The Exciting Sounds of Le Mans

In the age of instant everything it's hard to imagine experiencing the 24 Heures du Mans  on a vinyl LP  yet,  in 1967 that was as close as an enthusiast could get get without traveling to northern France.

Published by Decca/ London Records and chronicles the sounds and atmosphere of the 1966 edition of the endurance classic.    Copies of the LP occasionally pop up at auction

The 84th edition of the 24 hours of Le Mans will take place this week end and will be broadcast and streamed in real time to the whole planet but take a moment to travel back to another, simpler time.

Embed from Getty Images

"The Mulsanne Straight at night - In the distance a 7-Litre Ford prototype is heard at 210 miles an hour. As it roars past on its way to the sharp right-hander at Mulsanne Village another is heard hurtling up from the left and slowing down for the turn. In their wake the pack follows: the fiery red Ferraris of Italy, the long-tailed Porsches from Germany, the vivid blue Alpines from France. As the cars from eight countries devour the night, the commentary sets the scene for this greatest race of all."



"The preparation - At the beginning of the week cars and mechanics arrive in Le Mans and settle into the host of garages scattered around the ancient city. Favourites to win the race outright are Ferrari - lurking in the former municipal slaughter-house - and Ford, who have set up a sort of miniature racing car factory in the big Peugeot garage on the outskirts. Will Ford be the first American car to win the race? After 34 years, in which Britain, France, Italy and Germany have shared the spoils, and the United States has tried so hard with her Stutz, her Chrysler and her Cunningham, at least it seems possible for Ford to take the outright prize across the Atlantic. Carroll Shelby, entrant of three of the Fords, and himself a former winning driver in 1959 at the wheel of an Aston Martin, is optimistic as he talks in the garage."

This is the Ferrari 488 GTE that will fight Ford GT at Le Mans.

First pictures of Ferrari's first turbo race car since the F40 era.

The 488 GTE will challenge the Team Ganassi Ford GT  at Le Mans in 2016,  it should be an epic battle.

Seen here testing at Vallelunga driven by Gimmi Bruni and Davide Rigon, the 488 will be built both in GTE spec (cost 630,000 Euros) and in GT3 trim.

Both models are expected to debut at the 2016 Rolex Daytona 24  next January.

(via Autosprint)

Welcome back Ford!

Before Ford revealed its return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans to the world, it was already secretly testing the vehicle it would use to compete on the track.

Ford Performance is giving fans around the world an exclusive look at the Ford GT race car’s first shakedown test.

Four Ford GTs will compete next year under the Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates banner – two in the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship (United States) and two in the FIA World Endurance Championship.

This first official test kicked off the “Road to Daytona” – the seven months Ford and partners Multimatic, CGR and Roush Yates Engines would have to prepare for the GT’s first 24-hour race, the 24 Hours of Daytona.

Endurance Racing: From Lemons to Le Mans

You know driver coach.Ross Bentley from his Speed Secrets series of books, perhaps you subscribe to his great Speed Secrets Weekly newsletter or shared his Instructor Manifesto.   

Maybe you've read the many How to Drive Faster  articles he has written for Axis,  Ross always has thought provoking tips on practicing the sport we love, better.

Ross' latest is about the ever more popular endurance format.   "Endurance Racing: from Lemons to Le Mans" is a downloadable e-book available free of charge. 

Below is the introduction.  to download the complete book, follow this link

There’s something magical about endurance racing... driving long stints and the rhythm you get into, passing and being passed, night driving, adapting to changing conditions, dealing with problems, strategy and teamwork, and finding the perfect compromise of seating and handling setups between drivers.

Watch Steve McQueen’s classic movie, Le Mans, or Audi’s documentary, Truth in 24, and you can’t help but get caught up in the romanticism of the marathon struggles at the legendary French race. But what about the Rolex 24 at Daytona, Sebring 12-Hour, or Petite Le Mans? Chumpcar World Series and LeMons? Thunderhill 25-Hour? Club enduros? All classics from the day they were born because of what they are, and the tremendous effort individuals and teams put into them.

Endurance racing is challenging, fun, physically and mentally demanding, and... well, sometimes frustrating!

Why frustrating? Because endurance racing can be painful. But like running a marathon, every little bit of pain is worth it. Of course, that’s what you often say about a month after an endurance race.

Sometimes, you finish an endurance race, and immediately promise yourself (and anyone else who will listen) that you’ll never do it again because it was painful, challenging, tiring, and frustrating! And it’s because the reward doesn’t always seem to equal the demands. Often, the second an endurance race has been run, you can hear dozens of people swearing they’ll never do it again.

