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Ricky Taylor and Ben Keating at Lemans



[h=2]Le Mans LMP2: How Riley is taking on the world[/h] Tuesday, 13 June 2017



Stephen Kilbey / Images by LAT

Among the 25 LMP2 teams set to embark on the 85th edition of the Le Mans 24 Hours are fleets of ORECAs, Ligiers, Dallaras and Alpines (although the latter are really just ORECAs in fancy dress).

And then there's Keating Motorsport. The team, run by American Ben Keating, is running the only U.S.-designed and -built Riley Mk.30 Gibson in the race as part of the record class field. It's going to be anything but simple for the No.43 car.
At the Le Mans Test Day, two weeks ahead of the race proper, 13 of the 14 ORECA 07s dominated in performance terms: the first of the non-ORECAS finished 14th in the overall classification. The 07 isn't the fastest in a straight line (the Dallara earns that badge), but over a lap, it has proved to be seconds quicker than the Dallaras, Ligiers and Riley. But the Keating squad stuck to its own game plan, and gained valuable track time ahead of what could be the most exciting LMP2 races in years.
Driving the car is Keating himself, along with versatile Dutchman Jeroen Bleekemolen and IMSA star Ricky Taylor. The trio has only driven the car during its limited testing cycle over the past six weeks and for 38 laps on the Test Day, en route to 23rd in the LMP2 standings.
At this point it is far too early to judge the Riley's performance, as its Le Mans aero package in particular is very new.
"The aero kit had to be homologated in December," Riley Technologies president Bill Riley told RACER. "It was developed after the primary car, but developed alongside it. Keating has done just three tests, all with the new package."
For Riley and Multimatic, who together designed and manufactured the Mk.30 chassis, this year's Le Mans 24 Hours is of upmost importance. It's the first trip to the French endurance classic for the new-for-2017 LMP2 chassis, and a good race result will likely translate into a global boost in chassis sales.

"Coming to Le Mans for Riley, is of great importance," Riley added. "It's just as important as Daytona, where we had a car finish third. We've got work to do, but it's critical to have a car here, and do well.

"They [ORECA] dominated [on Test Day]. But it'll be interesting to see if we can catch them. Not going to the Monza test has left us with the most work to do, I think.
"We had too much downforce on the Keating Mk.30 on Test Day, so when we come back we'll pull some more downforce off it."
Despite the car only turning 38 laps at Test Day, Keating's crew knows that there's still much to unlock in the car's package. At Le Mans the team will have support from Riley, as well as IMSA team Visit Florida Racing, which is air-freighting parts to Le Mans for race week.
"Last year I raced with Murphy Prototypes in an ORECA 03R, which was a six-year-old car," Keating told RACER. "This year I've come with a new chassis, and I chose Riley because I had a good experience racing with their GT Viper. I have a lot of faith in the cars that Bill Riley builds.
"The actual delivery (of his Mk.30) was six weeks ago. We kept on pushing it back, hoping to make small improvements here and there as the deadline came up for Riley to have the final homologation completed for the ACO.
"We were able to run several tests, had no issues that you'd expect with a brand-new car, and we've heard a bit from the Rileys running in IMSA, to help ensure that we've come here with the best car we can."
Keating, Bleekemolen and Taylor all took part in the tests prior to the trip to France, and the feedback was positive. They were unable to get to any races with it, but with the running they had, they learnt a lot about the car's inherent tendencies, strengths and weaknesses.

