de Ferran claims pole in LMP1
Fernandez Lowes Acura P1 in LMP2
Gavin C6R P1 in GT1
Werner/Farnbacher Racing P1 in GT2



http://www.americanlemans.com/index_news.php?n=12579

 

im excited. i am going to watch the beginning and then work. but i will be home to watch the end!

 

Ive been waiting for this moment all winter, it's going to be a good race LMP1 1st thru 5th within 10ths of a second.(the hair on my arms is standing with excitement). On speed channel the preview is on now.

 

Leaving today for the race, should be a damn good time.

 

Lucky you. Have a blast.

Joe D.

 

Got the DVR set up. Speed has a about 11 hours of coverage. That'll fill up my DVR...

 

1. Gil de Ferran, Brazil; Simon Pagenaud, France; Scott Dixon, New Zealand; Acura ARX-02a (P1), 1:45.278, 126.522
2. Rinaldo Capello, Italy; Tom Kristensen, Denmark; Allan McNish, Scotland; Audi R15 TDI (P1), 1:45.360, 126.424
3. Nicolas Minassian, England; Pedro Lamy, Lisbon Portugal; Christian Klien, Austria; Peugeot 908 HDI FAP (P1), 1:45.462, 126.301
4. Lucas Luhr, Germany; Mike Rockenfeller, Germany; Marco Werner, Germany; Audi R15 TDI (P1), 1:45.551, 126.195
5. Stephane Sarrazin, France; Franck Montagny, Brignoles France; Sebastien Bourdais, France; Peugeot 908 HDI FAP (P1), 1:45.559, 126.185
6. David Brabham, Australia; Scott Sharp, Jupiter, FL; Dario Franchitti, Scotland; Acura ARX-02a (P1), 1:46.504, 125.066
7. Adrian Fernandez, Mexico; Luis Diaz, Mexico; Acura ARX-01B (P2), 1:49.686, 121.438
8. Chris Dyson, Pleasant Valley, NY; Guy Smith, England; Andy Lally, New York, NY; Lola B09 86 Mazda (P2), 1:51.534, 119.425
9. Jon Field, Dublin, OH; Clint Field, Dublin, OH; Chapman Ducote, Miami, FL; Lola B06/10 AER (P1), 1:52.323,
10. Bryan Willman, Kirkland, WA; Chris McMurry, Phoenix, AZ; Tony Burgess, Canada; Lola B06/10 AER (P1), 1:51.598, 119.357
11. Butch Leitzinger, State College, PA; Marino Franchitti, Scotland; Ben Devlin, England; Lola B09 86 Mazda (P2), 1:51.840, 119.099
12. Oliver Gavin, England; Olivier Beretta, Monaco; Marcel Fassler, Switzerland; Corvette C6-R (GT1), 1:57.882, 112.994
13. Johnny O’Connell, Flowery Branch, GA; Jan Magnussen, Denmark; Antonio Garcia, Spain; Corvette C6-R (GT1), 1:58.203, 112.687
14. Wolf Henzler, Germany; Dirk Werner, Germany; Richard Lietz, Austria; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (GT2), 2:03.051, 108.248
15. Jörg Bergmeister, Germany; Patrick Long, Oak Park, CA; Marc Lieb, Germany; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (GT2), 2:03.433, 107.913
16. Luis Companc, Argentina; Gianmaria Bruni, Italy; Mathias Russo, Argentina; Ferrari 430 GT (GT2), 2:03.487, 107.866
17. Mika Salo, Finland; Jaime Melo, Brazil; Pierre Kaffer, Germany; Ferrari F430 GT (GT2), 2:03.829, 107.568
18. Andrea Robertson, Ray, MI; David Robertson, Ray, MI; David Murry, Cumming, GA; Doran Ford GT MK 7 (GT2), 2:04.333, 107.132
19. Dirk Mueller, Germany; Tom Milner, Leesburg, VA; BMW E92 M3 (GT2), 2:03.514,
20. Dominik Farnbacher, Germany; Ian James, England; Panoz Esperante GTLM Ford (GT2), 2:04.437, 107.042
21. Joey Hand, Sacramento, CA; Bill Auberlen, Hermosa Beach, CA; BMW E92 M3 (GT2), 2:04.566, 106.931
22. Joel Feinberg, Ft. Lauderdale, FL; Chris Hall, Daytona, FL; Ritchie Holt, Davie, FL; Dodge Viper Comp Coupe (GT2), 2:05.619, 106.035
23. Paul Drayson, London, UK; Jonny Cocker, UK; Robert Bell, UK; Aston Martin Vantage GT2 (GT2), 2:05.692, 105.973
24. Nicky Pastorelli, Netherlands; Hans Stuck, Germany; Hans Joachim Stuck, Austria; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (GT2), 2:05.805, 105.878
25. Lou Gigliotti, Dallas, TX; Eric Curran, Easthampton, MA; Lucas Molo, Brazil; Chevrolet Riley Corvette C6 (GT2), 2:06.678, 105.148
26. Tracy Krohn, Houston, TX; Nic Jonsson, Sweden; Eric van de Poele, Belgium; Ferrari F430 GT (GT2), 2:08.386, 103.750
27. Darren Law, Phoenix, AZ; Seth Neiman, Burlingame, CA; Johannes van Overbeek, San Francisco, CA; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (GT2), 2:10.912, 101.748
28. Richard Westbrook, England; Marc Basseng, Germany; Lance David, Germany; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (GT2), No Time

 

What happened to the Acura LMP1 cars? I was out of town...

