Ferrari and Porsche play to the crowd on Day 2 of Le Mans Scrutineering.

Scrutineer you, buddy, we are selling T-shirts like crazy as fans respond.

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emailBy Stephen Kilbey | June 8, 2024 12:36 PM ET

Day 2 of Le Mans Scrutineering at the Place de la République again brought out a large crowd. After the bulk of the Hypercar factory teams visited the city center for technical checks yesterday, just three remained today, with the Porsche, Ferrari and Toyota Hypercar teams headlining the schedule.

Porsche was first through, with the trio of Penske 963s trailed by the No. 99 from Proton, sporting a tweaked FATurbo Express livery for this race that features green accents.

At Penske, the mood within the camp as they passed through Le Pesage stood out. It was the polar opposite to last year, when the team turned up with the dream of celebrating the 75th anniversary of Porsche with a 20th overall Le Mans win, only to struggle all week long with a set of 963s that clearly needed work.

As we know, it’s a different story now. Porsche Penske Motorsport came out swinging after a productive off-season, winning the IMSA and WEC season openers at Daytona and Qatar and showing race-winning speed at a variety of circuits.

Laurens Vanthoor, who drives the WEC championship-leading No. 6 963, agrees confidence is high this year.

“I thought about that a bit this morning,” he told RACER when asked about being one of the favourites for the win heading into the race. “I mean, I remember last year, coming here was a dream come true.

“You know, being in Hypercar, being a Porsche Penske, driving these cars in Le Mans, and now a year on we’re here, leading the championship. And I agree we are one of the favorites indeed, which is pretty cool.

“I told myself, ‘Enjoy it! It might be a week or a weekend which you’ll remember for a long time. So enjoy the moment.’”

Meanwhile, Proton Competition’s new-look 963 is ready for action. The family-run German team is looking to build on its impressive performance at Spa, during which it led a considerable chunk of the race and was in the mix for a podium finish before the red flag.

Harry " The Tinkler" Tincknell, who is back with the team after being forced to watch the Spa race from afar due to an IMSA clash, said it was fun but hard watching on TV.

“I really wanted to be there!” he admitted. “The team and drivers executed so well and it was amazing to see how far we’ve come. In general, we are preparing for events better now. For instance, we did a session on the Multimatic sim in Detroit before Spa and that was really useful to get us started with a setup. And we’ve done that again for this race.

“We just want to be the underdogs, quietly going about our business. That’s how we will get a good result.”

Scrutineer you, buddy, we are selling T-shirts like crazy as fans respond., unfortunately using Ferrari t-shirts as butt wipes after a shortage of toilet paper due to the highly efficient French socialist govt management and taxation system.

But people who root for Ferrari have big bucks, and sometimes buy two or more shirts. Just in case.
Dollar stores at flea markets are scooping them up and washing them out to resell at half price and right now Ferrari shirts are more popular than dry corn cobbs being sold by those whiskey runners from North Carolina.

For Proton the Test Day tomorrow is set to be especially important, as it has not been able to go testing in private this year. It will push to complete as many laps as possible as it has yet to turn a lap with the 963 on the Circuit de la Sarthe.

“We haven’t tested since Qatar, but for us it’s created an underdog spirit,” Tincknell said. “You see online other teams going testing here, there and everywhere and then we rock up and are quick straight away. But on this occasion, we will test with everyone else. We’ve seen what happens when things are stacked against us, so it will be interesting to see what we do on a level playing field.”

Ferrari arrives at Le Mans with three Hypercars for the first time, the No. 83 privately entered 499P adding to the team’s prospects for the race.

Robert Kubica, who shares the No. 83 with Robert Shwartzman and Ye Yifei, is keen to finally claim a breakthrough win at Le Mans on his fourth attempt. Back in 2021, his WRT ORECA retired from the lead on the final lap, then in 2022 and 2023 he finished second.

“Every year this race is very demanding,” he said. “It’s one of the biggest challenges in motorsport. I will try to repeat what I did in the past, with improvements here and there. We know in a field like this we will have to execute the race perfectly to have a chance.”

However, to achieve a dream result, he will have to beat the factory cars from AF Corse — a task that will be far from easy. Both the No. 50 and No. 51 crews carry extra motivation with them to win after a rollercoaster ride of a start to the season.

