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The "1" in "LMP1" is supposed to signify that this is the top class in the ALMS. But for a good stretch of this season, the top of the podium has featured LMP2 cars, instead. For Audi, long the top P1 team, it is particularly troublesome that German rival Porsche is the team ahead of them during this P1 slump. And as they head to Road America for the next round of the series, they are saying "enough is enough." Audi is telling anyone who will listen that the Porsches are going down. If that sounds cocky, it shouldn't. Audi should be confident here as they've never lost a race at this familiar course in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. The fast track should allow that big diesel to run free and show off all of its torque once again.
Since an LMP2 car has outright won the last five races in a row, the governing body of the ALMS has decided to slow the class down for the 2008 season by adding mandatory weight to each car. Now, if that sounds like the ALMS is helping Audi win, it is. But the rules should favor the LMP1 class to win, and five losses in a row for the class means something is amiss, so a little tweaking is understandable.
Full press release with weekend schedule after the jump.
[Source: Audi Motorsport]
PRESS RELEASE:
Audi aim to end LM P2 cars winning streak
- Elkhart Lake next stop for the American Le Mans Series
- Fastest track of the year
- Audi unbeaten at Road America to date
The Audi R10 TDI has been front page news in the American Le Mans Series since March 2006. With the revolutionary Diesel Sportscar, Audi is also proving just how efficient modern Diesel engines are on the race track. The programme in the world's most important Sportscar racing series is important in paving the way for AUDI AG's forthcoming Diesel offensive in America.
Next stop on the Audi R10 TDI's US tour is Elkhart Lake in Wisconsin state. The 6.563 kilometre (4.048 miles) long "Road America" circuit is the fastest on the American Le Mans Series calendar – and one which the Audi drivers are especially looking forward to.
The Diesel Sportscar, developed specifically for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, is at home on fast circuits. This is why Team Audi Sport North America believes it has the opportunity to beat the preferentially treated LM P2 cars, which recently celebrated five successive overall victories. As a consequence, the LM P2 car's minimum weight has been increased by 50 kilograms by the rule makers for the 2008 season.
Defending ALMS LM P1 Champions Dindo Capello and Allan McNish head to Road America as leaders of the LM P1 drivers' championship. They hold an 18 point lead over their team-mates Emanuele Pirro and Marco Werner. The race starts on Saturday (11 August) at 4.p.m. local time (11 p.m. in Germany) and lasts four hours. An extra three points are awarded due to the longer race distance. Audi is unbeaten at Road America to date.
Quotes before the race at Road America
Dr Wolfgang Ullrich (Head of Audi Motorsport): "In Road America we aim to continue with the big victories we recorded at the beginning of the season. However, this is no easy task as we have two handicaps handed out to us by the regulations when compared to the LM P2 cars: the higher weight and smaller fuel tank. We also lose time during the pit stops because diesel flows slower into the tank than gasoline. In spite of this, we'll do everything possible to beat the LM P2 cars – even though there are no points awarded in the American Le Mans Series for doing this."
Dindo Capello (Audi R10 TDI #1): "After having raced at several circuits that didn't quite suit our R10 TDI, we can hardly wait to drive at Road America. We should be capable of extracting the full potential of our Diesel Sportscar there. Our last overall victory was more than four months ago. It's high time that Allan (McNish) and I return to the winner's circle."
Allan McNish (Audi R10 TDI #1): "Road America is a fantastic track that has some very fast sections. It is demanding and you need to be quite courageous. Dindo (Capello) and I love the track. We were very strong there last year, but we nevertheless lost the win to our team-mates just before the finish. That means we have a score to settle at Road America. In view of the way the season's been running up until now, we are very hungry for success."
Emanuele Pirro (Audi R10 TDI #2): "In my opinion, Road America is one of the best circuits on the American Le Mans Series calendar. I really enjoy going back to race there. I have fond memories, not only of our win last year. The battle I had with Tom (Kristensen) in 2002 was even better, and I'll never forget it. At Road America I hope that Audi is finally seen in a more familiar position: right at the front."
Marco Werner (Audi R10 TDI #2): "Every one of us is looking forward to Road America. It's an extremely fast track with one very long straight. Road America is a big challenge for the driver, just how I like it. The R10 TDI is designed and built for Le Mans – and therefore rather more for Road America than for Lime Rock or Mid Ohio. I hope that we can get the R10 TDI right at the front again."
Dave Maraj (Team Director Audi Sport North America): "We lost too much time in the pits at Mid Ohio. We analysed exactly where we can be faster. As a team we do not give up. Even if Porsche has an advantage we want to beat them at Road America. It'll be difficult to repeat last year's one-two finish. But we'll definetly try."
