The Official American Le Mans Series 2009 Thread
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The Official American Le Mans Series 2009 Thread
The Official 2009 ALMS Thread
Face it: There's not a lot of innovation going on in motorsport right now. Road racing in the US is some kind of small niche sport, but in the rest of the world it's huge. ALMS was created in 1999 and has steadily increased in interest and support. The fan base has been steadily growing. The last few seasons have had more and more close, tight races in multiple classes. Manufacturers are coming to the sport because it is one of the few places left in motorsport they can develop competitive cars and technologies that have some utility in actual road-going cars. Formula 1 has been regulated into oblivion, NASCAR is more entertainment than sport. IRL is somewhere in between. American Le Mans Series is a proving ground for the big show: the 24 hours of Le Mans in France. Despite the economic downturn and a few teams pulling out of various events, there's a lot happening in ALMS. This is where we talk about it.
Watch SpeedTV's online camera feeds during live races on your computer. It's pretty awesome to watch 5 drivers simultaneously in the heat of battle!
Changes for 2009:
Porsche pulls out of LMP1
Audi and Peugeot feature diesel dominance to LMP1
Acura joins LMP1 with a unique car design and a naturally aspirated 4.0L V8.
Audi may only race at Sebring and Petit Le Mans, but there are rumors the Audis may come to Laguna Seca for the finale.
Corvette moving from GT1 to GT2 after Long Beach
Events:
March 21st: 57th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring presented by Fresh from Florida, TV Live on SPEED
April 4th: Acura Sports Car Challenge of St. Petersburg, TV: Live on ABC
April 18th: Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, TV: ABC, tape delayed 4/19
May 17th: Larry H. Miller Dealerships Utah Grand Prix presented by the Grand and Little America Hotels, TV: Live on SPEED
American Le Mans Northeast Grand Prix
Acura Sports Car Challenge
Road America 500
Mobil 1 presents Grand Prix of Mosport
Petit Le Mans
Monterey Sports Car Championships
Notable Drivers:
Franck Montagny (F1)
Sebastien Bourdais (F1)
Christian Klien (F1)
someone tell me some other notable drivers and what series they were in.
Results:
57th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring http://www.americanlemans.com/events...%20Results.pdf
Points Standings:
LMP1:
LMP2:
GT1:
GT2:
Face it: There's not a lot of innovation going on in motorsport right now. Road racing in the US is some kind of small niche sport, but in the rest of the world it's huge. ALMS was created in 1999 and has steadily increased in interest and support. The fan base has been steadily growing. The last few seasons have had more and more close, tight races in multiple classes. Manufacturers are coming to the sport because it is one of the few places left in motorsport they can develop competitive cars and technologies that have some utility in actual road-going cars. Formula 1 has been regulated into oblivion, NASCAR is more entertainment than sport. IRL is somewhere in between. American Le Mans Series is a proving ground for the big show: the 24 hours of Le Mans in France. Despite the economic downturn and a few teams pulling out of various events, there's a lot happening in ALMS. This is where we talk about it.
Watch SpeedTV's online camera feeds during live races on your computer. It's pretty awesome to watch 5 drivers simultaneously in the heat of battle!
Changes for 2009:
Porsche pulls out of LMP1
Audi and Peugeot feature diesel dominance to LMP1
Acura joins LMP1 with a unique car design and a naturally aspirated 4.0L V8.
Audi may only race at Sebring and Petit Le Mans, but there are rumors the Audis may come to Laguna Seca for the finale.
Corvette moving from GT1 to GT2 after Long Beach
Events:
March 21st: 57th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring presented by Fresh from Florida, TV Live on SPEED
April 4th: Acura Sports Car Challenge of St. Petersburg, TV: Live on ABC
April 18th: Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, TV: ABC, tape delayed 4/19
May 17th: Larry H. Miller Dealerships Utah Grand Prix presented by the Grand and Little America Hotels, TV: Live on SPEED
American Le Mans Northeast Grand Prix
Acura Sports Car Challenge
Road America 500
Mobil 1 presents Grand Prix of Mosport
Petit Le Mans
Monterey Sports Car Championships
Notable Drivers:
Franck Montagny (F1)
Sebastien Bourdais (F1)
Christian Klien (F1)
someone tell me some other notable drivers and what series they were in.
