Discussion
ALMS CONTINGENT STRONG IN LE MANS TEST DAY
(Except in GT!!!) Should be an Aston 1&2!!
"Le Mans, France - If Sunday's test day is any indication, teams from the American Le Mans Series will do just fine in the 73rd running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. All 14 ALMS teams posted times during a pair of four-hour sessions at the Circuit de la Sarthe, two weeks before the checkered flag will fall on the world's most famous sports car race.
ALMS entries posted fast times in three of the four classes at Le Mans, a testament to the depth and quality of the series. After taking three of four class titles each of the last four years and at least two every year since 1999, the ALMS is hoping for a sweep of all four classes for the first time."
Blah, blah, blah - non story or what....but then
"In LM GT1, the battle between Aston Martin Racing and Corvette Racing cranked up again with both teams racing against each other for the first time since Aston Martin won in class at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring. A pair of Aston Martin DBR9s took the top two spots in class, more than four seconds ahead of the fourth-place No. 64 Corvette C6-R of Oliver Gavin, Olivier Beretta and Jan Magnussen. The No. 63 Corvette of Ron Fellows, Johnny O'Connell and Max Papis were another two seconds back, sixth in class.
But the story was the continuing resurgence of the Aston Martin, which saw its No. 58 entry of Tomas Enge, Peter Kox and Pedro Lamy post a 3:50.033. "Our lap times today were encouraging. Although this is not necessarily indicative of our performance in the race, it provides a valuable benchmark for the race week ahead," said team principal George Howard-Chappell.
It was a Porsche parade in LM GT2, except for the No. 77 Panoz Motor Sports entry. Leading the way was the No. 90 Petersen Motorsports/White Lightning Racing Porsche of Patrick Long, Jorg Bergmeister and Timo Bernhard. The Petersen/White Lightning team, going for its third straight class title, turned a 4:04.915. That was about 0.1 seconds faster than the Panoz of Bill Auberlen, Robin Liddell and Scott Maxwell. Another 1.5 seconds back, fourth in class, was the No. 70 Alex Job Racing Porsche followed by the No. 80 Flying Lizard Motorsports entry, also a Porsche. The other Panoz, the No. 78, was ninth in class."
(Except in GT!!!) Should be an Aston 1&2!!
"Le Mans, France - If Sunday's test day is any indication, teams from the American Le Mans Series will do just fine in the 73rd running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. All 14 ALMS teams posted times during a pair of four-hour sessions at the Circuit de la Sarthe, two weeks before the checkered flag will fall on the world's most famous sports car race.
ALMS entries posted fast times in three of the four classes at Le Mans, a testament to the depth and quality of the series. After taking three of four class titles each of the last four years and at least two every year since 1999, the ALMS is hoping for a sweep of all four classes for the first time."
Blah, blah, blah - non story or what....but then
"In LM GT1, the battle between Aston Martin Racing and Corvette Racing cranked up again with both teams racing against each other for the first time since Aston Martin won in class at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring. A pair of Aston Martin DBR9s took the top two spots in class, more than four seconds ahead of the fourth-place No. 64 Corvette C6-R of Oliver Gavin, Olivier Beretta and Jan Magnussen. The No. 63 Corvette of Ron Fellows, Johnny O'Connell and Max Papis were another two seconds back, sixth in class.
But the story was the continuing resurgence of the Aston Martin, which saw its No. 58 entry of Tomas Enge, Peter Kox and Pedro Lamy post a 3:50.033. "Our lap times today were encouraging. Although this is not necessarily indicative of our performance in the race, it provides a valuable benchmark for the race week ahead," said team principal George Howard-Chappell.
It was a Porsche parade in LM GT2, except for the No. 77 Panoz Motor Sports entry. Leading the way was the No. 90 Petersen Motorsports/White Lightning Racing Porsche of Patrick Long, Jorg Bergmeister and Timo Bernhard. The Petersen/White Lightning team, going for its third straight class title, turned a 4:04.915. That was about 0.1 seconds faster than the Panoz of Bill Auberlen, Robin Liddell and Scott Maxwell. Another 1.5 seconds back, fourth in class, was the No. 70 Alex Job Racing Porsche followed by the No. 80 Flying Lizard Motorsports entry, also a Porsche. The other Panoz, the No. 78, was ninth in class."
Did anyone see the coverage of the test weekend on Motors TV... They mentioned that the Aston's seemed to be running light weight fuel loads and hence their speed...
Also, they mentioned, and I missed it there is a limited lap time the cars can run, if they go faster they need to have a weight penalties applied.
Can anyone explain all this?
Also, they mentioned, and I missed it there is a limited lap time the cars can run, if they go faster they need to have a weight penalties applied.
Can anyone explain all this?
:MarkB said:
Also, they mentioned, and I missed it there is a limited lap time the cars can run, if they go faster they need to have a weight penalties applied.
Can anyone explain all this?
I will try.....The ACO in their infinite wisdom have decided that any GT1 car consistently lapping at speeds greater than 3:55 will be penalised next year with a weight and/or restrictor penalty. They don't want the GT1 cars finishing ahead of the prototype cars!
Personally I think this is stupid....are they going to penalise the GT2 cars for going fater than the GT1 cars if it happens? Are the LMP2 cars going to be penalised for getting in front of the LMP1 cars?
This is why the Corvettes were running 3:55 pace during the test day as they interpretted the rules as applying to the test day as well as qualifying and the race.
If Aston are only planning in being at Le Mans one year then they won't give a stuff about the penalty for next year.........whereas Corvette have a long-term commitment to the race.
Seems the ACO as usual have got the whole thing wrong.
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