The schedule at Road America
Thursday, 9 August
13:50 – 14:20 Test session (LM P1 / LM P2)
14:20 – 15:20 Test session (all classes)
15:20 – 15:50 Test session (GT1 / GT2)
Friday, 10 August
09:00 – 10:00 Practice 1
13:20 – 14:20 Practice 2
14:30 – 14:50 Qualifying (GT1 / GT2)
15:00 – 15:20 Qualifying (LM P1 / LM P2)
Sunday, 11 August
10:00 – 10:25 Warm-up
16:00 – 20:00 Race
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
zach @ Aug 3rd 2007 4:18PM
seems like the underlying problem is that ACO has allowed the P1 and P2 classes to become far too similar. As it stands now, P2 is only marginally smaller/less powerful than P1 and it's difficult to identify which class a given car belongs to unless one of each are in close proximity to each other.
The fact that ALMS has to step in to level the field across class lines shows to me that the real issue is with the ACO class specifications.
All that being said, I still love watching ALMS races.
why not the LS2LS7? @ Aug 4th 2007 1:40AM
Actually, ACO made the restrictor 15% smaller on LMP2 cars this year so that the LMP2 cars couldn't keep up with the LMP1 cars (i.e. Audis).
However, ALMS is run by IMSA (which Don Panoz owns), and IMSA decided to break with the ACO on this, much like how they allowed the Maserati MC12 to run two years ago in GT1 despite it not meeting regs.
ACO doesn't have a car count problem, they've expanded the pits each of the last two years at Le Mans. IMSA however knows that there's no way to win in LMP1 without a Diesel and there is no company that sells Diesels to privateers. And with no Peugeot here, that means only one team can win LMP1 and the overall. So they skipped the 15% restrictor thing and LMP2 can compete effectively for the overall win too.
So at Le Mans under ACO rules, there's no competition, LMP1 is the fastest, and due to the rules jiggering, you can't beat the Diesels. Under IMSA rules, we get to see some racing. We also get to see that the weight of the Audis really hurts them when trying to compete against gas cars that haven't been increased in weight to match them (the minimum weight in LMP1 was increased about 120 lbs under ACO and IMSA rules so the Diesels wouldn't be 200 lbs too heavy to compete.
Ian @ Aug 3rd 2007 4:21PM
I wonder why ALMS shows concern for P1 when they have allowed GT1 to slide so much? Corvette team is threatening to move to Europe only in 2008 because there is no competition for them to race gainst. Meantime Prodrive wanted to start a 2 car effort this summer in the ALMS but asked for some performace boost in oder t compete with Corvette. ALMS refused o the cars won't come....
The poblem is the ACO set rulesto favor diesels etc and ALMS tries to even out the cars and adjusts he ACO perfomance regs themselves.
zach @ Aug 3rd 2007 4:26PM
true... i miss the astons (especially the sound)
John @ Aug 3rd 2007 4:26PM
There will be a Maserati MC12 running in GT1 for the race at Road America.
Mr. Oak @ Aug 3rd 2007 5:10PM
They're not ready, won't be close to the 'Vettes when they're fresh out of the box.
dondonel @ Aug 3rd 2007 4:30PM
What a dilemma for ALMS governing body! What should they do more so that Audi R10 wins for sure next season. More displacement, higher compression wasn't enough for the diesel bullsh!t to win, so I'm guessing next season they'll just hand the cup over to Audi before the race.
Audi R8/R10 are probably the most successful uncompetitive race cars ever. Audi R8/R10 still can't beat the records set by GT40s 40 years ago! Do you think that 40 years old F1 cars can compete with todays F1 cars?? R8/R10 are an embarassement to racing, and are still in the competition just because Audi is the only real sponsor in endurance racing these days, and can bend the regulations, no matter how ridiculous.
dondonel @ Aug 3rd 2007 6:15PM
@carluvr
Really? So why did they let diesels race with a larger displacement than gasoline engines in the first place? Wasn't the higher compression of the diesel an advantage big enough? Audi are the cry babies of the series, no matter how much money they throw in their design they still can't produce a race car.
The Penguin @ Aug 3rd 2007 4:58PM
The real problem is that when the ACO designed the two prototype classes they never expected to have two large factory efforts in the lower class that was designed for small privateer teams. The IMSA should stop acting outside the ACO and just let the LMP2 cars continue as they are, until the complete overhaul in 2011.
RG @ Aug 3rd 2007 5:02PM
I thought that P2 was created to challenge the P1 outright, but with a different formula. The LMP1 cars are the most powerful, but they are also heavier than the less powerful and lighter LMP2 cars.
When the LMP2 cars first started, they were working out the wrinkles and were having troubles, now it seems as though Porsche (big suprise) has figured out their cars and are challenging them the way the creators of the LMP2 class wanted. But now Audi is crying and ALMS is listening to them.