"We shook it down at Road Atlanta for a day, did two days for New Orleans and a day and a half for Watkins Glen, all with the Le Mans aero," Taylor told RACER.
"The feeling is good, but Le Mans is all about the things you don't feel, like top speed, drag. The car gives you good feedback, it's very responsive to set up changes, so from that perspective it's positive. But we'll see how the pace is on race week.
"It's nimble, it does everything you want it to do. Here at Le Mans the track is easy to drive, with long straights and plenty of time to rest. The hard part is the mental side."
Taylor, like Keating and Bleekemolen, understands that as well as battling the circuit and racing with a new car, they'll also be up against a world-class prototype field, packed with teams from the World Endurance Championship, European Le Mans Series and Asian Le Mans Series.
There are fewer variables in LMP2 than ever before too, with two tire-suppliers, a spec Gibson engine, no manufacturer involvement and just four chassis to choose from. The category is stacked, and that's before you factor in the many world-class driver line-ups. If the Riley can emerge from all of that with a good result, it will be a real achievement.
Among the 75 drivers are experienced Le Mans veterans, single-seater hopefuls, and fast amateurs, all trying to make for the best combination possible within the parameters of the driver-grading system, which is designed to ensure that each entry features a mix of pro and am drivers.
"The class is unbelievable," Taylor said. "We were looking at the timing screens before we set our first lap, and we weren't even on the board! The list of cars is so long, it's awesome. It's the class to be in really."
It's going to be a tough French campaign for Keating Motorsports, but with the capable hands of Bleekemolen, Keating and Taylor – who was touted by Bleekemolen to RACER as being in the form of his life after winning every IMSA race so far this season – a surprise result is possible.
Besides, the three of them were warmed up from racing in the WeatherTech round at Detroit the day before the Test Day, which forced them to continent-hop overnight on the Saturday, and jump straight in the car at La Sarthe just hours after landing.
"I hope being the only Riley works to our advantage," Keating concluded. "I hope that in the we're at the sharp end of the field. But we won't know where we are until race week."


RACER.com coverage of the 24 Hours of Le Mans is presented by Lone Star Le Mans, a six-hour sprint deep in the heart of Texas: September 15-16 at COTA.

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[h=2]Davidson ready to forget '16 Le Mans heartbreak[/h] Tuesday, 13 June 2017



By Marshall Pruett / Images by Pruett, Toyota Racing, Ebrey/LAT

Toyota's Anthony Davidson relied heavily on his sense of humor after experiencing last year's heartbreaking loss at Le Mans. Three minutes shy of earning the Japanese brand's first victory at the vaunted 24-hour endurance race, a quest to win on Toyota's 18th attempt – dating back to 1985 – was undone on the final lap by a faulty clamp within the engine bay.
Four decades of trying, a single lap from glory, spoiled by a stupid little clamp connecting the turbochargers to an intercooler. It was enough to steer Davidson, his teammates and all those within the Toyota Racing organization into a collective depression. That's where the Briton's positive disposition proved invaluable during the weeks and months that went by after Porsche was handed the win.
"I tell you what, if I had to choose one scenario from the 2015 season or the 2016 season and, knowing what happened at the end, I would still go for the 2016 season," Davidson told RACER. The 2015 Le Mans edition, as he noted, found the Toyota TS040 Hybrid chassis in a hopelessly uncompetitive state against Audi and Porsche.
On its Le Mans debut last year, the brand-new TS050 Hybrid was a missile that had Porsche's 919 Hybrids ready to settle for second until fate rewrote the script on the last lap. In Davidson's estimation, it's easier to purge the lingering feelings from a dramatic loss than to accept being uncompetitive for 24 straight hours.
"Yeah, because, turning up to Le Mans with a car that you just haven't got a hope in hell of winning the race for you is so soul-destroying, to go through 24 hours of disappointed, and then [Le Mans is] the highlight of your year, the one thing you've been looking forward to in racing all year, when you just know it's going to be a disappointment, and you're not going to walk away with anything unless you have a massive handful of luck, it's awful," he said.
"And, 2015 was just such a disappointing season, in terms of performance. And, I think everybody in the team felt that and I think that's why we came back stronger because we went from a season where we won everything in 2014, well not everything of course, we didn't win Le Mans, but we were winners in 2014 and we came back to 2015 with a No. 1 on the car and we just got absolutely chipped. It was horrible."
As Davidson has reconciled the experience, coming up 180 seconds short of earning his biggest achievement as a racecar driver no longer sits on his shoulders as a burdensome weight.
"We pulled ourselves together and we realized that, yeah, we got to improve and take the fight to Audi and Porsche and we did," he said. "And that's such a sweet feeling. And to go there and almost win the race in 2016, it was, just up until that last lap, we were loving it. That moment at the end of the race was obviously heartbreaking but no one can take away that feeling of how good you were feeling before it. And, I prefer to do 23 hours, 57 minutes of feeling brilliant and have it robbed at the end instead of 24 hours of absolute agony."

