****diesel.com

[mikkaman70]

Just found a french site which shares my views on the devil fuel in motorsport,fkdiesel.com . Audi and the pugs at Le Mans have had an unlevel playing field for to many years now, with the ACO pandering to the BIG money teams. Hopefully this year the changes will bring a better race.
Ps Racecar shouldn't be Silent,

[homer3uk]

mikkaman70 said:

Ps Racecar shouldn't be Silent,

Couldn't agree more

[Henry Fiddleton]

I used to be of the same school of thought....

Then I went to Le Mans- trust me the diesels sound fantastic, thats not to say they sound better than the Vets for example, but they have the unique interesting, no-nonsense, focused noise- very German.

Also, ultimately excess noise is a waste of energy- in theory the less noise the more useful energy will be made (the words of Dr Wolfgang, not mine).

For endurance racing, I dont see what the problem is...

[mikkaman70]

I been to Le mans for the last 12 years plus a few times in the 80's and it's been getting worst with the Diesel cars, the first car to turn up was a scott&Riley (I think, not 100%) with a Big Catapillar diesel in the back. That sounded like a Diesel loco and produced the same amount of black smoke.
The problem I have with the oil burners is they are like watching an orchestra with no sound, you have the sight and view but a big part is missing. I pay my money to experience Racing, and with racing you should take away three things, The sight,sound and smell Castrol R, Racing Dope (If close to a wall at le mans, the fruity smell of fresh Piss!!).
What would you rather have a quiet, Silent Audi or the Judd V8s & V10s screaming out of Arnage heading off to the porsche curves with the hairs on the back of your neck standing on end with the Oral joy ringing in your ears????

[Red Firecracker]

The first diesel entry was 1949, so they are not a new phenomenon, no matter what people may think. Le Mans has always been at the forefront of technological innovation in endurance, it is why the race exists.

[mikkaman70]

A forefront Yes, I do agree trialing different ideas is a common part of Le mans. But the last few years, It's not been a level playing field. May be it's that the ACO has been trying to keep Audi sweet or maybe another reason only known to the French organizers.
At paul Ricards the guys on motors TV were says the ACO had jumped on a team with an advantage in speed. The speed was found through hard work and innovation within the Regs. Yet they were given air ristrictors which wouldn't let them get the full regulation set boost and you could see on the dash lights they couldn't get full revs on the Mistral straight. All this was done before the first race of the season, With the Reg changes this year for the Diesels. That how long did it take to bring things back it to line????

[Red Firecracker]

That's a rather simplified view, but yes, it is true that the HPD engined cars have been hit with a restricter that is too restrictive, but that is not the diesel cars problem, they are in a different class after all and in fact a different series. However, say what you like about the ACO and I have done myself before, but they do act and are not afraid of acting mid season to alter the balance of performance, so I do suspect that by June or even the test day the HPD teams will be handed an adjustment. You also have to take into consideration the regulations this year, that not only have 2011 cars, there are also grandfathered 2010 (and earlier) cars as well as cost capped cars. All these are trying to be balanced so it is a very complex year, especially it seems in P2.

Of course, there was still an HPD team on the podium, so not only does that show that the team (Strakka) did a damn good job, but also that RLR and RML did quite well also, but yes, they do need some relief.

I do have to admit that the anti-diesel argument does annoy me at times. It has to be considered that two of the diesel teams are full factory efforts with all that comes with, budget, resources, depth of knowledge, depth of ability to react etc. The third is factory blessed and has the ability to tap into all that knowledge. If those two top teams were running petrol cars, would they really be mightily concerned at their chances of not being able to get an overal victory? Would they be there at all even? I suspect they'd still be the favourites if they entered.

There is nothing stopping other teams running a diesel, infact I believe there are plans for a privateer diesel engine to make an appearance next year. The rules aren't a secret, and (personal bug bear time) as much as David Richards likes to bleat on about the unfair advantage that the diesels have, he still chooses to enter, in full knowledge that he has to work within those parameters and rules. Of course, a disel doesn't appeal to Aston's market, but do prototypes?

I'll hop off my hobby horse and climb down off the ivory tower now, not forgetting to whip off the rose tinted specs Here's to April and June.