Why cant the LMP2 cars last 24 hours?

[donati]

Hello

What is it that makes them break down all the time?
I would guess the Judd engines should be able to last the entire race, no? Perhaps the
2L turbos are too difficult to make reliable, with so much power?
(I do not know if the engines where the problem this year?)

I really like the LMP2 cars, to me they look stunning, makes all the right noises, and
there are no diesels (Jipii..)
plus, they are very fast cars.. would like to see them start beating the LMGT1's over 24 hours!

On the Danish TV2 Sport coverage of the race, people where saying things like
"Why are the LMP2's even allowed in the race, when they are so clearly not
suited for 24h racing" etc..
This allmost hurt my feelings!
Please make them just a bit more reliable, so we can keep them coming to LM each year 

[Werner]

Hi there,

a couple of weeks prior to Le Mans I visited Kai Kruse, Manager of Kruse Motorsport in his workshop in Cologne. They are running an LMP2 Pescarolo Judd in the LMS and they had it running in Le Mans as well (engine failure around midnight). Basically I see 3 reasons why LMP2 cars are not so reliable:

1. The engines: Small cc engines don't last as long as big engines, especially when stressed.
2. The weight: An LMP2 is built lighter - thus more fragile - than an LMP1. Even Porsche had a lot of problems to make their LMP2 cars in the ALMS last.
3. Money: This is the biggest issue (well, not for Porsche ). Normally these teams do not have money for test drives, nor for telemetry - although this is allowed - and a lot of other things which can help to make a car reliable. Kruse Motorsport had to start the season without any reasonable tests, just a shakedown on an airstrip and less than 300 km test in Dijon. And this is typical for most of these LMP2 teams