Even with Davidson's positive leanings, arriving at his current state of mind did take a bit of work after Le Mans 2016.
"It's strange, there at the time it was obviously unbelievable, what had happened," he admitted. "And yeah, you couldn't accept it at all, really. But they say time is a healer, it really is. And actually, now I look back at that race from last year, it, although it still, when you really want to think about it and think about the disappointments and think about the 'Oh God, it's just one more lap. We would have won, but ...'
"And, I think, all the drivers did such a great job. We really earned that victory. We deserved it. Everybody knows that and yes, if you take your mind there to the last lap, it's gutting. But, as time's gone on, it's blessed me with actually a much better feeling than I thought I would ever have about that race. I don't mind thinking about that race now."
The 2016 ordeal also taught Davidson a lesson which, as he explains, has shifted his outlook in France from optimism to a pragmatic point of view.
"I actually, in a weird way, have good feelings about it and, going into this year's race, it's definitely made me stronger, mentally stronger," he said. "I go to that race now expecting the worst and, if it's any better than that, then that's great. It's always the race that seems to bite you. But, nothing that happens this year can be as bad as last year. So, it can't be any more cruel ever again. So, in a way that makes you stronger because you know that you can go there and you can treat it like any other race and you know that you can't get hurt by it anymore."
The Toyotas have been impressively fast this year – enough so to be pegged as the favorites to win at Le Mans with its three-car assault on Porsche. But after being so tantalizingly close 12 months ago, what if it doesn't happen for Davidson this year or in the future? He has a plan.
"If I never win that race then I'm going to buy myself a Rolex, I've decided, and engrave Le Mans 2016 Winner-Le Mans: 23 hours, 57 minutes," he joked. "I felt sorry for those Porsche guys. They were struggling a bit so I did the right thing. Everyone knows who should have won. So, I'm that generous kind of guy I guess. You should have seen the smile on their faces. Heartwarming it was."

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[h=2]Matt McMurry: From school to Le Mans[/h] Tuesday, 13 June 2017


By Marshall Pruett / Images by Vision Sports Agency, Trienitz/LAT

When it comes to pre-event Le Mans preparations, Matt McMurry is in a world of his own.
While most of the 150-plus drivers spent untold hours in the gym, liaising with their engineers, and making final fitment checks inside their cars over the past week, the 19-year-old American LMP2 racer was busy lifting a different type of weights and completing an endurance race from Southern California to Arizona.


"I moved out of my dorm on Thursday, drove seven hours to Phoenix, unpacked, and now I'm packing for Le Mans," the student-athlete told RACER.
Forget camping out on the Le Mans simulator, or living a pampered life with personal assistants and trainers: McMurry has spent the year cramming for exams at UC Irvine and sprinting to ELMS races.
With his aerospace and mechanical engineering studies completed until school resumes after summer, McMurry is finally free to place his full concentration on the 24 Hours of Le Mans with the Portuguese Algarve Pro Racing team, where he'll share the No. 45 Ligier JS P217-Gibson with Vincent Capillaire and Mark Patterson.
Along with his ELMS/Le Mans duties, McMurry is also part of the Park Place Motorsports IMSA GT Daytona team (pictured below at Daytona) as its third driver for the long-distance races, which means partying and all the other norms of college life between semesters will be replaced with racing around the globe.

