thursday
qualifying sessions. Exactly how the structure
of these two days may change in 2009 has yet
to be revealed, but the traditional schedule
has seen a pair of two-hour periods of track
action on each evening (7:00pm - 9:00pm and
10:00pm-12:00am), all of them treated as qualifying
sessions. The hope is that Wednesday's periods,
already confirmed as "practice"
events only, will be extended, and may start
earlier in the day, leaving Thursday exclusively
for qualifying.
The
ACO did offer, as a rather unappealing compensation,
an extra track test at Le Mans in late April,
of which more later, but restricted this to
the shorter Bugatti Circuit. With only the
pit straight and Dunlop sections of the main
track included in the Bugatti configuration,
any data collected would be of little or no
value to teams preparing for the 24 Hours,
so take-up was limited to just 11 cars. By
contrast, the famous Belgian circuit at Spa-Francorchamps
offers a far more appealing test venue (and
just as relevant), so this year's Spa 1000
Kilometres has become the effective curtain-raiser
to the Le Mans 24 Hours, and several teams
who might otherwise have given the race a
miss will be present. One of the most anticipated
contests of this year's 24 Hours will be the
battle between Peugeot, Audi and Aston Martin,
and while the R15 will be absent from Spa,
two examples of Peugeot's revised 2009-specification
908 will take part.
A
grid of well over 50 cars is now expected
to take the start for the 1000 Kilometres,
but that's just the top of the bill in what
should be a festival of sportscar racing.
Not only will spectators relish the prospect
of the six-hour LMS feature race, but they
will also have the novelty of the first races
in the all-new Formula Le Mans feeder series,
support events from the combined Belgian,
British and Dutch GT championship, the Classic
Endurance series and also the Radical European
Masters.
The
logistical challenge will be how the organisers
squeeze so much into just three days, but
they've planned to do this by combining the
British, Belgian and Dutch GT races into one,
possibly with as many as 60 cars on track
at the same time, but with the start taking
place either at different locations under
the control of separate pace cars, or at slightly
different times. It should certainly be worth
watching! (Postscript: After several entries
dropped out, the Dutch GT entrants rescheduled
their race to another meeting, and a significant
number of cars suffered terminal shunts in
practice, the final total is much more modest.
As a result a single grid can be set for the
start, but the race should still be good!)
Newcomers
at Spa
With
Le Mans only a few weeks later, a number of
major players have confirmed entries for the
Spa 1000 Kilometres. In LMP1, Team Peugeot
Total has announced that it will be entering
two 908 HDi FAPs, although three had been
anticipated. "Our priority is still Le
Mans and I don't want to see the team tire
itself out by having to prepare three cars
for Spa," explained Peugeot Sport Director
Olivier Quesnel.
The
team has also announced its plans for post-Le
Mans, with factory 908s expected to participate
in Round 3 at Portimão in the Algarve
in August 2nd, and then either at Silverstone
in September or at Petit Le Mans a fortnight
later. Pescarolo Sport will end the season
for Peugeot by entering a single 908 in the
scheduled races at Okayama and Shanghai in
November.
Another
new arrival at Spa in LMP1 is the Team LNT
Ginetta Zytek GZ09S, also with an entry in
the Le Mans 24 Hours. The car will be driven
by Dyson Racing's Guy Smith, a Le Mans winner
with Team Bentley in 2003, alongsdie Robbie
Kerr and team boss Lawrence Tomlinson. It
is a strong line-up in a car that has already
proven its pace, with Strakka Racing's Danny
Watts (photographed above in Team LNT's
Ginetta Zytek GZ09S entry at last year's Petit
le Mans) claiming overall pole at Barcelona
with a similar Ginetta-Zytek chassis.
The
reasoning behind Oreca's strange decision
to test 2008 specification cars at Paul Ricard
became clearer after Barcelona when the team
revealed a pair of all-new chassis at a shakedown
test at the end of April (left).
The new-look cars, built around a Courage-Oreca
tub, feature new suspension, cooling, electronics,
wiring and aerodynamics, are expected to display
the characteristic Lego-block livery in time
for Spa.
Pescarolo
Sport was unlucky not to win in Barcelona,
but their new 2009 specification chassis demonstrated
great pace, and still claimed second at the
chequered flag despite a late flutter. The
team's second car at Spa will be another of
the new-spec chassis, while Oak Racing's LMP2
Pescarolos are also expected to display uprated
features.
Elsewhere
in LMP2, the Team Essex Porsche returns to
the fray, having missed Barcelona despite
an impressive run in the Paul Ricard test.
The Spyders have earned a reputation for being
very expensive to run, and Team Essex is concentrating
its efforts on the Le Mans. As with Peugeot,
the team is viewing Spa as an extended test
for the 24 Hours.
Another
returnee is the Barazi Epsilon Ginetta-Zytek
GZ07S LMP2 (right, at Silverstone last
September), which makes its season debut
at Spa. Team owner Juan Barazi will share
the car with Fernando Rees this year, since
Michael Vergers has departed the squad to
take up a full-season drive with Virgo in
GT2.
Hoping
for a better showing at Spa than the 98-lap
retirement they suffered in Barcelona is the
rookie squad of Q8 Oils Hache Team. The outfit
returned to the Catalunya circuit two weeks
after that disappointment, and completed a
two-day trouble-free test.