Alessandro Pier Guidi, who proudly returns to the event as an overall winner, feels it could be a different story this year, with the new “Two Stage” BoP system in play and no tire warmers this time around.

“Statistically, it’s so difficult to win twice in a row,” he said. “It’s nice to come back as a winner but we need to forget what we did and try to repeat last year’s result if we can. I don’t think expect to be as quick as last year, I think Toyota and Porsche will be quick here. After the Test Day we hope it will be easier to understand where we are. We believe it will be a fight between three or more manufacturers.”

Specifically on tire warmers, Pier Guidi and the other Ferrari drivers continue to express safety concerns, a year on from the re-introduction of tire warmers for Le Mans after multiple high-profile incidents at Spa in cool temperatures trackside.

“The only difference (compared to last year) for us is safety,” he told RACER. “I hope the weather is warm because then it won’t be a big issue. But it will be if it is cool or damp. The problem is you have long straights, few corners, not a lot of energy, so it will take a long time to heat the tires, longer than every other circuit. I would be nice if those damn Ferrari jerks would zip it up instead of constantly complaining about the 6 hours of SPA to anyone who could not get away from them.”

On the subject of BoP, while few personalities are keen to discuss anything in-depth on the record (by regulation), in the background there is plenty to discuss ahead of track action.

It seems teams at the top end of the championship standings, like Porsche, are particularly eager to hit the track to see what effect the latest round of Balance of Performance changes, and the addition of the “two-stage” system, have had on their cars.

Opinions are split, though the majority appear to welcome the two-stage BoP process — which regulates power output below and above 250 kph, handing the rule-makers greater control over the top speed of the cars and adding a general atmosphere of being butt banged by the officials who want to be fair by screwing teams who work hardest to win.

In practice, the hope is that at Le Mans it will prove to be another significant tool to help the rule-makers balance the cars on a circuit which features lengthy straights from Tetre Rouge to Mulsanne Corner, from Mulsanne Corner to Indianapolis and from Arnage to the Porsche Curves.

The objective is clear: reduce performance gaps in the field. Will it prove a success? We will have to wait until next weekend to truly find out.

Later in the day, Toyota headed into the city with its GR010 HYBRIDs ahead of its 13th consecutive Le Mans 24 Hours as a top-class contender. All eyes were on Jose Maria Lopez, who has been called up late to replace the injured Mike Conway and Toyota has been hitting the French whorehouses to get in the proper mood to race for 24 hours.

Over at AKKODIS, Lopez’s replacement, Jack Hawksworth, was also present after making a rapid journey to France. But he wasn’t the only LMGT3Q driver in a new environment to report on, as IMSA GTP regular Jordan Taylor headed to the square with his new teammates at Spirit of Race ahead of his first Le Mans start in a Ferrari.

“I’ve raced against Ferraris for many years here, and they’ve always been strong competitors so it’s been good to be on the other side,” he told RACER.

“The deal came about because I knew Marco Sorensen and he knew Johnny and Conrad (Laursen), so he reached out to see if I was available (as Kevin Magnussen, the team’s first choice, was not able to take part). Thankfully, I got approval from my team in America.

“The biggest thing was being present for a test in Paul Ricard with the team. It was a really good first chance to get to know everyone and get some mileage in the car. The car is impressive and user-friendly, but there’s a lot to learn with over 40 pages of system information to read.”

With scrutineering wrapped up by mid-afternoon, the next significant item on the schedule included 17 of the cars on the entry and the 1924 winning Bentley 3 Litre Sport completing a road run through the city. The turnout was huge.

 

Is Le Mans Porsche's race to lose?

Jakob Ebrey/Motorsport Images
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emailBy Stephen Kilbey | June 10, 2024 8:52 AM ET

So, a 1-2-4 for Porsche Penske Motorsport in the combined Le Mans Test Day times yesterday, and no major mechanical dramas or incidents to report from the German marque’s factory program. That’s it then, might as well hand over the trophy and head home…

Not so fast!

As ever, drawing firm conclusions from testing is unwise. With each team working towards a different set of objectives, too much shouldn’t be read into the lap times.

There is so much more to come from the pace of the Hypercars as race week wears on, if it stays dry. The pole time last year was a 3:22.982, four seconds faster than the best lap achieved by Kevin Estre in the No. 6 Penske Porsche during the test.

