Aston Martin

[Digger Man]

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/89690


http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/89689

Edited by Digger Man on Tuesday 8th March 09:57

[robmlufc]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/39013103@N03/55326612...

[chevronb37]

Had a chat with Andy Meyrick earlier this week. I really hope they are able to challenge the diesels. The pace of the HPD at Sebring bodes well for the petrols...

[Great Dane]

have you seen it from the side... what have they done????? that fin doesn't help

[Red Firecracker]

The fin is mandatory for non grandfathered LMP's. I hope it does well, but it can't be denied that the basic design is much more basic than its direct competitors.

[Great Dane]

it looks as something I could have designed... it looks very big with the tall sides not like other designs at all and the front splitter area looks more "clumsy" than say the Pescarolo,Oreca or Embassy












compared with this

Edited by Great Dane on Friday 18th March 16:02

Edited by Great Dane on Friday 18th March 16:06

[Maruchino]

It doesn't matter what it looks like. Last two years everyone has loved it because of the look and sound of the thing, beautiful yet brutal.

I'm just hoping regardless of design changes (essentially it's a wholesale reboot of the entire programme by the looks of it) that they are more competitive this year.

[MaestroDave]

All those cars are in LMP2... different rules in LMP1. Audi not so dissimilar:

[Red Firecracker]

MaestroDave said:

All those cars are in LMP2... different rules in LMP1. Audi not so dissimilar:

The top one is the Pescarolo Team LMP1, a grandfathered car hence the lack of a fin.

I would say the Audi is a totally different beast to the AMR-ONE. The R18 is displaying the results of racing and testing knowledge gained since the R8. The AMR-ONE is displaying the results of a set of figures fed into a computer. Very different beasts (ignoring the respective power plants) with the same purpose. I think one of them may be more successful than the other though.

Rules in P1 and P2 aren't majorly different, maninly weight and engine, as shown by the ability to take a P2 chassis and make it a P1 entry relatively easily.

Edited by Red Firecracker on Friday 18th March 19:01

[Great Dane]

LMP2 is more or less LMP1 from now on - so they could have made it like the old LMP2's The sound and looks of the old car made it the best ever.... as the saying goes..... "from the sublime to the ridiculous"

[robmlufc]

Aston were 11th in final practice as Paul Ricard. Its the first real session they have taken part in, still a bit off the pace but I dont think they did a whole load of laps.

[Red Firecracker]

robmlufc said:

Aston were 11th in final practice as Paul Ricard. Its the first real session they have taken part in, still a bit off the pace but I dont think they did a whole load of laps.

It didn't try and torch itself in that session, so it's progress. They are insitent that this weekend is an extended test and not to expect any srt of performance, which always annoys me I have to admit. It is comforting though that I can tick off the 'Aston diesel equivalency moan' from my 2011 Le Mans (Series) bingo card nice and early....

[robmlufc]

Qualifying kicks off at 14:15 not sure if its local or GMT. Hopefully they might unleash it a little bit

[robmlufc]

Qualified 11th. The Rebellion car could be one to look out for at Le Mans, anyone know much about the Toyota engine?

[Great Dane]

The Rebellions are notoriously unreliable... lovely paitscheme though but don't hold your breath with regards to Le mans...

Pix of the Aston in action



looking alright actually the fin looks as it is fitted at a funny angle but is is obviously an visual illusion


and one of the Rebellion

Edited by Great Dane on Sunday 3rd April 11:08

[rdjohn]

Great Dane said:

have you seen it from the side... what have they done????? that fin doesn't help

I agree, it looks like a sheet of MDF stuck on as an afterthought.

Red Firecracker’s second point about it looking a “basic” design seems spot on.

But hopefully, it will go like stink.

[Pc Pires]

Call me uneducated but what do you mean by a "grandfathered" car? Is it what it sounds like?

[Great Dane]

Grandfathered means that it has been modified (lightly) to suit the new regs rather than a whole new design


see the two different versions of the open Lola




(Very) Old Lola


New Lola

[Red Firecracker]

And then we get onto 'cost capped' cars as well!

[Pc Pires]

Ah that clears that up... Cheers