Club Arnage

The ACO issued a press release at Silverstone over the weekend outlining the “spirit of the 2009 rules” and the objectives for 2010-2011.  See
www.lemans.org/24heuresdumans/ressources/pdf/silverstone08_regl09_gb.pdf

In essence, for 2009

In the name of Sporting Equity:

Restore the Petrol-Diesel balance in P1
Restore the balance between prototypes
Maintain the difference between P1 and P2
Make GT2 and P2 more accessible to private teams

In the name of Safety:

Reduce the performance of ALL classes

All this will be achieved by reductions in sizes of the air restrictors, reduction of supercharger pressure in diesels (the aim to reduce the power of diesels by 10.5%), increased minimum weight  in GT1 (25 kilos) and GT2 (20 kilos), and for prototypes, a (presumably) smaller wing which must have a Gurney flap.

They also wish to promote the use of harder tyres and will do this by slowing down tyre changes by allowing only TWO mechanics with a single air gun at any one time.  The pre-warming of tyres is also forbidden.  Also, “Wheel changes will be considered as separate from other interventions except for driver changes” – I think this means that a team will not be able to re-fuel and change tyres in the same pit stop.

Hybrid cars will be accepted for entry, but in 2009, will not be able to compete ie they will not be classified.  From 2010, they will be.

Objectives for 2010-2011

New rules originally to come into force in 2010 are postponed for 1 year
Free choice of open or closed prototypes
Reduction of P1 engine sizes on the current basis of P2 engines
P2 only with ‘production’ engines
Reduction of noise levels, CO2 emissions and fuel consumption.

They state that they are looking for a reduction of 150bhp in P1, and estimate a lap time of 3 mins 42 secs.

That's it - detailed rules will be issued in mid-november!

Del

There is a good breakdown of what the regs will mean here.

http://www.mulsannescorner.com/newssept08.html

Looks like the ACO are trying to please everyone but succeeding in pleasing no one.

This is probably to negate the advantage an open top driver change has over a coupe driver change.

I read this as, you can't change the wheels & re-fuel at the same time, but you can do both at the same pit stop.

Ade

And they talk of making the cars quieter :o

They haven't been able to re-fuel and change wheels at the same time for many years, Ade.  The only thing that could be done whilst re-fuelling is to change driver and clean the windscreen.

Give me strength!

some further background to the ACO's thinking here.
http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/pruett-lunch-with-the-aco//P1/
could get wider cockpits as well when the final details are annonced in Nov.

Just when Henri P is thinking about using the GM corvette GT1 engine in his P1 team cars. ;D

I would not worry about the noise reduction rules. I doubt anyone would notice the differance when trackside.

The thinking behind the ruling is to make the pitstop longer therefore encouraging tyre manufacturers to make harder compond tyres that last longer so less tyres used so cheaper for teams.

LMP1s circulating in 3m 30s, eh? Peugeot were under 3m 20s, I think, in practice. Do I not recall the late Phil Hill getting a 7-litre Ford GT Mk II round in about 3m 30s in practice for the 1965 race? And that was driving what his also-sadly-late namesake Graham Hill described the next year as "a great big heavy old lorry"! Yes of course all those chicanes were missing in those days, I do know that!

We should welcome anything that reduces costs and enables more and better quality entrants. The dreadful mess that much business is in now means sponsorship is gonna get tougher and tougher to find. I think the ACO have gone some way to meeting that situation head on, and ensuring we continue to see truly world-class fields.

It might also limit Henri's whingeing!

When he was being inteviewed on Radio Le Mans last Sunday he sounded almost jovial.

I think I must be missing something here, or just being exceptionally thick. Why do the regulators keep trying to make the cars slower? Last time I looked, Le Mans was all about racing which most dictionaries variously describe as "a contest of speed, as in running, riding, driving, or sailing / to engage in a contest of speed / try to beat in a contest of speed / to cause to run, move, or go at high speed" (you get the idea ....) Perhaps they think that limiting the speed will reduce costs, but surely that increases the costs for teams already there as they have to re-design/engineer their current solutions ??? 

Le Mans is a one off racing track. With normal tracks you would just make the run-off areas bigger as the cars/bikes get faster (like the Bugatti Circuit @ LM) but there is no alot, if any, scope of improving safety areas from Mulsanne to Porsche Curves.

I, for one, would rather they slowed the cars a little than interfere with the track @ LM!

It is all about going quickest, but only within the strict rules as defined by the ACO. It's a bit like giving someone 4 sheets of paper, 2 cocktail sticks and a jar of marmite, then seeing who can make the tallest structure that will still support the cocktail sticks.

At the end of the day, a level playing field makes for better racing. I'm amazed by the speed of my dog, a P1 car going past me 3 mph slower than the year before won't really dismay me.

And please, as the diesels aren't going to have such an advantage, can we have a whole field of proper noisy (but not too noisy, obviously in these PC eardrum protecting times) cars. Hang on, I've got an idea re. the noise. If we sheet the track and spectator enclosures in with a giant polytunnel, less sound will get out, and we'll all go home with bleeding ears. As for wet races, if it rains outside, just pump it onto the track.

That'll help on the first lap out of the pits then.....

MG Mark