So, why does that decision change so often? Why do we go back to doing another endurance race, and then another, and then another? Mostly because our memories are flawed. It seems that about three weeks after you swear on a stack of bibles that you’ll never do another enduro again, you think to yourself, “Well, I probably will never do another one again. Okay, it could happen, but it’s unlikely.”
Then, a couple of weeks later, when the pain and difficulty of your previous endurance race has faded from your memory, you publicly announce that you’re going to do that race again – and win it! It’s drawn you back into its web.
And that’s how so many drivers and teams feel about endurance races. They’re addictive. They’re the ultimate motorsport challenge. It’s a love/hate relationship.

Endurance races can be just about any length, from a couple of hours to twenty- four and beyond. One way to define an endurance race is the requirement of more than one driver. I’ve written this guide with that definition in mind.

This eBook started life as a simple bullet-pointed document full of thoughts, tips, and ideas about endurance racing for a team that I was coaching at the Daytona 24-Hour race. Since then, I’ve
expanded it. While endurance races are long, my goal for this eBook is to make it short and to the point, kind of a sprint race format of information for endurance racers - just enough information to make you think, and to give you the key guidelines to improve your chances of being successful.
Along with my tips and advice, I’ve added some personal stories, so you can learn from my experiences.

I realize that not everyone reading this will drive at Daytona or Le Mans. Many will be competing in club events or one of the “low-cost endurance” races (LeMons, Chumpcar, American Endurance Racing, World Racing League, etc.). I’ve competed in almost all levels and types of endurance races, and I’ve noticed that the approach, the preparation, and how you actually drive in them is very similar. I think you’ll find most of what I’ve written will apply to whatever form of endurance race you’re competing in.

Photos: BMW AG, Porsche, Audi, Bentley, Nissan and Aston Martin Press.

Check out the amazing viewing setups of Le Mans 24 fans

Le Mans fans are a rabid bunch and as you read this, many are hunkered down in their man caves (mostly, I'm sure) determined not to miss a single moment of the French classic.

Live feed?  Check
Timing and scoring?  Check
Onboard cameras?  Check
Radio LeMans audio?  Check
Andy Blackmore spotter guide?  Check
Nourishment?  Check
What comes after nourishment?  Some have that covered as well!

Midweek Motorsport Collective  on Facebook, has been encouraging members to post their viewing setups.

Amazing,  check it out.   (have a cool setup, tweet it to @axisofoversteer and I will add!)

Before it was cool...

A ferrari catches fire...
Posted by Axis of Oversteer on Thursday, June 11, 2015

... as our friend Guillaume says.

By the way,  I met Luc Merenda  about a year ago on the Côte d'Azur.   He's now an antique furniture dealer but he still has the same look and swagger.   A cool dude.

It's no chicane time at Monza.

Every year, around this time, teams will hire the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza for some special high speed testing ahead of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.



Check out the 2015 AUDI R18 E-TRON Quattro woosh around the Curva Biassono at the end of the main straight.    The chicane is not used and the car turns in flat after accelerating all the way from the apex of Parabolica, the only thing slowing it the scrub of its tires.

Yes, the sound is awful but that's  220 mph +  around a flat corner!

Impressive.

Allan Simonsen killed in Le Mans Crash

Danish driver Allen Simonsen has died from injuries incurred as a result of a high speed crash at Le Mans.   Simonsen lost control of his Aston Martin at Tetre Rouge and slammed into a section of guardrail which is only inches from enormous trees.  It was clear from post accident pictures that the Aston made contact with these trees

We find it shocking there could be a similar safety failure, where two trees are valued more than a man's life.

A very sad day.

Simonsen seemed to put the two outside wheels  on the painted surface on the outside of the fast left leading onto the Mulsanne straight.  The car snapped and slammed into guard rail.

Mercedes Gets A Helping Hand But Sanctions Are Looming

There is not way around it: even if Monaco is the track that, in theory, puts the least amount of stress on tires and where passing is so difficult Perez with half a front wing gone could keep cars behind at bay for two laps,   implications of the so called "secret" Pirelli test with Mercedes after Barcelona loom large.

Not to take too much away from Nico Rosberg,  he's been consistently fast and Mercedes were strong in  Monaco even last year.  Nico drove a great race despite the two safety cars and the red flag.   But the tire test, conducted using the 2013 W04 chassis just stinks.

Mercedes is not the only team who got a "special" Pirelli test this season,  Ferrari had one after Bahrain but, it was with a 2010 chassis.  The Mercedes test was  with the current 2013 car, in part with development rubber and in part, and crucially with new "Canada spec" revised Pirellis.   For as much as Pirelli and some parts of the  motoring press might call it  a teacup tempest, it's still 1000 km in a current car.      Giorgio Piola had commented Mercedes would run a revised suspension for Monaco and perhaps their improved tire wear comes from that if indeed they used it.  What's unknown is if they used the Pirelli session to test their own new components.