Results:
57th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring http://www.americanlemans.com/events...%20Results.pdf
Points Standings:
LMP1:
LMP2:
GT1:
GT2:
Last edited by falcongsr; Mar 23, 2009 at 05:32 PM.
Painting Masterpieces
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 7,962
Likes: 14
From: Tulsa, OK, USA
Re: The Official American Le Mans Series 2009 Thread
Intro into the Acura ARX-02A
from Autosport
After two years learning the ropes in LMP2, Acura is gunning for overall victory in this year's Sebring 12 Hours. AUTOSPORT takes a look at the super-sophisticated machine its pinned its ALMS title hopes on.
Acura had just claimed its first American Le Mans Series pole position when the brains behind its still-new LMP2 contender was given a new challenge.
Nick Wirth, whose eponymous company was responsible for the P2 racer, was asked to come up with a way of beating the turbodiesels with a petrol-powered LMP1 prototype. The result is the radical Acura ARX-02a.
That was way back in April 2007, when Dario Franchitti claimed overall pole at Long Beach at only the third event for the Courage-based ARX-01a. What followed at Wirth Research was nearly two years of hard graft dovetailing the design of a new P1 with the near-constant development that turned the P2 car into both an overall victor and a regular class winner.
Later this month, at the Sebring 12 Hours, the world will finally find out if the novel solutions Wirth and his team have employed will be enough to overcome what he states is still a "significant power disadvantage" in comparison with Audi and Peugeot’s diesel-powered machinery.
"We had to present a credible project to the racing-savvy board at [Acura parent company] American Honda at a time when petrol-powered cars were getting torn apart limb by limb by the diesels," says Wirth. "The challenge put to me by Acura was: we want to do P1, so you had better put your thinking cap on."
That thought process has resulted in what Wirth has variously described as "a sportscar on steroids", "an F1 car in terms of the level of engineering and the materials used", and "the most nimble and agile LMP1 car ever built". He's not so much bragging as pointing out that there was no option but to get creative in face of opposition from the diesels.
"If we were going to beat the diesels," he 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.
Wirth is grateful for a Le Mans rulebook that allowed "a window of opportunity to find an advantage". Some clear blue-sky thinking resulted in the decision to put rear tyres on the front of the car because "the more rubber you get on the track, the faster you
are going to go".
There is a second advantage from running the wider 16in Michelin rear tyre, which puts down approximately seven per cent more rubber than a traditional front tyre: "The idea of getting more tyre on the road reduces our reliance on aero in the corners," says Acura driver David Brabham, who leads the Highcroft Racing squad. "We haven't had enough traffic in testing to know how much of an advantage it's going to be, but that's the idea."
Putting big tyres on the front comes with its own set of problems, explains Wirth: "To succeed, we knew we'd have to work those tyres hard, and that means adjusting weight distribution," he says. "The other factor conspiring against us was that putting big wheels up front is terrible for the aero."
Wirth was confident the concept worked long before his company started laying up carbon or cutting metal. The reason is tucked away at the back of one Wirth Research's four buildings on an inconspicuous Bicester trading estate: Brabham was driving virtual laps aboard the ARX-02a a full eight months before the car was built.
Testing in virtual reality may be able to confirm performance, but it can't validate reliability. Which is why Acura knew it had to get out early with a car that Wirth concedes is a complicated beast.
Just three weeks after the end of last season's ALMS, the first ARX-02a hit the track at Sebring.
"It's fair to say there have been a number of issues, none of which I want to go into," says Wirth. "We began to see the light at the end of the tunnel at the Sebring open test [at the end of January] and there has been further improvement since."
Exactly how far the two Acuras – the Highcroft car and the sister De Ferran Motorsports entry – went without problems during a 12-hour test at Sebring in February remains a secret. Suffice to say it wasn't 12 hours.
Wirth is, however, confident in the run-up to the car's first big examination in competition – and perhaps its only big challenge this season, given Audi's absence from the ALMS post-Sebring.