Ambition, as you might have surmised, isn't lacking within McMurry.
"It's all sort of crazy, since I'm only going to be home this summer for two weeks after Le Mans," he said. "After the Watkins Glen IMSA race with Park Place (on July 2), I'm heading to Portugal for the summer to live with the Algarve Pro team in the Albufiera area. I'm looking forward to working on the car, as well as a load of testing and having an easier take-off place for the ELMS rounds."
McMurry made history in 2014 as the youngest driver to compete at the 24 Hour of Le Mans. At 16, he impressed as an LMP2 newcomer, and with more seasoning to draw from, McMurry is now among the featured drivers in the packed class. With 25 cars in LMP2, almost half the overall field is represented in the category, and for those who intend to win, the sheer volume of cars to contend with is a nightmare.
The odds for each LMP1 entry is favorable; with only six cars, there's a 1:6 chance of victory. LMP2's 1:25 odds are downright silly.
"Since the LMP675/LMP2 era started in 2000, there have never been more cars in this class, and all 25 cars are new 2017-spec LMP2s that are significantly faster than last year's cars due to increased power and downforce," he said. "Just at the Test Day, when the track is dirty and slow, last year's LMP2 qualifying times were smashed by over seven seconds! It's the heyday for the class, and I wouldn't be surprised to see an LMP2 crack the top five overall – and maybe even better if the LMP1s slip."
The recent Le Mans test day also revealed a clear delineation within the LMP2 class. For those who are armed with the ORECA 07 chassis or its Alpine A470 derivation, life is good. For everyone else, including McMurry's Algarve team with its Ligier JS P217, the gap to ORECA – a giant 3.7 seconds – could split the class into first- and second-tier outcomes.
"For my team, our efforts during the practice and qualifying will be focused on improving our top end speed," said McMurry, whose hopes of using of a new low-drag kit for the JS P217s were dashed over the weekend by the Le Mans organizers. "All of the Ligiers have been struggling for top end all season long in the ELMS. We've been able to be competitive in the short track sprints because the Ligier has had superior tire wear. At Le Mans, however, tire wear isn't as drastic, and the top speed advantage that the ORECAs have over us really compounds with the miles and miles of straightaways."

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[h=2]Toyota going aggressive in quest for first Le Mans win[/h] Wednesday, 14 June 2017


By Marshall Pruett / Images by Toyota Racing

The Toyota Racing team enters Le Mans infused with confidence after a pair of FIA World Endurance Championship wins and the fastest lap in Le Mans testing. The German-based factory outfit came within three crushing minutes of earning its maiden win at last year's 24 Hour with the brand-new Toyota TS050 Hybrid, and the squad has arrived at Le Mans with an aggressive plan to capture those three missing minutes.
The expansion to three cars – a first since the Japanese brand returned to Le Mans in 2012 – speaks to the ambition to correct the past. Already amazingly quick in its first season of competition, the sophomore TS050 Hybrid has somehow gotten faster. The raw speed under initial acceleration, courtesy of an upgraded 8MJ hybrid system, and prodigious top end grunt delivered by the 2.4-liter twin-turbo V6-powered TS050, has ensured the Toyotas are more than a match for Porsche's 919 Hybrid.
Slick, revised low-drag bodywork has taken the combined output of the Toyota's powertrain and eased the chassis through the air. The TS050 Hybrid, in its second visit to Le Mans, looks like it will be the car to catch.

"We knew along that we've got a fast car this year," Toyota driver Anthony Davidson told RACER. "We've proved that in the first two races. And, we could even feel it from the first time it turned a wheel in winter testing.
"You can never go to Le Mans confident, because, like we proved last year, anything really can happen, and you've got to expect the unexpected there. But, I think we can expect to have a nice car to drive, a car that's going to do what we want, and respond well to set up changes through the week, give us a chance for pole position."
The lap of 3m18.132s turned during the June 4 Le Mans test by the No. 7 Toyota was alarmingly quick when compared to the best Porsche could manage, a 3m21.512s with the No. 2 919 Hybrid. Davidson expects his No. 8 Toyota and the sister No. 9 entry to be quick when qualifying arrives, but nobody at Toyota believes their rivals will remain so far behind.