As for the rest of the race, we saw Ferrari struggle badly with Massa's bizarre doppelgänger crashes and Alonso forced to settle for the long game, in the end gaining a few points on Raikkonen and losing a few to Hamilton and Vettel.    



Perez and Sutil were the joker in the Monaco deck.  Perez drove, appropriately I suppose, like someone who has nothing to lose, because he doesn't :   his funding seems secure and Mclaren needs him more than Button for the immediate future.   His tactic of "I'm going, you either move or we both crash"  worked better with "gentleman" Jenson and Alonso than with Raikkonen who ended up with a warning from the FIA.



"Machete" Sutil had a fine race as did Vergne.  Vettel and Webber just cruised along, Vettel catching a lucky break with the first safety car.  Hamilton either sacrificed his race or was sacrificed by the team,  not sure which.

But all this is meaningless if "testgate"  is not resolved properly,   there are rumors of an exclusion for Mercedes from the Canadian GP!

Audi R18 E-Tron At 212 Mph Sounds Like Nothing From This World

Audi was testing in Monza recently, to simulate the Mulsanne straight the chicanes were opened up and for the first time in god knows how long (or since the last high speed test...)  a car has had a flat-out run at the Biasonno turn (you may know it as Curva Grande).

Hard to tell for sure but I don't think they lifted at all making corner entry in the 330/340 kmh range. The turn is not banked, that's just amazing.

Huge Crash at Le Mans

Both are committed to the turn, Davidson tries to squeeze a late pass. Perazzini in the Ferrari should have let the pass happen earlier but he can't just disappear either.

Both drivers got out on their own.

Check out the crash at full speed. You can see how air moves the Toyota as it flies through the air!

Ride in the Audi R18 e-tron at night.

Tom Kristensen, Audi R18 e-tron in third night qualifying for the 2012 Le Mans 24 Hours.

Want more? check out a night lap in the Corvette C6 ZR1 after the jump

Siffert-Bell

1971 Porsche 917, Siffert-Bell by Rainer Schlegelmilch

Toyota TS030 test session and onboard video

Pin It

First tests for the Toyota TS030 hybrid LeMans racer at Circuit Paul Ricard.
What's certainly striking is the car sounding like a electric go-kart from hell while in pit lane.
I'm not sure what the point of all that is but certainly Toyota Motorsport's experience with the Nürburgring record holder Alpha1/EV P001 must have come in handy.


More videos after the jump

Smartycam at LeMans

IMSA GT3 Challenge competitors at last week race in Montreal were warned by FOM that if any onboard cameras were found a mega ( and I mean MEGA) fine would be levied.
I guess "all your pictures belongs to us" when it comes to Bernie's empire who after all needs to buy his 22 year old daughter a modest residence in Bel Air. The saddest part of course is that the IMSA race go no exposure or broadcast anywhere outside of the on track jumbotrons.

The ACO is apparently much more lenient . Here is some onboard from a Smartycam mounted in the Robertson Racing Ford GT of Mr and Mrs Robertson and David Murry.

Interesting to learn that the Mulsanne straight is not the fastest part of track anymore, top speed looks to be in the section from Mulsanne corner to Indianapolis: 176mph for the Ford. Of course even at those speeds the GT cars get passed by the prototype cars like they are standing still...end of post

Rule makers vs Engineers: Episode 174

The rear wing of the OAK Racing LMP1 Le Mans racer, bizarre, isn't it? Care to venture a guess?

No they are not vortex generators, the answer is both more pedestrian and much more fascinating as part of the never ending battle between those who write the rules and those who get paid to bend them until they are broken.
Find out after the jump.



As Race Car Engineering and Mulsannecorner.com explain, LMP1 regulations mandate a 20mm gurney flap at 90 degrees to a virtual plane connecting the highpoint of the wing to the rear lip. With mandated power reductions in 2011 teams have been striving to reduce drag more than to find more downforce and a tall 90 degree flap is not what you want on the long straights of the Sarthe.

The solution found by OAK Racing engineers, simple if not very esthetically pleasing, turns 90 degrees into 120 and is illustrated in the drawing below.

Le Mans Lizards

Axis of Oversteer wishes Spencer Pumpelly and the Flying Lizards monster grip and long stints for the 2011 24 Heurs du Mans this coming week end!

Turn in early with big speed!



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Las 24 Horas de Le Mans

"Corrèr es vida... todo lo que occurre antes o despuès es solo una espera."

So much of the web's motorsport content is in English, one day there will be a Spanish language edition of Axis. In the meantime, please enjoy this totally illegal, will probably get taken down right away, Spanish version of the McQueen classic....