"There was a concern that we may have bitten off more than we could chew," he says, "but at the eleventh hour the car seems to be succumbing to our relentless pressure to fix these issues.
"We hope to provide some entertainment at Sebring," he adds. "And if we don't, it won't be through lack of trying."
from Autosport
After two years learning the ropes in LMP2, Acura is gunning for overall victory in this year's Sebring 12 Hours. AUTOSPORT takes a look at the super-sophisticated machine its pinned its ALMS title hopes on.
Acura had just claimed its first American Le Mans Series pole position when the brains behind its still-new LMP2 contender was given a new challenge.
Nick Wirth, whose eponymous company was responsible for the P2 racer, was asked to come up with a way of beating the turbodiesels with a petrol-powered LMP1 prototype. The result is the radical Acura ARX-02a.
That was way back in April 2007, when Dario Franchitti claimed overall pole at Long Beach at only the third event for the Courage-based ARX-01a. What followed at Wirth Research was nearly two years of hard graft dovetailing the design of a new P1 with the near-constant development that turned the P2 car into both an overall victor and a regular class winner.
Later this month, at the Sebring 12 Hours, the world will finally find out if the novel solutions Wirth and his team have employed will be enough to overcome what he states is still a "significant power disadvantage" in comparison with Audi and Peugeot’s diesel-powered machinery.
"We had to present a credible project to the racing-savvy board at [Acura parent company] American Honda at a time when petrol-powered cars were getting torn apart limb by limb by the diesels," says Wirth. "The challenge put to me by Acura was: we want to do P1, so you had better put your thinking cap on."
That thought process has resulted in what Wirth has variously described as "a sportscar on steroids", "an F1 car in terms of the level of engineering and the materials used", and "the most nimble and agile LMP1 car ever built". He's not so much bragging as pointing out that there was no option but to get creative in face of opposition from the diesels.
"If we were going to beat the diesels," he 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.
Wirth is grateful for a Le Mans rulebook that allowed "a window of opportunity to find an advantage". Some clear blue-sky thinking resulted in the decision to put rear tyres on the front of the car because "the more rubber you get on the track, the faster you
are going to go".
There is a second advantage from running the wider 16in Michelin rear tyre, which puts down approximately seven per cent more rubber than a traditional front tyre: "The idea of getting more tyre on the road reduces our reliance on aero in the corners," says Acura driver David Brabham, who leads the Highcroft Racing squad. "We haven't had enough traffic in testing to know how much of an advantage it's going to be, but that's the idea."
Putting big tyres on the front comes with its own set of problems, explains Wirth: "To succeed, we knew we'd have to work those tyres hard, and that means adjusting weight distribution," he says. "The other factor conspiring against us was that putting big wheels up front is terrible for the aero."
Wirth was confident the concept worked long before his company started laying up carbon or cutting metal. The reason is tucked away at the back of one Wirth Research's four buildings on an inconspicuous Bicester trading estate: Brabham was driving virtual laps aboard the ARX-02a a full eight months before the car was built.
Testing in virtual reality may be able to confirm performance, but it can't validate reliability. Which is why Acura knew it had to get out early with a car that Wirth concedes is a complicated beast.
Just three weeks after the end of last season's ALMS, the first ARX-02a hit the track at Sebring.
"It's fair to say there have been a number of issues, none of which I want to go into," says Wirth. "We began to see the light at the end of the tunnel at the Sebring open test [at the end of January] and there has been further improvement since."
Exactly how far the two Acuras – the Highcroft car and the sister De Ferran Motorsports entry – went without problems during a 12-hour test at Sebring in February remains a secret. Suffice to say it wasn't 12 hours.
Wirth is, however, confident in the run-up to the car's first big examination in competition – and perhaps its only big challenge this season, given Audi's absence from the ALMS post-Sebring.
"There was a concern that we may have bitten off more than we could chew," he says, "but at the eleventh hour the car seems to be succumbing to our relentless pressure to fix these issues.
"We hope to provide some entertainment at Sebring," he adds. "And if we don't, it won't be through lack of trying."