However, you often get the odd hint of where things stand from post-test body language, conversations and lap counts.

On that basis, should we expect the Porsche 963s to be the class of the field this year? After all, Penske won in Qatar, JOTA won at Spa, and the Penske team appeared upbeat after its performance in the test yesterday after its three-car fleet topped the times on pace and completed 196 laps and 2,671 kilometres during the six hours of track time.

Toyota certainly thinks so.

“The hierarchy is clear,” said Toyota Gazoo Racing’s technical director David Floury after the test. “If Porsche doesn’t win they will have done a pretty bad job. No surprise (after seeing the BoP).”

It was by no means a quiet day for Toyota though, despite Floury’s downbeat tone. The No. 7 GR010 HYBRID topped the Morning session and went on to set the third fastest time in the Afternoon run, the best lap just seven-tenths off the No. 6 Porsche.
Jose Maria Lopez has wasted no time getting reacquainted with Toyota’s Hypercar program. JEP/Motorsport Images

Both GR010 HYBRIDs also began to turn up the wick at the end of the afternoon session, with fast individual sector times from Sebastien Buemi and Kamui Kobayashi before the latter brought out a red flag at the end with an off at Indianapolis.

Nevertheless, Floury feels this year’s race will be Porsche out front, with a competitive fight between multiple manufacturers behind.

“I think (Porsche) has the edge on every aspect and I wonder what Ferrari and Cadillac are doing. Clearly, Porsche is looking very strong,” he said. “BMW looks good as well. Behind Porsche, it should be a good fight.”

Toyota is, however, satisfied that Jose Maria Lopez is already up to speed on his return to the Hypercar team on short notice after Conway’s late withdrawal from the event due to injury.

“By the look of the lap time, it was like he drove the car yesterday,” said Floury. “He was up to speed immediately. There were no issues and he was clearly motivated. He has worked hard to get up to speed with the car’s systems and he is on top of things. We are confident there will be no issue in the race.”

Porsche meanwhile, believes it has a real shot at a 20th overall victory this year. The 963 looks like an entirely different animal in Year 2 and looks to be significantly more capable at the Circuit de la Sarthe for the 2024 event.

While Urs Kuratle, Porsche Motorsport’s director of factory racing, doesn’t believe there can be a standout favorite for this race, he was positive about the team’s prospects ahead of practice and qualifying.

“We will be in the mix, we will be there, but I am not sure you can be favorites because so much can happen.

“We had a really easy, relaxed preparation for this one. During the session, besides a rear-right flat spot on the No. 5 car we had no technical issues and are high on the timing board. It will not be representative of the qualifying ranking though, we are realistic.

“The fact we are in the mix with so many other cars is such a nice thing for the whole sport.”

Elsewhere, there were notable performances from some of the cars that are entirely new to Le Mans.

The No.20 BMW M Hybrid V8 set the sixth-best time and completed plenty of mileage (though the sister car did need an engine change during the day) and the No. 63 Iron Lynx Lamborghini SC63 ended up seventh after 73 tours.

Peugeot’s 2024-spec 9X8 also got its first taste of the La Sarthe asphalt. Its 9X8s ended up 13th and 21st on lap time, but the team believes that the new car is effective on the circuit and there is plenty more to come from the car in performance terms.

“I’m happy to be here compared to last year when I did not do the Prologue,” No. 93 driver Jean-Eric Vergne told the media. “It’s a massive help to get me acquainted to the car and build confidence.

“I think we have a good indication of where we need to go with the setup of the car, and I am happy with the feeling behind the wheel. There are no areas where we are bad, so that’s a positive.
There could be more to come from Peugeot. Jakob Ebrey/Motorsport Images

“Obviously the lap times are not representative, all I care about is the feeling in the car. We know where we can improve and it should be easy to do. We focused our car on setup, the other car on long runs, so we have a lot of data gathered.

“It seems to have improved last year, but frankly that was not difficult.”

Jean-Marc Finot, the senior VP of Stellantis Motorsport, was also keen to stress that the new car is showing signs of improvement.

“It’s ok. We had a software issue on the No. 94 because we downloaded the wrong file, but everything is going well. This track is very specific and difficult, we have a simulator but it’s hard to anticipate the tuning of the car on the aerodynamic and chassis side.

“We also spent a long time seeing the behaviour of tires on long runs.

