2015 FIA WEC/Le Mans

[Beemer B773ER]

Porsche ahead in First Session at Le Mans Test
31/05/2015

The weather forecast for the La Sarthe region proved to be incorrect as rain fell on Le Mans midway through the first four hour session. With a dry track for the first hour the times soon tumbled, with the fastest time of the session being set by Neel Jani in the no18 Porsche 919 with a 3m21.945 lap, just 0.156s slower than the pole position time set by Toyota at last year’s race.

The session was interrupted by two red flags. The first to recover the no22 Nissan which had stopped at Dunlop. The second was to clear the track of debris left when the rear left tyre of the no4 Bykolles CLM deflated, causing damage to the rear of the LMP1 car.

The Porsche was just 0.362s ahead of the no9 Audi R18 e-tron quattro and a further 0.623s ahead of the no7 Audi. The two Toyota TS040s finished the session in 7th and 8th, with the no2 car ahead of the no1 car by less than a tenth of a second. The no12 Rebellion Racing R-One of Mathias Beche was the quickest of the LMP1 privateer entries with a 3m30.508 lap.


Full Results of Test Session 1 (PDF)

 

[Beemer B773ER]

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[hoffmeister_fan]

will have to watch this tonight

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[Beemer B773ER]

 

[Monster]

Are there higher res version of these photos?

 

[Beemer B773ER]

Are there higher res version of these photos?

Not that I can find.

 

[Beemer B773ER]

Are there higher res version of these photos?

I'm guessing you're interested in the Porsche and/or the Nissan. You might find a few hi-res photos here:
http://newsroom.porsche.com/en/motorsports/le-mans-test-2015-11075.html
http://reports.nissan-global.com/EN/?p=17052


Found a hi-res of the grid formation:

 

[Sunny]

Photos showing the Nissan's "tunnels".

 

[Bucketslash11]

Photos showing the Nissan's "tunnels".

fun fact:

it has a gearbox mounted ahead of the engine and the clutch mounted ahead of the gearbox

 

[Sunny]

Found a hi-res of the grid formation:

I think that is last year's grid.

fun fact:

it has a gearbox mounted ahead of the engine and the clutch mounted ahead of the gearbox

Are you implying the clutch is not in between the engine and the gearbox? If so, I am befuddled how that works.

 

[Bucketslash11]

I think that is last year's grid.



Are you implying the clutch is not in between the engine and the gearbox? If so, I am befuddled how that works.

yes, as stated by the engineer at jay leno, it had me thinking as well

 

[Beemer B773ER]

I think that is last year's grid.

Ugh, you're right! #fail

 

[Beemer B773ER]

Interesting.

 

[Beemer B773ER]

So, during testing Brendon Hartley (No.17) set the quickest lap of 3:21.061.
The No.18 car set the second quickest lap of 3:21.945. Looking at the test day photos, both of these Porsche's had some 'tape' on that small grille on the nose of the car, so this possibly suggests they were doing quasi-quali runs.

Last year's pole by Nakajima in the No.7 Toyota was a 3.21.789, so it's clear that'll be beat handsomely! ...but as a Toyota fan, I was excited to see that pole time for 2014. During the test, the No.1 Toyota's fastest lap was a 3.25.3, while the No.2's top lap was 3.30.3.
So it's clear Toyota weren't even close to doing any quali practice. It's safe to assume the Toyota's will go faster than last year for qualifying, so there is some hope that they have the speed to compete for the win on speed.

 

[KiwiRob]

Porsche's 8mJ setup will blow away Audi and Toyota on the straights, so I expect that to be enough for them to get the win, baring a stunning strategy play that Audi do so well!

Look at the lap times in testing the Porsche isn't much faster at all, Audi have a shot at this, they are clearly the better team strategically.

 

[Beemer B773ER]

Look at the lap times in testing the Porsche isn't much faster at all, Audi have a shot at this, they are clearly the better team strategically.

No doubt Audi are the better strategists. Both of their wins this year were achieved on great strategy even though the Porsche was clearly the faster car.

I don't think testing tells the full picture. We won't know just how fast the Porsche is until qualifying. I will however readjust my stance and take back what I said about Porsche pretty much having this one in the bag. They may have speed, but looking at the first two races of the season it's obvious their chassis is no match for Audi in terms of tire wear. Double-stinting tires will be an issue for them, but it is an absolute necessity in today's endurance racing.

I still have a sliver of hope for Toyota. Looking at their pace during testing, it was nowhere near their potential, so I'm hoping they were working on fuel mileage and tire wear rather than outright speed. If they can match Audi in those two categories, then I think they have a legitimate shot as well.

All the action starts next Wednesday!!!

 

[Sunny]

My money is on no. 7 Audi. Lotterer is IMO the best endurance racer in the current field. He is damn fast, kind on the car and makes very few mistakes.

Also don't forget the Joest factor. It is the most experienced LeMans racing team, so even if Audi is not the fastest, they probably have a few tricks up the sleeve.

 

[Beemer B773ER]

Guys, here's a great site that has compiled a bunch of resources to follow this year's [HASHTAG]#LM24[/HASHTAG].

http://reillybrennan.com/post/120465643925/2015-24-hours-of-le-mans-couch-kit-streaming


First practice session starts in less than 90 minutes!!!

 

[Beemer B773ER]

Live Eurosports feed if you want to following practice/qualifying.

http://www.crichd.tv/eurosport-1-hd-live-stream.php

 

[Beemer B773ER]

Porsche on pole position for 2015 Le Mans 24 Hours
Thursday, June 11th 2015

Porsche's trio of 919 Hybrids will start this weekend's Le Mans 24 Hours from the top three positions of the grid after maintaining their supremacy in final qualifying.

Neel Jani's time of 3m16.887s in the [HASHTAG]#18[/HASHTAG] Porsche he shares with Romain Dumas and Marc Lieb, set early in the first of three qualifying sessions held on Wednesday night, was good enough to hold on to top spot throughout today's pair of two-hour sessions.

It is the fastest pole lap set at Le Mans since the introduction of the chicanes on the Mulsanne Straight, and the sixth fastest in history in terms of laptime regardless of configuration.

It is also the first Porsche to take pole at Le Mans since Michele Alboreto in the Joest WSC 95 in 1997.

Timo Bernhard qualified the [HASHTAG]#17[/HASHTAG] Porsche second, again with his time set early in Wednesday's session, with the [HASHTAG]#19[/HASHTAG] car third fastest.

.....

Filipe Albuquerque was the best-placed driver to improve a car's qualifying time in the final session, but his marginal gain was not good enough to improve the #9 Audi's position from sixth place.

That means the #8 Audi is the best placed of the trio, with the #7 car of 2014 winners Andre Lotterer, Benoit Treluyer and Marcel Fassler behind it in fifth.

Toyota continued to struggle, ending up 2.5s behind the slowest Audi and 6.656s off the outright pace with its lead car, the #2 machine qualified by Stephane Sarrazin, in seventh ahead of the #1 machine qualified by Buemi.


Full Qualifying Recap of all Classes