"We'll be somewhere close to Porsche, I should guess," he said. "I mean, I can't believe that they're going to be as far away as they were at the official test, but, I think can expect to have a good car. You can never go there expecting to walk the race and win it by a country mile."

Davidson's measured optimism comes from the impressive amount of work the Toyota team has completed coming into Le Mans.

"Porsche really raised the level and we responded to that," he said of the fortified TS050. "We knew we had to. It was time to get serious and I'm really proud of the team that they were able to turn it around. We should have won Le Mans last year and we won a race and had serious faith in the car at times last season. And then, one thing that the team's always been good at is responding to new aero-regulations."
The never-ending efforts by the ACO and FIA to slow its LMP1 Hybrids saw Porsche and Toyota lose downforce during the offseason, and as Davidson noted, his team has minimized the effects.
"That's why we were so strong in 2014 as well, don't forget, with a whole new concept to the LMP1 cars, so I think that's why we were good then and think that's why we're good again now, because we've had a serious overhaul of the aero-regulations going into this season," he added.
"I feel like the car is at a very good level, particularly on the low downforce kit for Le Mans, which is obviously the team's main target for this year, and mine."
Watching the 919 Hybrids explode off the corners at Le Mans in 2016 suggested the Toyota team had some performance to gain with its 8MJ energy recovery system. Although Davidson disputes the notion the TS050 Hybrids were behind the Porsches in ERS deployment, extra grunt from inside the cockpit has been noticeable all season long.
"We've improved the power train side of things as well because it's kind of where we, it's you want it to be in 2016 but you just, it was an impossible task to try to fast track that process that much," he said. "But, I'm pleased with what the team achieved [with Porsche-like power gains] because the drivers were jumping up and down saying, 'we want that!' We got to match them from the powertrain side of things. And, now I really feel that we genuinely have [it] this year."
Davidson can't predict what will happen come Sunday when the checkered flag waves, but after all he and the team went through last year, he's in a relatively relaxed place on the eve of the biggest race on the calendar.
"Let's see what story it brings this year," he said. "But, I know I'm going to enjoy it. They're amazing cars, it's a great track, it's a great event. As long as I do the job that I know I'm capable of, then I'll be happy."

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[h=2]Ex-Audi engineer predicts LMP1-LMP2 battle[/h] Tuesday, 13 June 2017


By Marshall Pruett / Images by Ehrhardt & JEP/LAT, Pruett

Former Audi Sport race engineer Justin Taylor didn't spend much time on the unemployment line after the German manufacturer pulled the plug on its LMP1 program. The Colorado native was quickly hired by the Ed Carpenter Racing IndyCar team, and while he's enjoying the challenge, a big part of Taylor wishes he was in Le Mans right now.
Despite his new surroundings, Taylor has kept an eye on the LMP1 class from afar, and in lieu of his normal race preparations for Le Mans, he shared a few thoughts on the teams he raced against for many years.
"It's hard to deny that Toyota's looking really strong," Taylor (pictured) told RACER. "They just look pissed off about last year, and the past couple of years. The first thing I'm looking at in the race is refueling time. I know last year and the previous year Porsche had a leg up on both Audi and Toyota in terms of refueling time. Sometimes they were four to five seconds a stop quicker. I know the ACO want to make things equal as they can there, but we'll have to see if Porsche continues to have an edge."
The rise of the new-for-2017 LMP2 cars to lead the top speed charts is another area of interest for Taylor. Due to the limited amount of fuel each Porsche and Toyota is allowed to consume per lap, and the emptying of the hybrid energy recovery system's power storage when accelerating out of corners, LMP1s have fallen behind the improved LMP2s in a straight line.
With LMP1 drivers having less horsepower than LMP2s after deploying their ERS systems, and the routine need to lift and coast into most of the braking zones at Le Mans to stay below the per-lap fuel limit, the two styles of Prototypes could be intertwined on a regular basis.
"A lot of the top speed deficits that you see to LMP2 cars will make things pretty busy for everyone," he said. "It'll be interesting to see how traffic plays a role this year, with closing the gap on the straights to P1s. A lot of teams have software to predict where you're going to catch traffic on track, and it will be important if a lot of cars are on top of each other."
With 500hp or more of ERS power to use on demand, Taylor thinks LMP1 teams could place a heavy reliance on the predictive traffic information to instruct their drivers to surrender some of the hybrid acceleration out of the corners and save the boost to get by traffic in more critical sections of the circuit.