The Penguin @ Aug 3rd 2007 5:17PM
LMP2 was never intended to compete with LMP1, but with the shorter, tighter courses that the ALMS races on the large factory efforts of Porsche and Acura are able to challenge and beat the LMP1 teams.
dondonel @ Aug 3rd 2007 5:25PM
@Penguin
There is only one manufacturer team in ALMS, and this is Audi. Porsches and Acuras cars are raced by independent teams, with incomparably smaller budgets than Audi. That these anonymous teams can defeat R10 only shows how uncompetitive the overhyped R10 actually is.
carluvr @ Aug 3rd 2007 5:36PM
dondonel, you could not be more uninformed. Up until 5 races ago, Audi was undefeated. ACO then started to put bigger restrictions on Audi to make the 2 classes more competitve but unfortunately they took too much from Audi and gave too much to the LMP2 class. The have added weight to the Audi's, given smaller fuel tanks so that they have to pit more often and even restricted the flow of diesel into the R10 so now it takes longer to fill the smaller tank. Look at Mid-Ohio, Audi basically won overall but lost due to the penalty that slows the amount of fuel into the R10. They have basically taken away so much from Audi that they have lost 2 races due to smaller fuel tanks and restriction of slower fill up times.......what is this? socialized racing? Tired of Audi always kicking everyone's azz and then giving it away to the LMP2 class? I'm not saying the LMP2 class is not competitive but the LMP1 class is in the "Showcase" class and should not be restricted so much as a less competitive class overtakes them.
JSacharuk @ Aug 3rd 2007 8:12PM
This decision is silly. Why not try LIFTING some of the penalties handed down against Audi? Why not let them have a standard sized fuel tank so they pit less? Why not take away the weight penalty before ADDING a weight penalty to another class?
In the video game world, this is called 'nerfing' -- you take away all the good things from one side in the name of balance, and when things are unbalanced again, you take away things from the other side. Pretty soon, everyone'll have to drag a trailer full of lead weights behind their cars and they'll only be allowed a litre of fuel at a time.
There should be fewer restrictions on the cars, especially in what're supposed to be 'unlimited' classes.
The Penguin @ Aug 3rd 2007 8:24PM
@JSacharuk
What you said is probably the simplest way to resolve the problem, except they can't do that because the Audi has to run under the same restrictions as the Peugeot 908 over in Europe does.
Vexorg @ Aug 3rd 2007 8:32PM
I'd hardly call Penske an anonymous team.
why not the LS2LS7? @ Aug 4th 2007 2:03AM
Penguin:
It depends on how you define LMP1 and LMP2.
When prototypes were created 10 years ago or so, there was LMP and GTP (GTP are closed top cars similar to LMP cars).
GTP kind of died, but the LMP stayed around.
The problem was LMP cars were very expensive to make. So a lighter, smaller class was created, LMP675. LMP675 had a smaller motor and car. The smaller frontal area helped compensate for the reduced HP (the 900 and 675 roughly represent the amount of HP the cars were expected to have), and a change in wing location (out back instead of up top) helped reduce drag. The cars could at time compete on equal footing.
MG/Lolas with turbocharged 2.0L 4s came into LMP675. When MG ran into problems, these cars became Lola/AERs. When they finally became reliable, the Lola/AERs were able to compete with the LMP900 cars (R8s), and the AERs took an overall win in ALMS for the first time at Sears Point.
Eventually, the R8s came to dominate LMP900 and the Lola/AERs dominated LMP675. The other teams withered. So the formula was changed, and the cars were no longer separated by weight or size, but instead by some mystic formula that seemed to put every team with good financial backing into LMP1 and the shoestring teams (think Miracle Motorsports) into LMP2.
Now the R8s and AERs were competing in the same class for the win and for the overall. With Audi withdrawing their werks backing, the competition was on, and it was a great couple years if you like close racing.
Soon though, Audi lobbied the ACO for rules changes and brought out the R10, a car that is impossible to beat with the rules applied to gas engines. There is no vendor of Diesels to privateers, so every team with any aspirations left LMP1 in ALMS (some remain at Le Mans itself, such as Pescarolo) and headed to LMP2.
With the new good racing in LMP2, the cameras started following the LMP2 cars, and thus the money went there too (the same effect can be seen in GT2 vs GT1 this year). Penske commissioned Porsche to make an LMP2 car and Acura jumped in too, and now there are 5 cars out there in LMP2 competing with each other.
Anyway, so if you look at it, the 2nd LMP class (LMP675) was designed to compete with the main class, or perhaps (LMP2) it was just made as a sop to low-budget teams.
Either way, once ACO rigged the rules for Diesels, every team with no access to a competitive Diesel was essentially forced to move out of LMP1 into LMP2. And IMSA took advantage of this to entice moneyed teams into entering LMP2 and providing us with the good racing we couldn't get in LMP1.
Carlos @ Aug 3rd 2007 5:35PM
Why are there two classes to begin with?
The Penguin @ Aug 3rd 2007 5:48PM
The reason that there are two classes is because the higher class(LMP1) is for large factory efforts. This is the class that competes for the coveted overall win at 24 Hours of Le Mans each year. The lower class(LMP2) is for smaller privateer teams that don't have the budget to compete with the factory teams. The prize that they get is that they compete with very similar teams to see who is the best. This is the way that it was intended to be, but with the large factory efforts in LMP2 this has messed up what was originally planned.
The Penguin @ Aug 3rd 2007 5:40PM
@dondonel
You obviously do not pay any attention to modern sports car racing because if you did you would realize that almost all of the teams in any form of le mans racing that are competitive and winning are getting lots help from the manufacture that they race for. The Penske Porsches are considered a factory team, and the two Acura teams are almost across that line.