2012 24 Hours of Le Mans

Bram

RaceDepartment Founder
Staff
Premium
No, apart from private testing the Toyota hasn't raced at all. They were supposed to debut at the Six Hours of Spa but wrecked their chassis in a test before the actual event.

Le Mans will be the first time Toyota and Audi will race eachother.
 

James Johnson

The Weatherman
Lets face it. If Audi are far ahead they will get penalised somehow with a smaller restrictor or something to give Toyota a better chance. Not that i mind as ACO do a great job of mixing and matching cars and it will make the race better. :)

Btw i mean this from after the Test days coming up!
 
Next weekend I travel to Le Mans, just in time for scrutineering.
It will be my 5th visit.

Just looking to pure speed, Audi is favourite. But in Spa it seems they had some tyre issues and the E-Tron Quattro is also a new car with little race experience. I think the diesel Audi's has the best overall package (speed/reliability).

I'm looking forward to the Deltawing and the GT and LMP2 battles, that will be a close one.
Maybe I change my mind after test day, but for now this is my prediction:

LMP1
1. Audi diesel
2. Audi diesel
3. Rebellion

LMP2
1. Oak Racing
2. Pecom Racing
3. Signatech Nissan

GT Pro
1. Corvette
2. AF Corse
3. Felbermayr

GT Am
1. Larbre
2. Krohn Racing
3. Aston Martin
 
weren't the tyre issues to do with the balance of the car and the 4wd?(i believe this is why toyota went for rwd with the hybrid?)
i think audis will definitely win, we might see them put the e-tron on top of the podium through team orders
 
Totally! :D FERRIS WHEEL! :D

The one at the Ford chicane? I've been on it twice, nice view on incoming cars!:) I could even see our car on the parking blanche field.

Next weekend I travel to Le Mans, just in time for scrutineering.
It will be my 5th visit.

It will be my... 7th time, 2006 was my "debut".

I even have some pictures on Photobucket from 2009.

PICT0103.jpg
 

James Johnson

The Weatherman
The one at the Ford chicane? I've been on it twice, nice view on incoming cars!:) I could even see our car on the parking blanche field.



It will be my... 7th time, 2006 was my "debut".

I even have some pictures on Photobucket from 2009.

PICT0103.jpg

Tbh i think we should make a drinking game of the Ferris Wheel? Everytime we see it on Eurosport we have to drink? What do you think @Bram Hengeveld :p Probably be an energy drink! :p
 

Why does it seem to resemble the Peugeots? Wanna have the French people rooting for them?:p


Oh dear... I hope Mr Goethe knows what he's doing, because I tend to think that people like him just have power, but no clue about racing. And why is he going to replace a regular driver so close before the race? Has Stuart Hall even a clue about what car he is going to drive? Jousse knows the team better, Hall hasn't raced LMP FOR YEARS.

IMO, Goethe is just risking too much with this move. I wouldn't be surprised if Hall just went and crashed the car in the end...
 

Bram

RaceDepartment Founder
Staff
Premium
Ouch painful conflict there. However the frustration of the driver is a understandable but incredible stupid to take such legal actions.
 

Bram

RaceDepartment Founder
Staff
Premium
On the other hand I don't know how much more hits Julien Jousse his carreer can take after his noobish mistake in 2010 where he forgot to warmup the tyres and crashed the Corvette in the first corner after green flag was waved after a long neutralization.

I was able to witness this incident from the pitbox as a guest of the team and the faces of the mechanics and fellow drivers weren't too happy when that happened. He basically threw away the win for the team at that years edition of LM24.

Oh well at least he know achieved he will not be able to race in future editions of this event.
 

Bram

RaceDepartment Founder
Staff
Premium
Fresh from the RD mailbox

JF3_4178.jpg


In two weeks the Le Mans 24 Hours will take place. The teams will take part in the test day on Sunday 3rd June in what is the first round of the 80th running of the greatest endurance race in the world.

The test day is a general rehearsal consisting of eight hours free practice in which 61 cars will take part: those entered for the race itself and others who have come to tackle the legendary Le Mans 24-Hours track. It is a non-permanent circuit and tomorrow will provide them with an exceptional opportunity to race on it.

The new cars launched in 2012 will be the focal point of interest beginning with the two Toyota TS030 hybrids, which will be having their first run against their future rival, Audi. The German make will give its hybrid, the e-tron quattro its Sarthe debut, as well as the R18 Ultra that won the second round of the FIA World Endurance Championship at Spa on 5th May.

Another car eagerly-awaited by the fans is the Pescarolo 03, which has never been seen on the track before. The Pescarolo team’s financial woes are a thing of the past so it is running its two cars, the Pescarolo 03-Judd and the Dome-Judd entrusted to it by the Japanese constructor, Dome, in a relaxed frame of mind.

Also in LM P1, the two Honda Performance Development ARX-03as entered by Strakka Racing and JRM have never done battle in the Sarthe before.

In the well-subscribed LM P2 category (23 entries!) the Sébastien Loeb Racing Oreca 03-Nissan will be another centre of attraction. It will be present at the test day only with Loeb himself at the wheel. Former Le Mans 24-Hours winner Martin Brundle (1990, Jaguar) is back in P2 with his son, Alex. They will take on all the world championship contenders in a category that will be the theatre of a no-holds-barred battle.

In LM GTE, the works Corvettes, victorious in 2011, will measure themselves against the field entered in the World Endurance Championship (the AF Corse and Luxury Racing Ferrari F458 Italias, the Felbermayr-Proton Porsche, the works Aston Martin Vantage, etc).

During the test day the crowd will be able to see other cars including the extraordinary Nissan-DeltaWing that has benefitted from the 56th pit, and will race in the Le Mans 24 Hours outside the overall classification. Ex-French goal keeper Fabien Barthez will be at the wheel of one of the two Formula Le Mans expected to take part in the test day. These promotional formula cars are not allowed to dispute the Le Mans 24 Hours, but have been given the opportunity to run on this legendary circuit. As Barthez wants to take part in the race at a future date, it’s a dream occasion for him to find his marks.

The final scrutineering and admin checks took place today, Saturday, as well as a kart race on the Alain Prost circuit. There were twenty-three karts at the start driven by two-men teams made up of a driver and a journalist. Victor went to Anthony Davidson associated with the English journalist Andrew Cotton.

Finally, there was a family photo with all the different types of cars that will take part in the 80th Le Mans 24 hours on 16-17 June. Twenty-six dream machines transformed the pits straight into the most beautiful avenue in the world!
 

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