| Changes to Le Mans' safety rules are
likely to make participation more attractive to OEMs. But it could do
so at the expense of the independent teams. Tristan Honeywill
reports
Volkswagen Group has done a lot to raise the profile of Le Mans and the
importance of prototype sportscar racing for manufacturers. The 24-hour
endurance race has been the backdrop to Audi’s introduction of gasoline
direct injection and it has helped it to reinvent Bentley as a performance
brand. It is also helping to win a sceptical US market over to modern
diesel technology. Le Mans has been good for business.
 The
Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO), which organises the event, is
the latest to consider changes to make the competition on its track appear
more relevant. It intends to make its LMP1 prototype – the highest
performance cars on the track – all run with “closed”
prototypes – they’ll have to have a roof. Organisers are also
looking at rules that will mean the racecars have to resemble the OEMs’
road cars. Such cars will be optional in 2010, but compulsory for 2011.
The idea is that it will attract more OEMs to compete and will make the
race more relevant to car enthusiasts. But much of the spectacle’s
appeal to race-goers is that the event is less predictable than other
formulae. There are four different categories of race cars on the track
at the same time and victories by underdogs and independents are possible.
The issue of equivalence between diesel and gasoline engines is already
contentious.
 Audi’s
motorsport director Dr Wolfgang Ullrich hopes that the marque will still
be racing at the French track in 2011. “If so, then we have to think
about how the cars should look like when the rule book is written. We’re
going to have to try to have a little input like all the other constructors.”
Smaller organisations, such as UK racecar firm Lola Cars, will not enjoy
the same levels of consultation from the ACO, however. Chief engineer
Julian Sole is working on a closed LMP1 car, due out next year, but will
have to wait for the rules to be published before he knows whether it
will be able to compete after 2010.
“We work closely with the ACO to construct cars that conform to
the rules,” says Sole. “We don’t have a lot of input
when it comes to writing the rulebook.”
Le Mans needs constructors such as Lola to ensure that privateers are
not only able to take part, but can also challenge for outright victory.
Le Mans is a competitive spectacle. If it wants to attract more OEMs to
the circuit, then increasing the level of competition is essential. “Greater
competition makes the race more interesting and the victory’s value
greater,” says Ullrich. “That’s what we work for.”
One of the highlights of the 2007 race in June was the strong challenge
mounted by French team Pescarolo. The gasoline-powered LMP1 came in third,
just one lap behind Peugeot Sport’s diesel and 11 behind the winning
Audi. With so much riding on a diesel victory, it must have been slightly
worrying for Audi.
The prospect of racing closed prototypes does not faze Ullrich. Although
Audi has favoured open prototypes in the past, it did run a closed car
in 1999. It has also been a little involved in supporting the Bentley
project, also a closed car.
“The main reason for making the R8 and R10 open cars is that the
less pieces a car has, the less failures it can have,” says Ullrich.
“We know you can have good solutions for the doors, but it adds
to the list of things you have to look at.”
The ACO rulebook defines the minimum aperture for the door to ensure medics
can get to the driver in the event of a crash. But getting the driver
in and out efficiently is also an important part of the pit strategy.
“Keeping the doors on a high speed is also a challenge,” says
Sole. “There is a lot of pressure on the doors.” The Lola
B10/10 is due out next year and will undergo testing later this year.
Until then Sole is declining to talk about how Lola has tackled the issue.
A car with a roof should logically be more aerodynamic than an open-top
car, although the ACO rulebook currently compensates for this by making
them run on narrower tyres. But the airflow is not necessarily the most
important consideration, says Ullrich. “If you have rain, you can
do a lot to keep the windscreen clean, but it’s much easier to keep
a crash helmet visor clean.”
It is also easier to keep the driver cool. All the drivers wear racing
suits with special cooling circuits in them, but closed cars must keep
cockpit temperatures within certain values. The organisers monitor this
remotely and can force a stop if the cabin is overheating.
“If you have air conditioning then the cabin temperature must not
exceed 32°C,” says Sole. “If you just use ventilation,
then the cabin must be within 12°C of ambient.”
Changes to the rules that make the LMP1 cars look more like road cars
might be slightly easier for teams that compete in the GT1 class, such
as Corvette and Aston Martin. The cars are based loosely on existing road
cars. The timing could be good for Corvette – it is thought to be
planning a 485kW (650hp) supercharged “Blue Devil” version
around 2009, but the carmaker has declined to comment on its future plans
for Le Mans.
Audi says it has already incorporated some styling cues from the Le Mans
car into production cars such as the R8. But other manufacturers, such
as Peugeot, may find it harder. It’s also not clear where it will
leave constructors such as Lola – they don’t have a road car
to style their racecar after.
 Henri
Pescarolo is not happy with the changes at all: “We’ve just
finished a new car. If they want a complete new car in 2011, we’ll
have to start over again. The timing is completely wrong for us,”
he says.
Pescarolo is more concerned with righting the imbalance between gasoline
and diesel in the short term. He attributes his success this year mainly
to the bad-weather accidents that forced two Audis to retire.
“It took incredible luck. My team can’t continue to compete
with a 100hp handicap,” he says. “The manufacturers are favoured.
In the US a Porsche can beat an Audi because it’s 150kg lighter;
at Le Mans, it’s a question of power.”
Ullrich disagrees. “You have to look at the entire rule book, not
just the page with the power specifications,” he says. “If
a team has a properly optimised sport prototype with a non-diesel engine,
it’s going to present us with strong competition.”
 The
ACO’s rule book has kept the race interesting for engineers over
the years by giving them the ability to choose different engine and vehicle
concepts while retaining a degree of balance. Making all the LMP1 cars
closed could limit this, but there will be greater choice in the permitted
powertrains: hybridisation could level the playing field with diesel.
Audi will race the diesel again next year and perhaps in 2009, but after
that it will look to bring some other new technology to the circuit. Hybrids
are the logical next step. “If somebody thinks that’s the
right way to go, we’ll do it,” says Ullrich.
Audi’s successful relationship with Le Mans has been based on introducing
new technologies there, winning quickly with them and using the victory
to promote the technology in its road cars. It can be good for the industry,
but it won’t reduce the widening technology gap between independent
race firms and OEMs.
© Automotive Engineer, 2007 |
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