Honda-Tech Member
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 2,532
Likes: 1
From: MKE
Re: The Official American Le Mans Series 2009 Thread
After watching 'TruthIn24' I realize that I need to get into the ALMS not only because it's awesome, but also because there are races I can actually attend here in the US!
What kind of coverage does SpeedTv usually provide, or should I look elsewhere for coverage?
What kind of coverage does SpeedTv usually provide, or should I look elsewhere for coverage?
Painting Masterpieces
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 7,962
Likes: 14
From: Tulsa, OK, USA
Re: The Official American Le Mans Series 2009 Thread
Junior Member
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 21
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From: Reppin' the 262
Re: The Official American Le Mans Series 2009 Thread
FYI, Porsche was in LMP2, but is now out. Corvette racing is switching to GT2 after LeMans. Mazda has 2 P2 Coupes run by Dyson Racing. Also 2 new BMW M3's run by Rahal-Letterman Racing.
Painting Masterpieces
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 7,962
Likes: 14
From: Tulsa, OK, USA
Re: The Official American Le Mans Series 2009 Thread
Intro to the Audi R15 TDI
-from Autosport
Audi has gone all out to win Sebring and Le Mans in 2009, and has built the brand new R15 TDI to make sure it gets the job done. AUTOSPORT takes a closer look at the German marque's most radical prototype yet.
Peugeot beware: Audi has gone to town on its new Le Mans 24 Hours challenger.
The R15 TDI is new in every area, from the weird-looking aerodynamics at the front, through its V10 turbodiesel engine, to the gearbox at the rear. That has to be bad news for anyone looking to usurp the German manufacturer as the undisputed King of La Sarthe. If it could win Le Mans last year with the ageing, even outmoded R10, then what chance for its rivals against this car?
The R15, which goes head to head with Peugeot's 908 HDi on its race debut in this weekend's Sebring 12 Hours, is variously described by the key players at Audi Sport as "a big step forward", "all-new in every respect" and "an entirely new concept".
Perhaps more worryingly for Peugeot, "it does all the things that the R10 didn't do", according to 2008 Le Mans winner Allan McNish.
The R10 broke new ground. After all, it was the world's first purpose-designed diesel racing car. It was radical in that sense, but conservative in many others. Or, in the words of Audi Sport engine boss Ulrich Baretzky, "conventional and courageous at the same time".
Audi went with a V12 engine configuration for the R10 because building a diesel racing engine was a step into the unknown. As a result, it ended up with a long and heavy powerplant that compromised the car's handling. Audi Sport technical director Wolfgang Appel concedes that there was no attempt to push the envelope on chassis development.
"No one knew where the problems would be with a diesel-powered car and for that reason all the other components were within the range of what we knew," he says. "That's very different to this car."
Audi Sport boss Wolfgang Ullrich describes the R15 as "a totally new concept, even if it is not our first diesel". Ask him what has been carried over from the R10 and he has to think about it: "Good question. Erm. The wheel nuts, I think."
There was no other choice for Audi but to build a new car for 2009. What's more,
it knew it had to be inventive if it was to close the clear performance advantage enjoyed by Peugeot at Le Mans last June. A well-driven 908 had routinely lapped the Circuit de la Sarthe up to four seconds quicker than the best of the R10s in last year's race.
The writing was on the wall for the R10 from the moment Peugeot arrived on the scene with its 908 HDi in 2007.
A new LMP1 for 2008 was never a possibility, because there was the little matter of developing a new DTM car, the R14. "The capacity we have means that it would have been nearly impossible to do two major projects," says Ullrich. "But when we took the decision not to build a new car for 2008, it was clear that we would have to do one for 2009."
The programme
The fact that the R15 is scheduled to race just twice this season is something Ullrich insists he is "not happy about". Audi's withdrawal from the ALMS after nine seasons – and nine drivers' and nine manufacturers' titles – must have been particularly galling for Audi because the R15, unlike its predecessors, has been designed with the demands of racing in the US in mind.
"It is easy to see that the car has been developed to be fuelled from both sides," explains Ullrich. "Only in America do you have anti-clockwise tracks and that means there is an advantage to being able to refuel on the left. There are other things as well."
