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Posted: 19 Jun 2006, 17:53
by DaveKillens
It was an interesting 24 hours, I watched most of it on SpeedTV in Canada.
Truly an amazing show of force by Audi, to accomplish what they did. Yea, they had tons of experience and resources. But to field a totally new engine type and achieve such success is amazing. My congratulations and respect to Audi, for such a result.
Posted: 19 Jun 2006, 18:34
by West
vyselegend wrote:Could only see the last 4 hours of the race... I'm not really surprised by Audi's win, since they allready showed their power in Sebring 12 hours, but I was stunt by their pace! I expected them to win with less pit stops due to less fuel consumption, but not to be so dominant on the track! The gap with Pescarolo was the same as last year, but on the other side, around 2 / 3 seconds a lap for the Audis. How did they achieved such a powerfull diesel engine?!
One thing I noticed is that the Audis seemed quite more comfortable with the track bumps than the Pescas, which were looking very nervous on the front end. Their suspentions probably were a little too stiff because of a lower ride height, that's the impression I've got.
Bravo for the Corvette! The new chevy is taking revenge for the years of Viper dominance, very interesting. I can't wait to see Dodge's counter measure.
I don't think Chrysler is coming back soon, if at all. A while ago they said that they don't feel it's necessary to compete at this level. Probably an excuse saying they don't want to or can't afford it. People race their club racers on Speed TV World Challenge, but that's about it. That car is fast but not a "Le Mans Spec" type of car.
Posted: 19 Jun 2006, 20:06
by vyselegend
If you're right, West, I found it sad. The 'vette and the Viper are the two only american cars I love, and so I'd like very much to see a tight match between those two... Before the Viper, nobody would believe that Dodge/Chrysler, was going to come to that level in LMS. But the car performed really well, and is already a legend now. The new corvette is taking revenge, but if Dodge is far down the grid, it's only because the Viper chassis is ten years old now! I'm sure they can up their game if they invest in a new model developpement.
West wrote: Probably an excuse saying they don't want to or can't afford it.
I agree this sounds like poor excuses, but I can't believe they didn't see any return on investment in the last ten years. Their car was
looking great at the begining, but if people know it is a really strong car, it's thanks to it's succes in famous events as Le Mans, LMS and ALMS. So I don't understand why they withdraw here. Too bad...
Posted: 19 Jun 2006, 20:42
by RacingManiac
Viper was a great car, just last weekend I think a GTS-R finished 4th or something in the 24 hours of Nurburgring(Nordschleife). It is no longer at the sharp end of the spectrum, but its longitivity is undeniable.....
Posted: 19 Jun 2006, 22:15
by Apex
First things first. I love Diesel power, the economy and sound and everything about them! My next road car will be diesel for sure - I have never heard of someone switching back to petrol after having a diesel!
Is it really fair to be running a turbo vs NA? I'm not so sure....
Posted: 19 Jun 2006, 22:44
by West
If you can convince ORECA to tell Chrysler/Dodge to let them race Vipers, maybe we'll see them again...
Posted: 20 Jun 2006, 16:24
by RacingManiac
Apex wrote:First things first. I love Diesel power, the economy and sound and everything about them! My next road car will be diesel for sure - I have never heard of someone switching back to petrol after having a diesel!
Is it really fair to be running a turbo vs NA? I'm not so sure....
You can have turbo charged petrol engine too at Le Mans, though at the moment the rule equivelency for diesel favors diesel. Petrol turbo charged car are limited to 4 liter, while diesel is at 5.5(which not surprisingly, is what Audi and Peugeot chose), and they are allowed to use variable geometry turbo, which is banned for petrol car. Some of their advantage is cancelled out on pit stop duration, as diesel flows slower than petrol and Le Mans only uses gravity fed fueling, not forced like F1. But then diesel needs less pitstop anyway.