"Any kind of traffic forecast could have you choosing something different than giving full acceleration out of a turn," he said. "Maybe it's an early boost somewhere, or deploying some more boost in a different area than the normal strategy would dictate.
"Before, you'd fully deploy and then have to deal with traffic with the engine's power, which isn't a lot, and you'd get stuck. The predictive [traffic] software will allow you to plan how you use that deployment to get around somebody that you might catch on corner entry, and saving a few seconds could be invaluable. A lot of teams were doing this last year, and I think everyone will be onto it by now."
Missing Le Mans after 11 consecutive visits will be strange for Taylor. He had invitations to work for the remaining LMP1 teams, but chose to remain neutral while hoping that Audi eventually returns. The only question left is whether he'll follow Le Mans as a fan, or if his engineering tendencies will crop up during the 24 Hour.
"I really haven't made up my mind how I'm going to approach it, and I'm not really sure about how I feel about it," he said. "Le Mans is kind of a love/hate thing. I remember pretty much every time I've been there – by about three o'clock in the morning on Sunday, I'm thinking, "I'm never doing this again". And then the day after, I couldn't wait to come back. So I'll probably fight the urge to get out the software and pay that close of attention, and just try and enjoy it for a little while.
"But I won't promise. I think after a while, I'll start to wonder what the hell someone's thinking, or how this is going to go in the morning. And the other problem is I've got so many friends there. I don't know really who to root for. I'll be glued to the TV for as long as I can stay awake. I don't know if it's going to be the full 24 hours, but I'll be there in heart."

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[h=2]Tandy aims for Le Mans repeat in new role[/h] Wednesday, 14 June 2017


By Marshall Pruett / Images by Dole & JEP/LAT, Porsche Motorsport

2015 Le Mans winner Nick Tandy can't wait to go for his second consecutive overall victory at Le Mans with Porsche. The smiley Briton, a winner on his debut in the 919 Hybrid two years ago, went from the high of racing the world's fastest prototype to something less dynamic, a factory Porsche 911 RSR, at Le Mans in 2016 when the factory reduced its 919 effort from three cars to two.

Patience, and talent, have earned Tandy a return ticket to his beloved 919 Hybrid, and this time he's been promoted to a featured player in the top LMP1 Hybrid class. The change has been strange, however, as he's gone from a steady full-time gig in one of Porsche's IMSA GT Le Mans cars to lower-frequency usage in the FIA WEC.

Rolling with the reassignments and GT-to-P1-to-GT-to-P1 switches are all part of a professional racecar driver's life.

"I kind of got divorced from my old marriage with my GTLM team that Porsche sent off to America and got a new marriage back with the LMP1 team, and it feels like I've gone back and forth a bit in recent times," Tandy told RACER.
"But I don't mind; it's what I've asked for. You'd never turn that opportunity down. So of course, it's great to have the chance to go back for Le Mans and have a chance to win overall, and it's great to be part of the WEC and have the chance to win a world championship, of course."
Placed into the No. 1 Porsche 919 Hybrid alongside reigning Le Mans winner and WEC champion Neel Jani and new recruit Andre Lotterer from the defunct Audi LMP1 program, Tandy is in a prime position to maintain his perfect overall win record at Le Mans as the German brand chases its third straight victory at the 24 Hour.
"I feel like it's our defense of the crown, really," he said. "It was another challenge to go back last year as reigning champions and try and add two victories in two separate classes with LMP1 and GT. That was a different challenge and an interesting one. It didn't go that greatly.
"But I think this year and since I found out I'd been joining the team again kind of late last summer, I feel like we're going back this year – both me and [2015 winning co-driver] Earl Bamber. But it's a fact that we're undefeated in the top class in Le Mans. So, this is the challenge. Our challenge is to stay undefeated and keep that run going."

