Le Mans, and sportscar racing in general, is one of the last bastions of variety within a single race or race series, and i love it for that. But different for differents sake without have any relevance or parity of regulation to the cars it's competing with, is pointless IMO.
You may say that - and you will be mostly right - when we discuss cars that are put in the same class but are different. Like Diesels and Petrols, Hybrid and Classic power plants, closed and open tops. And that's all in LMP1. Because if they're battling in the same class then the concern with parity should be priority ONE.
However, the DeltaWing is not competing within any given class so it's pointless to argue about parity. It's aim is to show how a particularly efficient design can lap around Le Mans at "prototype-pace" using half the resources a prototype uses. Some people say a rectangular car could do it also. But the truth is ... a triangular car CAN, and that is in itself an amazing breakthrough. Because a few months ago, people would just say it wouldn't do it.
Now the creator that, against so many voices, said the car could achieve what he designed it to achieve ... (we can consider that box ticked now) ... says that a classic-shaped rectangular car can't do the same tyre and fuel saving (keeping the pace), no matter what specs. I'd say his credibility can be questioned again, but I'll give him more than the benefit of the doubt now.
I think my problem with it is that its being somewhat heralded as being clever and a genuine alternative to LMP2. As I explained before, its not a straight comparison so its difficult to really tell if it really is an effective alternative. The reliance on ground effects is surely a huge advantage and what does ground effects really bring to roadcars? Not that I want racing technology to necessarily be driven by road-relevance..but if they are trying to trumpet it as such, I find it just a little deceiving to be comparing its performance like that.
The point of the 56th slot at Le Mans is not "simply to be different". While I like variety as much as anyone else - its not why I'm interested in the alternative cars that get the 56th garage.
I do however take interest in the DeltaWing precisely because its different. And for that at least it does help encourage people to watch Le Mans. That can only be a good thing.
Ground effects brought a lot to road cars. In fact, much more than "wings" did. Bodyworks are now carefully considered from an aerodynamical standpoint. And the engineers' aim is not simply to achieve less drag (and less fuel consumption). It is also to achieve less "lift", and therefore more stable and secure cars considering the averagely high speed of cars in motorways around the globe.
So yes, I thing the quest for ground effects with litle drag interests manufacturers much, much more than "wings".
Anyway, the DW paid last night the price for the litle time of its development phase. I guess something like this is Ben Bowlby's worst nightmare. That the car starts the race, does 3 laps and then stops far from the pits and any possibility of assistance because something totally random and totally stupid happened (like the fire extinguisher firing and shutting down the electronics of the car). I hope they can prevent any of this from happening again.
In any case I'm reading elsewhere that the "weak spot" of this car is the gearbox/transmission ( I think they can change it during the race, but I'm not sure).
One other thing of interest. From the beggining of all this the word was that the car's "target pace" would be somewhere between LMP1 anD LMP2. Only (a lot) later we heard about the ACO wanting them to lap around 3'45. Considering 2011 quali and race times, that's a LOT slower than the best LMP1, and close to the best LMP2 cars.
So, if the 3'45 target is true, the DeltaWing was requested to "mingle" with the LMP2's and not to be somewhere in-between both prototype classes.
BUT
Now the DeltaWing went faster than 3'45, and already clocked a
3:42.612 in the first quali session - I'd say easily, it was done at the second flying lap, and it stopped immediately after.
This laptime, last year, would place them:
- 16th on the grid
- between 2nd placed LMP2 (OAK - 3'41,908)
- and 3rd placed LMP2 (Strakka - 3'42,615)
AND
Them DeltaWing guys are very optimistic, with Michael Krumm saying that the 3 laps he did allowed him to understand that the setup changes made did wonders and that the car had become much faster while at the same time much easier to drive.
Here his words:
Michael Krumm
Unfortunately I made a mistake in Tertre Rouge when I hit the kerb too hard and the fire extinguisher went off and it shut down the car.
But until then the car felt absolutely fantastic. We made the right choices on changes to the set-up after the practice session.
The car felt much easier to drive and it was exciting to see the lap times drop more and more.
We were able to prove that the car can be really fast and that is a big important step for us. It was an important box for us to tick that we could do low 40s and I think we can get into the high 30s as well.
The team did a great job to get the car where it is now and now we keep our fingers crossed that it doesnt rain tomorrow.
Most important thing is we know the car can do what we expected it to do and now we have to make sure we can all get our qualifying laps in at night.
Now, if indeed the DW can improve into the high 3'30s, as Krumm say, then maybe - just maybe - it can place itself between LMP1 and LMP2, as I think was the original purpose.
(current LMP2 pole stands at 3'39,252, achieved by Thiriet's ORECA - Nissan)
In any case, if the car lasts the distance, or at least a substancial part of it, how will it go?
Assuming it can steadily lap close to what the top LMP2 cars will do, then it will indeed do a race between them and the LMP1 class.
Why?
Because although it will stop for fuel as often as the LMP2 cars (I'll assume the smaller tank has been measured with that purpose in mind), it will change tyres less often (15 to 20 seconds gained once per 3 or 4 stops I think, not sure how many stints the LMP2 cars do) and in any case a smaller tank means less time to fill it - I read elsewhere that to fill an LMP2 tank would takeabout 20 more seconds than to fill the 40 liters of the DW's tank capacity.
So .... same pace, same rate of pitstops, but less time spent there ... it could prove interesting.