Gracias a todos por sintonizar Axis!
I'm off to Europe, I'll be at the Monaco Gp, maybe some of you will be there as well?
.

Le Mans and Sebring in 8mm

Axis readers are the best resource for interesting stuff: Jonny Shears set us a clip he edited from old 8mm films shot in the 60's at Le Mans and Sebring by his grandfather who, at time, used to manage the OSCA team.

Jonny is himself quite handy with the camera, check out his web site portfolio at jshearsphotography.co.uk. Thank you!


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2011 Porsche GT3 RSR

Here is the 2011 Porsche GT3 RSR. Full details and more pictures after the jump. I uploaded desktop sized pictures you can download on our Flickr! account.





(hit ''full screen'' for added fun!)

Debut for the 2011 version of the world’s most successful GT race car


Stuttgart. The Porsche 911 GT3 RSR takes off into the new motorsport season with extensive modifications. The 2011 version of the world’s most successful GT race car celebrated its international premiere at the “Night of Champions” party held at the R&D Centre in Weissach to mark the end of the motorsport season. Priority in the further development of the GT3 RSR was given to the newly designed aerodynamics at the front and rear, changes to the suspension kinematics and to the engine.

The 4.0-litre, six-cylinder boxer engine now delivers 455 hp (335 kW) at 7,800 revs, five horsepower more than its predecessor. The power increase results from an engine management system which adapts even better to different fuel grades, as well as a redesigned exhaust system and a modified air intake housing. Moreover, the driveability of the famously efficient engine has undergone further improvements. Maximum revs remain unchanged at 9,400 rpm.

Clearly visible are the modifications to the front. A new front lip provides higher downforce at the front axle. The front wheels are now wider with the rims growing from 11 to 12 inches giving additional grip and less of an understeering tendency. The position of the rear wing and the shape of the wing mounting also underwent optimisation and were adapted to the new rear fairing with additional air outlet louvers. The rear lid was also redesigned for optimised air ducting. Like the 911 GT3 Cup and the GT3 R, the RSR has now been equipped with the LED rear lights taken from the latest 911 road-legal cars.

The 911 GT3 RSR joins the 911 GT3 R and the 911 GT3 Cup as the top model of Porsche Motorsport’s product range. The successful long distance racer from Weissach can be ordered now at a price of 410,000 Euro plus country-specific value added tax. All 2011 modifications are available as a kit for GT3 RSR cars from the 2010 season.

Technical description Porsche GT3 RSR (2011 model year)
Engine
Water-cooled six-cylinder boxer engine; 3,996 cc; stroke 80.4 mm; bore 102.7 mm; 455 hp (335 kW) at 7,800 rpm; max. torque 450 Nm; air restrictors 2 x 28.6 mm; max. revs 9,400 rpm; four valve technology; dry sump lubrication; individual throttle butterflies; fuel injection.

Transmission
Porsche six-speed gearbox with sequential jaw-type shift; oil/water heat exchanger, single-mass flywheel; hydraulic disengagement lever; three-plate carbon-fibre clutch; rear wheel drive; limited slip differential 45/65 percent.

Body
Monocoque body (basis GT3 RS) of hot-galvanised steel; aerodynamically optimised front end with front spoiler; aerodynamically optimised front underfloor; adjustable rear wing; 90-litre FT3 safety fuel tank with fast filling function; air jack; welded-in safety cage; race seat (driver’s side only) with flame retardant upholstery; six-point seat belt adapted for use of the HANS Head and Neck Support; electric fire extinguishing system.

Suspension
Front axle: McPherson spring strut axle; Sachs four-way gas pressure dampers; double coil springs (main and auxiliary); front axle arms adjustable for camber; adjustable sword-type anti-roll bar; power steering.
Rear: Multi-arm axle with rigidly mounted axle sub-frame; Sachs four-way gas pressure dampers; double coil springs (main and auxiliary); rear axle tie-bar reinforced and infinitely adjustable; adjustable sword-type anti-roll bar. Complete suspension infinitely adjustable (height, camber, track).

Brake system
Brake system with balance bar control.
Front: Single-piece six-piston aluminium fixed callipers; inner vented, 380 mm diameter; racing brake pads.
Rear: Single-piece four-piston aluminium fixed callipers; inner vented, 355 mm diameter; racing brake pads.

Wheels
Front: Three-piece BBS light-alloy wheels (12J x 18 ET 34); central bolt.
Rear: Three-piece BBS light-alloy wheels (13J x 18 ET 12.5); central bolt.

Electrical system
Motec display with integrated data recording; multi-function display with integrated gearshift indicator; adjustable traction control; battery: 12 volt, 80 Ah, 140 Ah alternator.

Weight
1,220 kg

(Porsche PR)