With Bamber in the sister No. 2 Porsche shared by Timo Bernhard and Brendan Hartley, a 919 Hybrid win in 2017 would mean the streak will end for Earl or Nick, and that's only if Toyota doesn't get to the finish line first with one of its three entries.
"Unfortunately, the pair of us are now split and when the race starts we'll be each other's biggest opposition," Tandy continued. "But it's great to go back and have the chance to win. This is what my life is all about. Going out and making sure you're in a decent car and you're in the right position to be able to go win these big races.
"And to be totally honest, each driver has a personal desire to win; I mean come on, it's Le Mans, but when you're there, with a manufacturer like Porsche, it isn't about the individual. It genuinely is about the team, the brand, and winning for Porsche. You hope you can be the one to do it for Porsche, though."
The speedy Toyota TS050 Hybrids should pose a significant problem for Tandy & Company this weekend. Blindingly fast in testing, the trio of Toyotas were untouchable, but according to team principal Andreas Seidl, the pair of 919 Hybrids were committed to running at race pace to perfect their 24-hour chassis and aero setups.
Tandy is confident the Porsches will be much closer than the 3.3 seconds that separated the TS050s and 919s once cars hit the track on Wednesday.
"The chances are that we're going to be significantly better than the three-second different that we saw at the test day," he said. "It's clear that Toyota have done a very good job. That's obvious. They were quick on the test day, but that's a test day. When you get into the race, things are often very different. We saw it last year where Toyota were behind at the test day, and then come race they were challenging at the front.
"So yes, we've got our work cut out to beat them. But we've known that pretty much since the prologue at Monza in March. How each car develops through the race, the Porsche and Toyota, is a different matter. Maybe their car, that's particularly quick in a straight line at the moment, might not be so good on its tires, for example. Single-lap pace is single-lap pace.

"It's great for qualifying but three hours on a set of tires at Le Mans is quite a different proposition. We're keeping our heads up and we know that we've got a lot of work to do and a big fight. But we will be full throttle, you could say."
Tandy raises a final note of interest about the LMP1 team he's representing at Le Mans. With their win in 2015, the Porsche program was barely halfway through its second season in the WEC – and attempting its second 24 hours of Le Mans. As a returnee in 2017, the same mechanics, engineers, designers and strategists are battle-tested, highly experienced, and hitting their stride.
Even if the Toyotas maintain a slight speed advantage, Tandy is confident the Porsche team will know how to respond in other areas that could result in a win.
"Porsche is a double world championship-winning team now, and a back-to-back Le Mans-winning team, so I think everybody is confident in the knowledge that we're as prepared as we possibly could be," he said.
"I think everybody knows how to go about winning, and what it takes now to win Le Mans. So, from that aspect, we haven't really got any worries. You just got to hope that luck is on your side, of course. Because you can't win without a great bit of luck, can you? That's the only thing a team can't buy and they can't prepare for."

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LM24 video: Tony Kanaan's first report for RACER

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1ub79hXsKk

Wednesday, 14 June 2017


IndyCar champion and Indy 500 winner Tony Kanaan files his first video update from Le Mans, where he's making his 24 Hour debut with the Ford Chip Ganassi Racing team.
Fresh from the Texas 600 IndyCar race on Saturday, Kanaan, his wife Lauren and assistant Benito flew straight to Paris where a day in the official Le Mans simulator was required before driving down to Le Mans Monday night and getting settled into the little hut he'll call home for the week.

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Radio LeMans:
http://www.radiolemans.co/

This is more than LeMans

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LM24 video: Tony Kanaan's second report for RACER

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QU2INjg45vw
Wednesday, 14 June 2017

IndyCar champion Tony Kanaan is back for his second video report for RACER from the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and this time, he's brought Ford Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Joey Hand along for the fun.

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LM 24 Pitwalk:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0RawbEoPBg