04:45AM - 14.06.'14
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News Source: autoblog.com
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The 82nd running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans is on. Audi has won 12 of the last 15 events, the scion of Auto Union is trying to make it 13 this year. To do so, it will have to overcome a situation faced only three other times during its dominance of La Sarthe: underdog status. Toyota has won the first two races of the year and claimed pole for this race, the rumor being that this year it's Toyota's race to lose. And then there's Porsche. It's been 16 years since the Stuttgart brand raced on the top rung at Le Mans, three years years since it announced its return, just a year since it acquired Mark Webber in a signing that wasn't subtle and a few months since we got eyes on the 919 Hybrid. Based on the number of incidents over the past few days, we expect the race to be less than subtle, too. Head below for our notes on what we've seen and heard and read so far. This will be a fabulous year for those who just want to know what kind of novel designs engineers can conceive when given free reign. The race pits a 513-horsepower, naturally-aspirated 3.7-liter gasoline V8 (Toyota) against a 510-hp 4.0-liter turbodiesel V6 (Audi) against a 2.0-liter turbocharged gasoline V4 (Porsche), all with hybrid assistance that push the total hp number for each car to about 1,000. Both the Toyota and Porsche have superior top speed and downforce compared to the Audi. Key for pole-sitter Toyota is that in conjunction with its larger fuel tank and greater allowable rate of fuel usage than the Audi, and its expected six-megajoule energy usage per lap, watchers guess that the Toyota can do one lap more than the Audi, 14 laps to 13. Toyota has said that's not nearly as big an advantage as people make out, and Audi knows about overcoming top speed and lap deficits from its fights with Peugeot. Nevertheless, everyone agrees that the best strategy at Le Mans is to stay out on track; a TS040 can lay down some serious distance over 24 hours at an average speed of 150 miles per hour while the R18 e-tron Quattro is in the pits. Porsche fell just short in its bid for pole position, the #14 919 Hybrid driven by Romain Dumas, Neel Jani and Marc Lieb lining up in second place 0.357 behind the #7 Toyota of Kazuki Nakajima, Alexander Wurz and Stephane Sarrazin. Pole position would have been a coup for this race, allowing the brand to make huge news before the race even began since it's not expected to finish in its first year back. Technical Director Alex Hitzinger told Autosport, "We think we have addressed the issues that we have encountered before, but the probability that we will find new issues in the 24 Hours is high. Our car has 7,000 parts and you only need one part to break to stop you." The Audis lined up fifth, sixth and seventh on the grid, the fifth-placed car 1.5 seconds behind pole position, but the brand hasn't historically been worried about starting at the front. With all its been through over the week so far, though, it will be happy to have three cars still on the grid and lapping well, even if the driver's seat of the #1 car – which has had incidents at the Porsche Curves and the Esses – seems to be a tricky place to spend time. Elsewhere on the grid, the two stiffer, faster Corvette C7.Rs look to have shaken off the poor showing of the C6.R last year, lining up in second and fourth in the LMGTE Pro class. If only there were two Vipers to join them... During the Saturday morning practice the Nissan ZEOD RC completed the first all-electric lap of Le Mans and looks to do it again during the race after the sun goes down and temperatures drop. Red flags have very nearly been the most ubiquitous symbol of qualifying this year. We went out on track to take pictures of the first of two qualifying sessions on Wednesday, and almost as soon as we got to the Ford Chicane we saw the flag come out for an errant Ferrari (when it comes to tire walls this year, Ferraris have been heavy hitters). With practice and qualifying sessions repeatedly interrupted by crashes there have been something like seven red flags in 24 hours. Le Mans always sees plenty of incidents, but the question is whether the pox of red flags is a harbinger for the race, especially with the new inclusion of "Slow Zones," meant to slow the field down to 60 kph around areas where cars being removed from the track. The slow zones, which are in place while the field is racing on-track, are an effort to lessen the need for safety cars. But with so many different kinds of cars traveling at such different speeds, no one knows how it's going to work out in the race. |