Reports that the Joest team will return to the ALMS for the final two races at Road Atlanta and Laguna Seca have been denied by Ullrich. He insists that comments made by Audi chairman Rupert Stadler have been "interpreted optimistically. This is not planned at present. If there are to be any additional races we need to find additional money, and at the moment we are not talking about increasing budgets."
Aerodynamics and engine
The R15's front end ensures the new car isn't a thing of beauty. Appel confirms that Audi has followed the Formula 1 practice of venting the raised nose to "create low pressure at the front and increase downforce".
Audi has opted for the same top-mounted rear wing as Acura, where it is dubbed a 'quiller'. Appel explains that there is an advantage to mounting the wing from above because of the step angle at which a 2009-spec wing needs to be mounted to achieve the necessary downforce. "Because the wing is narrower and the profile length shorter, you have to incline it more than normal," he says.
Baretzky and his team at Audi Sport's engine headquarters in Neckarsulm were charged with producing an engine smaller and lighter than the existing V12. That led to the decision to do a V10.
There are two reasons why Audi has been able to lose two cylinders in the name of size and weight. "We have gained so much experience with the V12 that we could contemplate making the same power with 10 cylinders," says Baretzky. "The second reason is that we knew the day would come when there would be a cut in the restrictor size for diesels and a cut in maximum power.
"That came last September and it made our job easier."
Driving the R15
"Let's put it this way: I had a smile on my face after my first lap in the car," says Allan McNish. "The R15 did everything I wanted it to do, all the things the R10 didn't do."
The longer-wheelbase R15 is a more nimble racing car than its predecessor, according to McNish.
"It's a lot more agile," he says. "It has a more positive front end, which suits my driving style." On the other hand, "it is still very much an Audi," he says. "You could tell from the moment you got in the car that it was designed by the same group of people."
-from Autosport
Audi has gone all out to win Sebring and Le Mans in 2009, and has built the brand new R15 TDI to make sure it gets the job done. AUTOSPORT takes a closer look at the German marque's most radical prototype yet.
Peugeot beware: Audi has gone to town on its new Le Mans 24 Hours challenger.
The R15 TDI is new in every area, from the weird-looking aerodynamics at the front, through its V10 turbodiesel engine, to the gearbox at the rear. That has to be bad news for anyone looking to usurp the German manufacturer as the undisputed King of La Sarthe. If it could win Le Mans last year with the ageing, even outmoded R10, then what chance for its rivals against this car?
The R15, which goes head to head with Peugeot's 908 HDi on its race debut in this weekend's Sebring 12 Hours, is variously described by the key players at Audi Sport as "a big step forward", "all-new in every respect" and "an entirely new concept".
Perhaps more worryingly for Peugeot, "it does all the things that the R10 didn't do", according to 2008 Le Mans winner Allan McNish.
The R10 broke new ground. After all, it was the world's first purpose-designed diesel racing car. It was radical in that sense, but conservative in many others. Or, in the words of Audi Sport engine boss Ulrich Baretzky, "conventional and courageous at the same time".
Audi went with a V12 engine configuration for the R10 because building a diesel racing engine was a step into the unknown. As a result, it ended up with a long and heavy powerplant that compromised the car's handling. Audi Sport technical director Wolfgang Appel concedes that there was no attempt to push the envelope on chassis development.
"No one knew where the problems would be with a diesel-powered car and for that reason all the other components were within the range of what we knew," he says. "That's very different to this car."
Audi Sport boss Wolfgang Ullrich describes the R15 as "a totally new concept, even if it is not our first diesel". Ask him what has been carried over from the R10 and he has to think about it: "Good question. Erm. The wheel nuts, I think."
There was no other choice for Audi but to build a new car for 2009. What's more,
it knew it had to be inventive if it was to close the clear performance advantage enjoyed by Peugeot at Le Mans last June. A well-driven 908 had routinely lapped the Circuit de la Sarthe up to four seconds quicker than the best of the R10s in last year's race.
The writing was on the wall for the R10 from the moment Peugeot arrived on the scene with its 908 HDi in 2007.