As
if they hadn't been delighted enough by finishing
fourth in LMP2, the Bruichladdich Bruneau
Radical team also picked up the Michelin Green
X Challenge award at Barcelona. Pierre Bruneau
suggested that “the Radical is such
a good car that it scores a podium even when
you finish fourth!” No mention was made
of the fact that TV’s wine expert Oz
Clarke and Top Gear’s James May ran
a Radical SR4 on a special distillation of
Bruichladdich single malt whisky late last
year. Although the car ran without problem,
the cost of the fuel at some £26 per
litre makes it unlikely that it will ever
become commonly available on the forecourt.
Performance
Equalisation
In
what was something of a surprise move, the
ACO announced shortly after the last round
in Barcelona that revised regulations would
be introduced in an attempt to achieve better
parity in LMP1, where it had been determined
that the diesel-powered cars still enjoyed
a performance advantage over their petrol-engined
rivals. Considering the relatively poor
performance of the Kolles Audis, neither
of which appeared capable of setting a competitive
pace all weekend, and the outright debut
win by the #007 Aston Martin Lola, this
decision raised quite a few eyebrows. The
ACO stated:
"Analysis
of the performances of the diesel-engined
and petrol-engined prototypes after the
Sebring and Barcelona races showed that
the diesel-engined cars still enjoyed an
advantage. In order to guarantee the equivalence
between the different engines, the ACO,
in keeping with its undertakings, has decided
to impose the following adjustments on diesel-engined
prototypes from the Spa-Francorchamps race
onwards:
Reduction of the orifice of the fuel flow
limiter of the autonomous fuel tank (the
current diameter of 38mm for diesels will
now be the same as that for petrol-engined
cars: 33mm).
An
additional 30 kilos will be added made up
of one or more pieces of ballast sealed
by the scrutineers. Once the ballast has
been removed the car must not weigh less
than 900 kilos.
While this declaration caught most pundits
on the hop, the long-anticipated announcement
involving an addressing of the fuel incompatibility
issue in LMP2 failed to materialise. News
of general dissatisfaction within LMP2 ranks
broke just before Barcelona, with two teams
letting it be known that they were unhappy
with the way the current bio-fuel formulation
favours the normally-aspirated engines.
The issue was effectively confirmed by RML
AD Group it its own post-race press release,
which revealed that the Mazda-Lola's engine
failure at Barcelona had been attributable
to the fuel incompatibility problem.
The
issue first arose at Paul Ricard in March
2008, when RML's MG Lola suffered two catastrophic
engine failures during the official pre-season
test. Subsequent examination by engine manufacturer
AER revealed that the bio-fuel formulation,
introduced new for 2008, was incompatible
with the turbocharged engines. Appeals were
made to the ACO to address the problem,
but nothing was forthcoming, although assurances
were offered that suggested the issue would
be investigated. RML, in common with other
teams running turbocharged engines, were
left with no option but to de-tune their
engines for the remainder of the season.
Frustrated
by a year of having to compete with a power
disadvantage of some 50 horsepower, RML
announced a two-year engine deal with Mazda
from November 2008. While hopes remained
that the incompatibility issue really would
be addressed, the Mazda unit offered the
benefit of being less highly stressed than
the end-of-development MG XP-21, and better
able to cope with the poor quality fuel.
Hopes were dashed when samples of the 2009
specification fuel were analysed, only to
reveal that the quality was actually inferior
to the fuel supplied in 2008, and the affect
on turbocharged engines was (is) likely
to be even more acute.
Proof
of the pudding came with the relatively
poor results achieved by the turbocharged
runners at Barcelona - the best finish coming
from the Bruichladdich Radical in fourth
- and the engine failures suffered by both
the RML and the KSM Lolas. Further appeals
have been made to the ACO.
Formula
Le Mans
This
weekend sees the inaugural races in the new
Formula Le Mans championship. Seen as a feeder
series for the Le Mans Series, and an opportunity
for young up-and-coming drivers to break into
the world of sports prototype racing, Formula
Le Mans is based around the one-make chassis
principal. The cars, developed by Oreca, certainly
look the part, and have all the attributes
and styling of a typical prototype but at
a relatively modest cost. "There are
numerous national and international competitions
in the GT field which ensure a perfect flow-through
[to the higher levels for competitors], however
when it comes to the prototypes this is less
evident; hence Formula Le Mans," says
the ACO.
This
new formula provides exactly that kind of
foundation for those aspiring to move into
LMP1 and LMP2, and should also offer an entertaining
spectacle. Several reputable teams have expressed
an interest, and the series has the wider
support of the industry, so it will be interesting
to see how it develops.
Bugatti
Test
As
mentioned above, the ACO offered the smaller
Bugatti Circuit at Le Mans as a substitute
test for team's preparing for the Le Mans
24 Hours last week (25th-26th April) but only
eleven cars took part in the test. Of these,
just three were LMP2 entrants; the Team Essex
Porsche, the GAC (formerly Trading Performance)
Zytek and the Speedy Sebah Lola. The latter
suffered a serious "off" on the
Sunday morning, causing extensive damage to
the front right three-quarters. The tub was
returned to Lola for repairs, but at the time
of writing there is every expectation that
the chassis will be repaired and back in action
again at Spa.
In
a press conference staged on 24th April, spokesman
for the ACO, Patrick Peter, the Le Mans Series
General Manager, revealed that it is the ACO's
long-term aspiration that the series should
become, in effect, a world series for sportscar
racing. "Our intention is to become the
second biggest World Championship within a
time span of five years," he stated.
"We are entirely convinced that the Le
Mans Series can develop into a fully-fledged
World Championship, and we are doing everything
within our power to support this growth."
