Le Mans 24h Race - 2012

[Steven]

True, but then again the #1 was on pole and led the race most of the time, so they deserved that win pretty much as well.

It was a real pity that Toyota were so quickly out of the game. In fact I missed both of them going out, so when I got back, I saw 4 Audis at the front. I was somewhat pleased to hear that Toyota actually put up a fight for the lead, which is also something I had not expected.

[Holm86]

Yes the #1 Audi definitely deserved to win. But of course i was cheering for the #2 as Tom Kristensen is a dane as my self.

I hope they would stick Lotterer in the car next year instead of McNish. But thats just unrealistic.

The Toyotas could be a real competitor to Audi if they sort out reliability issues. And stay away of the LMP1 killers (That would be the Ferraris.)

[RacingManiac]

So Peugeot was no competition? Toyota and Porsche aren't going to be competition? Audi has pulled out and gotten back into Le Mans with new multi-year efforts before.

Well yes, that was certainly a modicum of hyperbole, but if I recall correctly Renault stopped supplying engines in F1 in the late 90s because they'd won so much there was no incentive anymore.

Problem is for Renault, F1 offers no marketing opportunity except they can say the winning engine was theirs, but nothing of that engine shares with the products they sell. Audi is doing a good job not only on engineering to actually build winning cars, they have constantly been able to market their success. They used it to introduce the TFSI that is now in every single Audi gasoline road car. They use it to promote TDI technology with the success of the R10, and introduce the "Ultra" lightweight marketing scheme that all the next gen Audi will follow as the entire VAG group platforms will go on a diet. Now that eTron won Le Mans, they will no doubt promote their future hybrid product also. Toyota may have had the first successful hybrid car for people to buy, Audi will forever be able to claim the first hybrid to win Le Mans. And being a AWD "quattro" car, that neatly fits the whole brand's history being the innovator of AWD road car also...

[Lycoming]

Toyota certainly aren't far off. Its difficult to read this years performance, as one car was taken out needlessly and the other suffered quite a bit of crash damage before retiring with engine troubles. But they can definitely push the Audis hard in the next few years. Of course, the real fun will start when porsche gets back in the game...

[bhall]

Question: Didn't the ACO adopt regulations demanding F1-style "shark fins" expressly to prevent the kind of accident Davidson experienced? If so, it didn't seem to help at all. In fact, it looks as though it actually played a role in the roll, so to speak.

[raymondu999]

I'd think it's more to prevent a spin or lateral roll, rather than a "wheelie cartwheel"

[skgoa]

Huh? The fin stops a car from rolling over in a spin or when catching a little bit of air by going over the kerbs to hard. That actually worked pretty well, in a number of crashes. But a Ferrari running into you is a completely different problem. It was momentum, not an aerodynamic effect. There is nothing you can do about that.

[bhall]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fzw5i14ewXY[/youtube]

In the video, the car slides laterally then the right side lifts off the ground. Whether this is initiated due to pressure underneath the car or on the shark fin, I don't know. But after the car starts to lift, it appears that the air pressure on the shark fin actually helped the car twist while airborne.

[raymondu999]

I'm not catching on to your reasoning here. How do you isolate the sharkfin's aero effect, and how do you conclude that this effect helped the roll?

[bhall]

I'm not concluding anything; I'm just asking. But, I didn't really explain my thought.

The basis for my thought is that once the right side of the car was lifted, air pressure on the underside of the car clearly contributed to its liftoff. At the same time, it reoriented the shark fin away from the car's CoG. So, in addition to the pressure on the right side of the floor that pushed the car up, pressure on the reoriented shark fin, which was effectively then the top-left of the car, pushed the car down. Hence, the violent twist around the car's CoG.

The effect wasn't long-lived, because the floor eventually prevented air flow from reaching the fin. But, it doesn't take much force to have a profound effect, especially in a 180 MPH collision. Or so my reasoning goes.

[skgoa]

The Ferrari pushing onto the other side of the car MIGHT have been a factor. *cough* As soon as the car started to flip, the fin wasn't exposed to the oncoming airstream anymore.

[bhall]

The Ferrari pushing onto the other side of the car MIGHT have been a factor. *cough* As soon as the car started to flip, the fin wasn't exposed to the oncoming airstream anymore.

I'm sorry. I thought that was so obvious it didn't require a mention.



The Ferrari's right side dug into the pavement after the collision as it decelerated. The Toyota slid over the curb, which I missed before, and that slight change of elevation was enough to put sufficient air pressure under the car to lift it off the ground.

I've already stated that the fin wasn't exposed to the air for very long. Yet, I still wonder if the shark fin exacerbated the problem, because the car twisted violently while airborne.

[RacingManiac]

The Toyota also lost its rear wheel after the initial hit from the Ferrari, so the car is already sitting with its nose up on the right side as it starts to spin, probably letting more air underneath the car than it otherwise would have...

[shelly]

I think bhallg2k has a good point. At 90° yaw the fin has a big effect on the rolling moment that starts the roll.
@skgoa: you are too quick at dismissing others' ideas. think a little bit more and you will see what bhallg2k is saying

[Ray]

From the behavior of the car in the air, it appeared that the shark fin forced the car back to nose first in the direction of travel. It may not have helped keep it from flying, but it sure straightened it out really well.