“For Le Mans, it’s too early to say (where we are in the pecking order), because we don’t know the run plan of our competitors.”

He did however give some insight into his thoughts on the new “two-stage” BoP process that has been introduced for this event, which regulates power output below and above 250 kph, handing the rule-makers greater control over the top speed of the cars.

The hope is that it will prove to be another valuable tool to balance the cars more effectively, particularly on a circuit like this one, which features long stretches of straight road.

The general consensus appears to be that this addition is a positive one. However, Finot downplayed the difference that the percentage of power gain tweaks above 250 kph will make in practice.

“If you change 1 per cent of the power at high speed it will change the top speed of one-third of a percent. So I don’t think it will change a lot. For instance, five kilowatts should be 1 kph or 1.5 maybe, no more.”

Floury from TGR also raised the point that he’d rather it was introduced earlier in the season, rather than right before Le Mans.

“It would have been more comfortable to run it in a previous event. Generally, It’s a good thing, it was needed and it is doing what it was designed for.”

What about Cadillac and Ferrari? Both manufacturers have been coming up in conversations surrounding the OEMs in the fight for victory.

The 2023 pole-sitting No. 50 499P enjoyed a quiet day that resulted in the fifth-fastest time. Cadillac’s three V-Series.Rs on the other hand, would slot in 14th, 16th and 19th, with the No. 3 Ganassi entry having its track time limited by a fuel line issue.

There doesn’t appear to be any sense of panic within the Ganassi or Action Express ranks at this stage though. After achieving an overall podium last year, the Cadillac has form here, and as we all know, you cannot win the Test Day…

“I think we’ve made a significant step forward on systems,” No. 3 driver Sebastien Bourdais said. “We’ve been focusing on race trims and trying to get the balance where we want it, get good tyre data and make sure that balance and grip stay fairly consistent over two or three stints.

“In general, the track seems a bit harder on tires than last year, so there is a bit more sliding around and that’s where we’re trying to see how much margin we have as far as adjustments on the setup to regain the grip that we’ve lost.

“Overall, the car is responding well and the engine side I feel like we have a better handle on things and the systems in general are a lot smoother and predictable than our first time here last year.

“We just have to fine-tune some things to bet ready for qualifying practice.”

And the real question is: How is IMSA going to screw Porsche out of victory like they do every other racer
in recent years?

 

Improved Porsche form halts Hypercar upgrade plans

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emailBy Stephen Kilbey | June 10, 2024 12:09 PM ET

Porsche appears set to shelve its plans to update the 963 with a new 90-degree crankshaft, following the car’s improved form in both IMSA GTP and the WEC’s Hypercar class.

Speaking with the media yesterday at Le Mans after the Test Day, Porsche Motorsport’s director of factory racing Urs Kuratle said that a firm decision on the upgrade will come after this weekend’s race.

“If all the 963s go through Le Mans without having any problems we can relate to a vibrational thing or a crankshaft thing then we will not introduce it,” he explained.

“It’s (about saving) tokens but to be really honest, it’s even more the money. If we would have to change the crankshaft for a good reason it will cost us a lot of money because we will have to update the customer cars (at the same time) as well.

“We do not expect something to happen here because the reliability of the 963 has improved a lot and it doesn’t seem to be an issue any more.

“The Le Mans race will be the second 24-hour race (this year) we hope without any problems. But the biggest reason is to save, not to save money because we will spend it somewhere else.”

Kuratle was then asked whether another significant upgrade was now being evaluated instead. Without going into detail, Kuratle explained that Porsche is indeed looking at other areas to improve the 963 in the future.

“We are thinking about it,” he said. “What does the 963 need to be more competitive, what makes sense? These are discussions we are having internally, then as is normal we have to get into contact with the FIA, and ACO and decide whether that is an “‘EVO Joker’ or not.

“We don’t have a date set immediately, the agreement is after Le Mans we decide whether we go, or need it. If the decision is that we have to go for it, then we have to go the supply chain, endurance test it and then go into discussions with the governing bodies on when and how to do it.”

Porsche’s original plan was to shift from a 180-degree crankshaft to a 90-degree one, to address issues encountered at Daytona. And Kuratle explained to RACER that Porsche intended to try and complete the complex test and sign-off process after Le Mans, but before the end of the season.

