Le Mans 24h Race - 2012

[Pandamasque]

In the 6 Hours of Spa the top 3 LMP2 spent an average of 25 minutes in the pit-stop, so can we obtain with a simplistic mathematical calculus(very very approximately) the time needed for Le Mans 24h (100 mins)? Is this realistic?

I'm not sure... anyone else?

Why would you spend 25 minutes in the pits during a 6h race? Surely there must have been serious issues. A 6 hour race wouldn't require more than 5 pit-stops including only 2 or 3 tire changes tops. That's like 30-35 seconds on average + whatever it takes to drive through the pits x5.

[wesley123]

You seem to forget they need to change the drivers, fill the car up and change tires one by one. This all costs time, 2-3 mins pit stops arent that rare

[Pandamasque]

You can change the driver while refueling, as well as clean the headlights and/or windscreen. You are not allowed to do other things though. The repairs and other things are performed after the refueling, during the tire-change.
The normal practice is to change drivers only when you need to change tires, in this case you have a bit more time for all the procedures like seat belts/drink bottle/radio/transponder etc etc.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSKx0dZSQaY[/youtube]

[Ray]

What was the purpose of restricting the teams to using only one air gun on pit stops? Not being allowed to work on the car or change tires while refueling makes sense, but why only one wheelgun per side? That seems like an arbitrary and useless rule to have.

[Pandamasque]

Less wires, less people = less to run over, knock over, drag through the pit-lane etc. It's usually very crowded as it is, especially at Le Mans.

[Ray]

That makes sense. I thought it was more of a performance balance for the open vs closed cockpit cars. I heard that everyone, no matter what you are doing, has to wear some sort of head protection while in the pitlane. That's going a bit far in my opinion.

[fenix4life]

but why only one wheelgun per side?

I think it was added to avoid having too much difference between small teams and big teams. Some teams would not have the money to have a second wheelgun or a person with a second wheelgun ready to come in action.

[Steven]

To get yourself ready for this weekend's Le Mans, check RCE's preview:
http://www.racecar-engineering.com/arti ... l-preview/

[JayeOFarrell]

Here is some on bored footage of the Nissan Delta wing from I think Snetterton. It looks planted with no understeer at all on this occasion however I am still having a hard time imagining what it would be like to drive, for instance you are spotting the apex half a meter out from the norm and also if the back end stepped out, I wonder what it would be like to correct and how that feel would be translated to the driver?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3qSMauvYks

[skgoa]

[youtube]http://youtu.be/7AlUd75NyYk[/youtube]
[youtube]http://youtu.be/ofKGYsHa85U[/youtube]
[youtube]http://youtu.be/FGtuMjuIr-s[/youtube]
[youtube]http://youtu.be/G96YNrmC2ic[/youtube]
[youtube]http://youtu.be/7ntMK4TAKrw[/youtube]
[youtube]http://youtu.be/BLbVHsDU5xc[/youtube]
[youtube]http://youtu.be/Acyb7YkRiY4[/youtube]
[youtube]http://youtu.be/9E0qtiHXSTs[/youtube]
[youtube]http://youtu.be/luEZqZAbfdE[/youtube]

[Steven]

Ouch, early error for Jaime Melo in the Ferrari. Apparently the team miscalculated the fuel consumption. After his first 14 laps, he's out of fuel when entering the pitlane. Some marshalls push him until the car ends up at his pitbox.

Not a great way to lose the lead in the class...

[andartop]

Amazing live feed from the audis:

http://www.audi-liveracing.com/desktop/ ... sp?l=en_US

And from Nissan:

http://live.nissan.co.uk/uk/base/deltawinglive

(Unfortunately the feed from the delta wing is currently not working, but there is a cam from Greaves)

[Guisson]

Wow the TS030 aren't that far from the Audis ! ! This is a surprise

[Red Schneider]

I'm not sure why Dumas binned it, but pretty awesome improvisation getting out and ripping off the bodywork, then trundling back to the pits.

[Ray]

What a stupid move from that Ferrari. They've got to have sight problems in that car because that's the second huge accident a 458 has caused.