A new LMP1 for 2008 was never a possibility, because there was the little matter of developing a new DTM car, the R14. "The capacity we have means that it would have been nearly impossible to do two major projects," says Ullrich. "But when we took the decision not to build a new car for 2008, it was clear that we would have to do one for 2009."
The programme
The fact that the R15 is scheduled to race just twice this season is something Ullrich insists he is "not happy about". Audi's withdrawal from the ALMS after nine seasons – and nine drivers' and nine manufacturers' titles – must have been particularly galling for Audi because the R15, unlike its predecessors, has been designed with the demands of racing in the US in mind.
"It is easy to see that the car has been developed to be fuelled from both sides," explains Ullrich. "Only in America do you have anti-clockwise tracks and that means there is an advantage to being able to refuel on the left. There are other things as well."
Reports that the Joest team will return to the ALMS for the final two races at Road Atlanta and Laguna Seca have been denied by Ullrich. He insists that comments made by Audi chairman Rupert Stadler have been "interpreted optimistically. This is not planned at present. If there are to be any additional races we need to find additional money, and at the moment we are not talking about increasing budgets."
Aerodynamics and engine
The R15's front end ensures the new car isn't a thing of beauty. Appel confirms that Audi has followed the Formula 1 practice of venting the raised nose to "create low pressure at the front and increase downforce".
Audi has opted for the same top-mounted rear wing as Acura, where it is dubbed a 'quiller'. Appel explains that there is an advantage to mounting the wing from above because of the step angle at which a 2009-spec wing needs to be mounted to achieve the necessary downforce. "Because the wing is narrower and the profile length shorter, you have to incline it more than normal," he says.
Baretzky and his team at Audi Sport's engine headquarters in Neckarsulm were charged with producing an engine smaller and lighter than the existing V12. That led to the decision to do a V10.
There are two reasons why Audi has been able to lose two cylinders in the name of size and weight. "We have gained so much experience with the V12 that we could contemplate making the same power with 10 cylinders," says Baretzky. "The second reason is that we knew the day would come when there would be a cut in the restrictor size for diesels and a cut in maximum power.
"That came last September and it made our job easier."
Driving the R15
"Let's put it this way: I had a smile on my face after my first lap in the car," says Allan McNish. "The R15 did everything I wanted it to do, all the things the R10 didn't do."
The longer-wheelbase R15 is a more nimble racing car than its predecessor, according to McNish.
"It's a lot more agile," he says. "It has a more positive front end, which suits my driving style." On the other hand, "it is still very much an Audi," he says. "You could tell from the moment you got in the car that it was designed by the same group of people."
Honda-Tech Member
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 8,117
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From: Toronto, Canada but from Montreal
Re: The Official American Le Mans Series 2009 Thread
I believe Mika Salo (F1) is racing one of the Ferrari F430, Dario Franchitti (IRL), Gil De Ferran (IRL), Frank Montagny (F1)
Last edited by DaveSi677; Mar 23, 2009 at 08:16 PM.
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Honda-Tech Member
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From: Toronto, Canada but from Montreal
Re: The Official American Le Mans Series 2009 Thread
Btw I think this is an amazing for of racing... not only threw great pace but also great time work!
Nothing like seeing the mechanics changing a clutch in the middle of the race and get there guy out asap... very intense!!!
Nothing like seeing the mechanics changing a clutch in the middle of the race and get there guy out asap... very intense!!!
Brand New
Joined: Jun 2008
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From: California
Re: The Official American Le Mans Series 2009 Thread
Honda-Tech Member
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 8,117
Likes: 1
From: Toronto, Canada but from Montreal
Re: The Official American Le Mans Series 2009 Thread
Also found this... make you see how every form of racing can help one and other!
Dr. Mario Thessien from BMW Sauber, who is also BMW Motorsports Director, was present for the return of BMW in ALMS... He explains how its important for BMW to be racing in North America!!!
http://www.americanlemans.com/index_news.php?n=12620
Dr. Mario Thessien from BMW Sauber, who is also BMW Motorsports Director, was present for the return of BMW in ALMS... He explains how its important for BMW to be racing in North America!!!
http://www.americanlemans.com/index_news.php?n=12620
Re: The Official American Le Mans Series 2009 Thread
besides speed touring watchin alms in person is probably my fav type of motorsport to watch. mainly due to the fact of all four classes out there battling so there is tons of action. closely followed by monster jam. .kidding. .lol.