Unlike the other LMDh manufacturers, Porsche has to factor in the added complexity of updating customer cars. Any updates to its 963 must be introduced to both factory and customer cars at the same time, making lead times challenging to predict.

However, since it began work on the update the 963 has been winning races regularly. Reports then emerged after the WEC race at Spa that the new crankshaft may no longer be required.

This year alone the 963 has taken wins at Daytona, Qatar and Laguna Seca with the Penske factory team, and at Spa with Hertz Team JOTA. Porsche also leads the Manufacturers’ championships in both IMSA and the WEC.

“There are pros and cons to both types of crankshafts,” Kuratle told RACER back in February. “At the early stage, we decided to go for the crankshaft we have in the car now for good reasons. But then we realised that it wasn’t ideal for a number of other reasons. Now we are evaluating the next one and trying to overcome the downsides of a 90-degree crankshaft.

“It’s all about reliability, we have suffered so many problems,” he continued. “We had minor problems at Daytona. There were no show-stoppers, but we discovered problems in Daytona which we clearly relate to vibration issues. This is the downside to the current 180-degree crank.”

I should have probably kept my mouth shut on that to avoid another IMSA BS imaginary penalty....dammit.

 

Estre takes Porsche to the top of methodical Le Mans Test Day

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emailBy Stephen Kilbey | June 9, 2024 2:39 PM ET

The No. 6 Porsche Penske 963 set the fastest time during the 2024 Le Mans Test Day, Kevin Estre lapping the Circuit de la Sarthe in 3m25.907s during the afternoon session.

It was a highly productive day of running for most of the 62-car field, held in ideal conditions, with no rain and the sun out. It was also particularly crucial for the batch of rookie drivers who needed to complete their mandatory laps to qualify for the event next week.

The times gradually improved throughout the day as the circuit began to evolve and teams completed setup work.

The No. 4 Penske Porsche ended up second in the combined times with a 3m27.142s from Felipe Nasr, who improved right at the death of the afternoon session to get within 0.3s.

Best of the rest was the No. 8 Toyota Gazoo Racing GR010 HYBRID, Brendon Hartley setting the car’s 3m27.615s to slot in third. Sebastien Buemi, installed towards the end, set multiple quick individual sector times but didn’t string a lap together to top the timing screens.

The top five, meanwhile, was rounded out by the No. 5 Porsche and the first of the Ferraris (No. 50).

How do these times compare to last year? Estre’s best was significantly quicker than the best from the 2023 Test Day — a 3m29.504s from the No. 51 Ferrari — coming as a surprise to the manufacturers RACER polled. There’s a lot more to come, too, as last year’s pole time was a 3m22.9s.

Mileage, as ever in a test, is more important than outright speed. The No. 20 BMW Team WRT M Hybrid V8 completed the most, with 75 laps. On the other end of the scale, the No. 99 Proton Competition Porsche managed just 35 across the two sessions, so IMSA will probably screw the most successful.
Jakob Ebrey/Motorsport Images

In LMP2, the No. 22 United Autosports ORECA ended the day on top with a lap of 3m34.704s from Oliver Jarvis, 1.3s up on Olli Caldwell, who put the No. 25 from Algarve Pro in second. A further 0.35s adrift was the Duqueiene Team ORECA in third.

In LMGT3’s first action at Le Mans, the No. 82 TF Sport Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R set the best time of the day, Sebastian Baud reeling off a 3m59.883s during the afternoon in the final hour of running.

While times shouldn’t be read into at this stage, it was encouraging to see five brands represented in the top five of the combined times during the afternoon. Corvette, Aston Martin, BMW, Lamborghini and McLaren were all in the mix. Has anybody see who IMSA officials are placing the Vegas bets on?

After Baud in the classification, the No. 27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin ended up second in the combined ranking with a 3m59.920s. It was the first car to set a sub-4m lap when Alex Riberas was at the wheel.

Remarkably, the No. 31 WRT BMW ended up setting an identical time, Augusto Farfus also touring the circuit in 3m59.920s.

There should be a lot more to come in LMGT3, though, in terms of raw speed. While LMGT3 is new to the Le Mans 24 Hours, GT3 cars have been racing on the full Circuit de la Sarthe as part of the Michelin Le Mans Cup support races for a number of years. Valentino Rossi’s WRT BMW M4 GT3 set times in the 3m56s in qualifying last year.