 

one of them had problems with the hydrolic system, the other....i forget, i think drive shaft or something

 

They broke. Slow too.

On a more serious note, Audi really has the deck stacked in terms of drivers. Kinda sucks for the other teams even if they build a fast car (read Peugot, now Acura)

 

In the LMP1 category, Acura made its ALMS debut with the de Ferran Motorsports and Patron Highcroft Racing operations and the all new Acura ARX-02a sports car. Indy 500 winner Scott Dixon put the No. 66 de Ferran XM Radio Acura on the pole Thursday with a stunning run against sports-car stalwarts Audi and Peugeot.

The two new Acura LMP1 prototype machines ran well in the 12-hour ALMS season opener but were forced to the garage area before the checkered flag was thrown. The de Ferran team of Dixon, team owner Gil de Ferran and young star Simon Pagenaud challenged the pair of Audi and Peugeot cars but retired at the eight-hour mark due to a front suspension problem.

The No. 9 Patron Highcroft Acura, with David Brabham, Dario Franchitti and Scott Sharp driving, was running in the top five overall at 10 hours when a transmission malfunction sent the car to the garage.

The all-new Acura LMP1 cars, with 4-liter, normally aspirated V-8 engines, came to Sebring with a revolutionary chassis design from Honda Performance Development [HPD] and Wirth Research that featured the same Michelin tires on the front and rear wheels for more traction. It made for one of the best-handling sports cars ever designed for the American Le Mans Series.

 

I don't know what happened to the pace of the Peugeots in the last 2 hours of the race. As soon as it was out of S. Bordais hands it was lapping 1:47-9/lap while McNish lapped in 1:44-5/lap consistantly until the end. Bordais was pushing and got fast lap for a while with a 1:43.xx. I wonder if it had anything to do with the 7 Peugeot retiring with gearbox issues that the team deemed it necessary for the 8 to back off of the pace and just bring it home.

As for the Audi's, the R15's looked like a blend of the old R8's and R10's. The pace between the Peugot's and the Audi's were for the most part equal with the slight advantage to the French Manufacturer. It was amazing to see how agile the R15's were while they were pressuring the 908's coming into turn 1. All in all it was an evenly matched race where strategy again prevailed over all out pace.

 

So I hear that the Acuras were at a 100+hp disadvantage against the Peugeots and Audis. Ouch.

I watched as much as I could, but the start was harbinger of things to come. It was painful especially after so much promise. Acura just didn't have the race pace.

 

I've seen the Acura's run at Limerock last year and they were impressive. An Acura actually placed 1st.

Both Acura's were sidelined with drivetrain problems and weren't able to finish Sebring.

 

last i heard(which could be wrong), audi only says they are at 500+ horse power, so we are sure exactly how much they have

 

WTF, 100 hp disadvantage? Wow, I hope they can continue develop the car to be competitive and a few year and take the crown from Audi.

 

Acura says Audi is at 750-800hp. I'll get the source text tomorrow.

 

According to wiki its rated at over 592hp and 774lb-ft of torque. Its a lighter more effiecient engine than the previous one. They basically came out with a brand new car and engine to tromp the Peugeot for two races.

 

"If we were going to beat the diesels," Nick Wirth argues, "it was pretty clear that we couldn't leave anything on the table."

The ARX-02a was conceived to go around the corners quicker than its rivals. He insists that superior cornering is still required after regulation changes for 2009 that have reduced the diameter of the diesels' air-restrictors by 10 per cent.

"I don't believe that they have massively more power than us – I know they do," says Wirth.

If a good, normally-aspirated petrol engine such as Acura's four-litre V8 pushes out approaching 650bhp, then how much power does he reckon the diesels have? A first estimate of 700bhp is greeted with a raised finger pointing towards the ceiling. The same gesture follows the suggestion of 725 horses. The digit remains raised when the bidding gets to 750.

- from Autosport

 

i think i remember the commentator saying that the audis were at about 650 bhp and over 1000 pound feet of torque

 

I think that they are really over looking the torque factor. 1000 lb-ft is a ton of pulling power. I'm not entirely sure about this but I would think that they could feasibly run a taller gear with all the extra torque. Does that sound right?

 

I think the R15's had their torques limited.

 

I am really loving these races... It really is amazing to watch the whole crew working at fixing the car up to get it back on track!

 

HP is a function of rpm and torque so torque is integral to the discussion, IMHO. Gearing would be dictated by where the engine makes power so Audi could very well be running a much taller gear ratio.

 

The Audi has about 800 lb-ft of torque... There was no way the Acura could keep up at a track like Sebring. Other then the pug at the heals of the Audi it was by far the most boring race I've ever attended. I hate diesel prototypes...

BTW... only 14 cars took the checkerd flag.