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JHS18

80Th Running Of The Grand Prix D'endurance

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Interesting quirk on Starworks car:

C14-IMGP2003.JPG

Anyway, pictures from day 2 of scrutineering can be found here:

http://www.endurance...?page=1035&np=1

No doubt more to come. Not long before the track action begins now...

Nothing quirky about a woman, James...apart from them being women...that's just too damn quirky to contemplate!

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Holy toledo Batman - has that thing ever seen a wind tunnel? Do they know that large frontal area = slow?

Hey, there's some pretty weird looking race cars around at the moment anyway! You'd think that the step on the nose of current Formula One cars wouldn't be very aerodynamic, but they're still as quick as ever. :P

Anyway, only one more sleep till track action starts. So excited! :P I'll try and keep track of any good new stories today, but it should be pretty quiet.

Just something very basic for those new to Le Mans: when it gets dark, cars with white headlights are prototypes. Cars with yellow headlights are GTs.

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It is funny to look at some of the drivers in the "Am" class on the entry list. There's some drivers you really wouldn't expect to see.

I know it is all down to the FIA's driver license ranking. I believe from memory it works like this.

LMP1 - Limited to platinum and gold ranked drivers only.

LMP2 - Gold and silver drivers. One silver ranked driver is mandatory in each car.

GT Pro - Mostly platinum and gold ranked drivers only, but then there's Roger Wills in the #66 who is bronze rated...

GT Am - Have to have one silver and one bronze driver in each car.

But then - if you look closely at some of the drivers in Am, there's people like Pedro Lamy (in the #50 car, he's a platinum rated driver), Allan Simonsen (gold) in the #99, Sean Edwards (gold) in the #75 and Brian Vickers (platinum, don't laugh Eric tongue.png) in the #61. Not drivers you'd really class as "amateurs."

If you can make any sense out of that, you're a better person than me. I'm confused.

By the way, there's a complete list of drivers and their licenses in the WEC (not sure if it contains everyone in Le Mans) here. I find it quite interesting actually:

http://www.lemans.or...otification.pdf

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Now might be a good idea to post a track map as well James...

Lemans.jpg

And this brilliant Audi promo from last year. A year old, but still relevant, and still really good.

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Also, just for Eric seeing as you said you wanted to get to know the track a bit better in the light, an onboard from last year:

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A cool feature running on Autosport at the moment - debating the 50 greatest Le Mans cars ever. Cool for finding out a bit of the history of the race too and how cars have developed over the years:

http://lemanscars.autosport.com/

Only real absence I can think of - and one of my earliest memories of Le Mans after having a model of it as a kid, would be this. The Ferrari 333sp:

MOMO_history_2.jpg

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Just a reminder - track action commences tomorrow (or today if you're reading this tomorrow). :P

The one and only practice session of the week starts at 4pm (French time) and ends at 8pm.

Qualifying in the dark then runs for two hours starting at 10pm and running to midnight, again, French times.

You can follow the coverage online with www.radiolemans.com or alternatively, it is pretty likely there will be a stream, which I can post here if moderators approve.

It has been raining at the circuit today and tomorrow could be more of the same. We'll have to wait and see.

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You can post links to all legal, official streams.

These are streams that are supplied by the ACO and all related bodies (such as the WEC, FIA, 24 Hours of Le Mans, etc), or by the television broadcast partners of the 24 Hours of Le Mans (such as Eurosport, SPEED, etc).

Illegal streams where a third party streams content without the consent of the copyright holder on their own website or on a streaming website cannot be shared on the forum, and only through PM.

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Hey, there's some pretty weird looking race cars around at the moment anyway! You'd think that the step on the nose of current Formula One cars wouldn't be very aerodynamic, but they're still as quick as ever. tongue.png

Anyway, only one more sleep till track action starts. So excited! tongue.png I'll try and keep track of any good new stories today, but it should be pretty quiet.

Just something very basic for those new to Le Mans: when it gets dark, cars with white headlights are prototypes. Cars with yellow headlights are GTs.

Aye, but an F1 car's nose is very skinny (put your feet together, spread 'em apart by two inches, measure across your ankles, and that's about it)

That car however looks like it has the air intake off a cruise liner!

:P

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Practice session just starting, with plenty of cars taking to the track. A long session. Weather fine and dry at the moment, but it could rain later.

www.radiolemans.com is covering the action - just click "listen live". I also have a stream, but according to the moderators' wishes - PM me if you'd like the link.

Live timing will be available here once competitive lap times start.

http://live.lemans-tv.com/

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#8 Toyota goes quickest with a 3:30.162, then stops on the Mulsanne straight moments later with a minor fire.

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One hour gone already.

No change at the very top. The #3 Audi is quickest, #7 Toyota second, #2, #1, #4 Audis and then #8 Toyota with a drivetrain problem.

Best of the rest is the #21 HPD followed by the two Rebellion cars.

LMP2 is lead by #46 Nissan. GT Pro and Am are being lead by the #51 Ferrari and #99 Aston Martin respectively. No lap time as yet for Deltawing.

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#8 Toyota has finally been recovered to the pits. No idea whether it'll feature again this session. #7 still pounding round on a longer run.

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Times fairly static at the top, but quite a few changes elsewhere. #45 car now quickes in LMP2 whilst as I made reference to only a couple of days ago, Allan Simonsen is anything but an amateur and goes second in GT OVERALL in the #99 Aston.

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As I say that the #1 Audi E-Tron improves to go quickest on a 3:27.230.

#81 Ferrari and #23 have both found themselves in the gravel.

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Weather update: clouds building and humidity increasing, rain could be on its way.

As for the weekend...well, put it this way...I think the chances of a completely dry race from flag to flag are very slim.

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