July/August 2009
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All news content copyright Michael J. Fuller, unless otherwise noted | |  8.5.09
>>Frequent readers of Mulsanne's Corner might be familiar with Rene Verstappen and his work to restore is GRAC MT20.
It's been a while since we've posted an update from Rene and he
sends us an email to report that he and his GRAC MT20 attended a
historics event at Le Mans July 5-6 had the privilege of taking the
MT20 onto the track, the first time in nearly 25 years. Rene
writes, "The
atmosphere was beautiful, all the key people of GRAC were there and a
lot of other GRACs turned up, some MT14 and a MT16. GRAC raced
the MT16 at Le Mans in 1972." Rene also sent us a link to a
YouTube video of the car on track from the end of last year. |  >>Reynard's Andre Brown gets us up to date on Inverter news. According to Brown, the first chassis has been sold and "We
are now well into the manufacture of car two, which Adrian Reynard will
own. This car will have a Hayabusa engine installed." Brown
adds, "We found that with only 180 hp in the Fireblade we did not
have enough
top speed to unstick the car - just too much grip. The car is
amazing
in braking from high speeds, and totally balanced in the high speed
corners. With more power, hopefully we can approach the grip limit that
the tyres and downforce give us. In any case, with the lower
power we
are already seeing 3g on the datalogger!" Since it's initial
debut the Inverter has undergone a slight redesign at the front with
the radiators moving from the side pod into the nose, "We brought
the radiator up to the front to improve the quality of the
airflow, and in doing so we have brought some weight forward
which is good...we have also now closed off the intakes either side of
the nose section
which has created stagnation and therefore higher pressure on the top
surface of our splitter, increasing front downforce further."
Additional images and video can be seen on the Reynard Racing
Cars website.
>>Racecar Engineering Magazine is currently offering a free 3-month digital subscription to their magazine. Hop on over and sign up as the offer ends August 13. | 
| 8.2.09
>>It comes to our attention that the
ACO has recently been discussing with the manufacturers
modifications to the chassis regulations and that Article 3.6.1 has
been specifically cited for clarification. A proposal is being
floated amongst the manufacturers to clarify the symmetrical wing
profile segment of 3.6.1 with the ACO proposing that the trailing edge
thickness of all aerodynamic elements be defined by a certain
dimension. Currently there is an unwritten rule that states that
non-symmetrical wing elements (as in use in the splitters on the
Peugeot and Acura for two examples) must have a 30 mm thick trailing
edge. From what we're hearing, it sounds as though this trailing
edge dimension will become official and that all
wing elements (excluding the rear wing of course), both symmetrical and
non-symmetrical, will need to accommodate this dimension.
Careful crafting of the rules revision is important here as there
are symmetrical wing elements in many uses on a contemporary LMP, so
we'll have to wait and see where the line is drawn regarding this
revision.
>>IMSA has issued a revision
to their '09 LMP2 regulations that will allow current competitors to
shed 25 kgs, bringing them back to the ACO minimum of 825 kgs, this in
an attempt to eliminate the P1 v P2 performance gap
in hopes of improving the show. IMSA LMP2 competitors had been
running to 850 kgs in consideration that IMSA had not adopted the ACO's
2009 rear wing width reduction (2000 mm width to 1600 mm width).
The performance improvement reflected in the weight reduction
will be negligible given the restrictor hit P2 cars took for this year
(said to be worth upwards of 50 hp) but makes sense in the light of
wanting to keep costs down (it's extremely easy
to take off 25 kgs of pre-existing ballast). Currently Porsche RS
Spyder and Acura ARX-01a competitors are racing with 2009 LMP2
restrictors which state that 3.4 liter engines with more than 2
valves/cylinder race with a 40.7 mm restrictor compared with a 42.9 mm
restrcitor from last year. This equates to1301 mm^2 vs
1445.5 mm^2, or about 10% less inlet area than in 2008 (and area
reductions relate 1:1 to power reductions: 10% less area equals 10%
less power). Mazda is racing with revised '09 restrictors that
allow it with a restrictor that, based on area, is 1.27 times larger
(45* mm vs 39.9 mm, or 1590.4 mm^2 vs 1250.4 mm^2) than what's on the
ACO's '09 books but with boost a 8% boost reduction (2300 mBar vs 2500
mBar). Naturally changes made to the restrictors mean
corresponding changes need to be implemented to the engine management
which would add to team's cost burden. But IMSA has made noises
about eliminating the P1 vs. P2 performance gap for next year by
stating a desire for a move to "one prototype class". Let's hope
that this is just a precursor to changes being put in place for next
year. It would be ideal if IMSA moved to reintroduce the 2008
LMP2 weight and restrictor regulations given the very competitive season enjoyed last year.
*Correction, the Mazda MZR-R engine is actually running a 45.6
mm restrictor, the .6 mm addition because they are running mandatory
air conditioning on the closed top Lola LMP. In 2008 the MZR-R
also used a 45.6 mm restrictor but with 2700 mBar of boost. | | 7.2.09
>>Yesterday we received an email that indicated the ACO held a meeting of their technical delegation.
And while not wanting to read too much into that,
especially barring any
official PR from the ACO itself, in today's in box is a press release
issued by Peugeot stating that they are withdrawing their appeal of
their denied protest of
technical details on the Audi R15. Though we'll go ahead and
wonder aloud if the two are related (the ACO meeting and Peugeot's
announcement). Here, according to Peugeot
(again, no confirmation out of the ACO just yet) the press release
reads as follows:
"The ACO
has announced its intention to develop its communication with all
the manufacturers involved in the Le Mans Series, the Le Mans 24
Hours, and the Asian Le Mans Series.
This
communication will ensure transparency between all the discipline's
players, which is key to guaranteeing the spirit of endurance racing.
As a consequence, Peugeot Sport has decided to withdraw its appeal with immediate effect."
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