Brand New
Joined: Jun 2008
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From: California
Re: The Official American Le Mans Series 2009 Thread
In the race at Monza last year, (I can't remember which car) one of the R10's got into a horrific crash that took out 3/4 of the body, underbody, and suspension. The team swarmed the car and was back out in 15 minutes as if it looked untouched. The Joest team is amazing in the pits.
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From: Toronto, Canada but from Montreal
Re: The Official American Le Mans Series 2009 Thread
Here is a pic of him in action this weekend at Sebring!!!
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From: Toronto, Canada but from Montreal
Re: The Official American Le Mans Series 2009 Thread
The Audi's changed out faulty gearboxes in the R8's (number 7 and 8) at Le Mans back in 2000 in 5.5 minutes. Of course the modular design helped out quite a bit.
In the race at Monza last year, (I can't remember which car) one of the R10's got into a horrific crash that took out 3/4 of the body, underbody, and suspension. The team swarmed the car and was back out in 15 minutes as if it looked untouched. The Joest team is amazing in the pits.
In the race at Monza last year, (I can't remember which car) one of the R10's got into a horrific crash that took out 3/4 of the body, underbody, and suspension. The team swarmed the car and was back out in 15 minutes as if it looked untouched. The Joest team is amazing in the pits.
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Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 8,117
Likes: 1
From: Toronto, Canada but from Montreal
Re: The Official American Le Mans Series 2009 Thread
Agreed! I can't wait for the next round... hopefully the Acura team will not run into any mechanical problems!!!
Honda-Tech Member
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 1,476
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From: West Palm Beach, Fl, USA
Re: The Official American Le Mans Series 2009 Thread
I was at Sebring... and it was the most boring ALMS race I’ve been to. I hate what the diesels have done to the sport...
Brand New
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 9,657
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From: California
Re: The Official American Le Mans Series 2009 Thread
I think he means they don't have the screaming prototypes any more (I'm with you on that). Instead you have low humming diesels with more air noise than engine roar. It was funny to listen in on the on-board shots with McNish. You can hear the tire squeal that on any other petrol powered prototyped would have been drowned out my the engine.
However, it was the pace that both the diesel powered cars that caught my attention. They broke the distance record and walk all over the competition. The Acura's still have some teething problems and hopefully they'll rectify those issues with the hydrolics when June comes.
However, it was the pace that both the diesel powered cars that caught my attention. They broke the distance record and walk all over the competition. The Acura's still have some teething problems and hopefully they'll rectify those issues with the hydrolics when June comes.
Honda-Tech Member
Joined: Jul 2004
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From: Florida
Re: The Official American Le Mans Series 2009 Thread
I know Pole position hardly means much for longevity in ALMS, but the Acura was there. They have the potential speed, even without the power.
Honda-Tech Member
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 1,476
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From: West Palm Beach, Fl, USA
Re: The Official American Le Mans Series 2009 Thread
Tell me... how can a car with equal HP and same weight ever beat a car with twice as much torque? Audis and Pugs should have laid down 143s in qualifying for Sebring... I have no idea why they didn’t.
BTW... Acura ISNT going to LeMans... and the only reason distance records were set was because of the lack of cautions... Lack of cautions came from a pathetic number of cars on the starting grid.
I hate being so negative
But I've seen this series have so much potential and it seems as if its all blowing away this season.One glimpse of hope is Panoz has announced the development of a closed cockpit front engine LMP1. Its to use a Chevy power plant and is being designed in house.
Last edited by Timmah!!; Mar 24, 2009 at 09:21 AM.
Honda-Tech Member
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 1,476
Likes: 1
From: West Palm Beach, Fl, USA
Re: The Official American Le Mans Series 2009 Thread
All the P2 acura has to do is finish 70% of every race to win the P2 title.... not getting any points at Sebring KILLED the Dyson Mazdas. As far as P1... they are the only cars running the full season so its no doubt they'll "win"
