Jock's Jottings - Le Mans test day 2008

Jox Jottings Le Mans 2008..

Here we go again, this is the 76th running of the event and it sometimes feels like it ..! As before your friendly scribe is embedded in the media centre here at Le Mans and raring to go. Various parts of the team are working with the ACO Media team and parts are working ‘independently’.

Today is Friday and things are very quiet … it is almost surreal looking out over the deserted track and acres of deserted grandstands. If you imagine the start/finish line grandstands there was one whole person there this morning watching an empty track. The more ‘hardcore’ enthusiasts are already staking their claims in the camping areas and digging in for the long haul. One bit of good news is that during testing the local restaurants and bars are not in ’24 Heures’ mode! So proper menus are available at sensible prices and there is no sign of the dreaded ‘Menu Rapide’.

To add to the curious atmosphere here it is a bit gloomy/sunny and then overcast, just at the moment we don’t have Internet Access so we can’t get you a local weather forecast. What we can tell you is that yesterday afternoon the sun shone through and it was pleasantly hot. However there is an ‘orage’ (storm) predicted for tomorrow

So, what have we got to look forward to? The ACO media ‘thrust’ is homing in on the Audi.v.Peugeot battle (or maybe more accurately, if you are French, the Peugeot.v.Audi battle!) .. Now there is a surprise! They are pitching it by making comparisons with Jaguar/Ferrari (1953-58) Ford/Ferrari (1964-69) Porsche/Ferrari (1970-71) Matra/Ferrari (1973) Jaguar/Porsche (1988) and so on.

They are also trying to drum up enthusiasm for a petrol.v.diesel challenge in LM P1… this kind of looks like a foregone conclusion surely? With three diesel Audis and three diesel Peugeots up against the two petrol works Pescarolos, surely that doesn’t look much like a fair fight… my money is on a diesel but if we get rain of biblical proportions maybe a petrol LM P2 Porsche Spyder.

The duel idea carries through to LM GT1 with the might of Corvette taking on the two plucky works Aston Martin DBR9s… that could be interesting. Aston Martin won last year despite one of the cars being in all sorts of trouble. The Corvettes are like sleeping giants, they lurk around in very loud shirts apparently not doing much and then go indecently quickly when the time comes.

Then LM in GT2 it is Porsche.v. Ferrari duel… this will carry on where it left off in 2007. This might well go Porsche’s way bearing in mind the 911 GT3 RSR (997) is looking very rapid so far this year. Last year’s winning car the IMSA Performance Matmut is back with a new sort of gearbox (developed for the Porsche RS Spyder) and the same drivers (at the moment).

Le Mans is going gradually ‘greener’ .. This year for the first time in the history of the race the petrol, all of which is supplied by Shell, will be 10% ethanol and 90% petrol. Ironically you will recall that the Peugeots had Total scrawled all over them but ran with Shell diesel in the race (But maybe Total oils), similarly this year the works Astons are running with Gulf livery, again maybe running with their oils but they too will be using Shell fuel as well.

The Circuit has changed on a regular basis almost every year but this year it is the same as last year. By the way the Tramway is finally finished and now runs from Antares to The University on the other side of town. We need to check but it appears to go either over or under (or across?!) the track at the start of the Mulsanne Straight.

First thoughts on winners? The Audis are knocking on a bit and maybe showing their age. The R8 and R10 have won every year since 2000 (except for 2003 which went to Bentley). Audi are back with the same winning drivers, Biela, Pirro and Werner. Peugeot on the other hand having lost Bourdais to F1 have settled on a galactic collection of nine ex-Formula One team drivers. ( Minassian testing for Honda and Williams). So perhaps this will be the year of the French at last! Maybe this is why the ACO have made no changes to regulations regarding the diesel cars.

You may recall that we have a problem with LM P2… and that is ‘Why LM P2?’!
Apart from the money, i.e they are cheaper to run and ACO loves prototypes.. why do we bother? To apparently offer some encouragement to the LM P2 teams the regulations have changed. Now they are 75 Kgs heavier (maybe that will make them stronger and more reliable).. they now have smaller fuel tanks, down from 90 litres to 80 litres (not sure how that helps).. and they have to run on petrol.( So?) We really can’t see how that any of this will help, but remember the LM P2 Porsche Spyder has done well in US and the Penske car even won the Sebring 12 hours beating the Audis.. Porsche have Sascha Maassen and John Neilsen in the team bring a nice blend of youth and experience.. The RML Lola won the class in 2005/2006 but retired last year. They have a well proven team of drivers with Erdos, Newton and Wallace. But our money stays with Porsche!

In LM GT1… this will be another straight fight between the two works Astons and the two works Corvettes. New regulations mean that these cars will run with smaller fuel tanks (90 litres as opposed to 100 litres). This has confused us.. On reflection maybe this is because the ACO are concerned that a humble GT car will beat their LM P2 cars. Last year Corvette lost their main man when Oli Gavin’s car expired after four hours with the failure of it’s carbon fibre drive shaft, unlucky or what? So far this year the Corvettes have won every round of the ALMS so far this year. In 2007 Aston Martin also had all sorts of problems with the 007 car while 009 went on to win. This is a hard one to call; if Corvette keep both cars running and have a bit better luck then Aston Martin will have a serious fight on their hands.

In LM GT2… This has generally been Porsche territory (apart from Panoz who won in 2006).On the face of it we can’t see anything much that will change that… however the Ferrari 430s are going quicker and quicker and nowadays one tends to expect them not to fall apart. There are only three Porsches, up against a fleet of seven Ferrari 430s, so maybe there is safety in numbers? On the other hand Matmut is one heck of a team and they are back with the same drivers.
Decision time… we are spilt down the middle…Tony reckons Ferrari because there are lots of them, your scribbler and Le Grand Fromage reckon Porsche since they have support from Porsche , (that is verging on ‘factory’)…ummm!

Somebody somewhere has taken leave of their senses.. are you sitting comfortably? Then I will begin … As of course you knew, 100 years ago Wilbur Wright successfully made the first flight by an aircraft in Europe.. where did this happen? Le Mans .. The monument to this event can be found at the ‘Trotting Track’ just by the Techno Park. To celebrate the plan is to drag a replica of the original aircraft behind a veteran Léon-Bollée car. On board ( the car!) will be French astronaut Jean-Loup Chrétien, American astronaut Mark Brown and Russian astronaut Vladimir Titov. They will start the race by waving the French flag … at the same time the astronauts orbiting earth in the International Orbiting Space Station will also wave the Tricolor as they fly 400 kms above the circuit. Apparently the same thing will happen at the finish … One does tend to wonder why?! Incidentally the start will be at 15:00hrs.

Glamorous broadcaster and the face of The Goodwood Revival Meeting, Amanda Stretton will fulfil her life long ambition to race here in the 24 Heures . She has been here before in a TVR but on the Bugatti Circuit. She joins husband and four times Le Mans visitor Bob Berridge in a LM P1 Lola AER entered and run by the ever ebullient Hugh Chamberlain.

Olivier Panis, a famous French Formula One driver with 157 Grand Prix starts and lucky win at Monaco in 1996 under his belt, is driving here for the first time at the wheel of a Courage Oreca Judd LC70. This will not be his first outing in the car he came 3rd at the Spa 24 Hour race.