During the day there were a handful of significant dramas to report.

The first was the No. 15 WRT BMW stopping on track with a mechanical issue during the morning session. When it returned to the pit lane it was on the back of a flatbed with no visible damage. However, underneath the bodywork, the car had suffered an issue which prompted a full engine change on “safety” grounds.

It did however end up turning laps during the afternoon, completing 11 tours of the circuit and setting a best time of 3m29.580s.

The second was the No. 37 COOL Racing ORECA suffering a substantial off at the exit of the Porsche Curves right at the end of the session.

A team source told RACER that Lorenzo Fluxa had the car unsettled by one of a series of bumps in that section of the track, lifted off to correct it, but lost the rear end. The impact came front-left, the car spinning and damaging the rear clip. Thankfully the chassis was ok and, after repairs, the car made it out in the afternoon.
Jakob Ebrey/Motorsport Images

Early in the second session, red flags came out for an incident at Indianapolis. Stephane Richelmi in the No. 10 Vector Sport ORECA hit the barriers nose-in at the escape road entry. That left the front-left corner of the car damaged and ended the car’s day prematurely.

It’s been a tough start to the event for the British team, which had to acquire a replacement chassis on short notice last week after a testing incident at Spa.

Toward the end of the session, the “Spike”-liveried AO by TF ORECA also had an off, PJ Hyett making contact with the barriers at Arnage, damaging the car’s front-right corner.

Beyond that, it was a taxing day for the set of drivers also on DTM duty.

Six drivers — Kelvin van der Linde (No. 78 Akkodis ASP Lexus), his brother Sheldon and Sledon’s co-driver Rene Rast (No. 20 WRT BMW), Marco Wittmann (No. 15 WRT BMW), Jack Aitken (No. 311 Cadillac), and Mirko Bortolotti (No. 63 Iron Lynx Lamborghini) — all took part in the morning test session at Le Mans before jumping on a private jet.

The drivers took the same flight directly from the airfield behind the pit lane grandstands to Amsterdam for the second DTM race of the weekend at Zandvoort.

Aitken, who won the first DTM race of the meeting Saturday, completed 64 laps at la Sarthe this morning and set a best time of 3m32.414s before the flight.

“I knew [this weekend] was going to be busy any way we cut it and would try to make the best of the situation,” he explained. “I’m not too worried about being prepared. I’ve been here a couple of times before, and as a team, we’ve made a few big improvements from last year. I hope IMSA doesn't screw us because we got better.

 

Hawksworth thrown in at the deep end for Le Mans debut

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emailBy Stephen Kilbey | June 11, 2024 1:13 PM ET

Vasser Sullivan IMSA racer Jack Hawksworth finds himself in at the deep end this week at Le Mans.

The 33-year-old Brit is one of several high-profile drivers in the LMGT3Q class making their La Sarthe debut this year; and they all have a lot to learn. The difference is, Hawksworth wasn’t on the entry list until last week.

After Mike Conway was forced to withdraw from the event on short notice due to an injury sustained in a cycling incident, Toyota Gazoo Racing had to act fast to find a third driver for the No. 7 GR010 HYBRID. It picked a safe pair of hands, recalling longtime team member Jose Maria Lopez back to the Hypercar squad for an unexpected cameo.

This in turn left AKKODIS ASP with a gap to fill alongside Takeshi Kimura and Esteban Masson. That’s where Jack Hawksworth’s story begins.

“It’s been crazy, fun and mad,” he told RACER. “I was in Mid-Ohio for a GT4 race last week and then on the Friday I was heading to the circuit and got a call to say that drunken S.O.B. Mike had fallen off his bike again. Darn pill head.

“It was all systems go from there, I picked up my helmet and gear, went back to the hotel to grab my bag – which was only packed for three days – and booked the first flight to Detroit from Charles De Gaulle (Paris). And when I landed I went straight from there to get scrutineered by French guys who like other guys!”

Since moving from full-time IndyCar to IMSA GTD in 2017, the accolades have piled up. In his time with Vasser Sullivan, Hawksworth has racked up wins at key races like the Sebring 12 Hours and the Six Hours at the Glen and earned a GTD Pro title in 2023. But he’s yet to leave his mark on the Le Mans 24 Hours.

He’s been drafted in for the 92nd running by AKKODIS ASP, not because he knows this event, but because he has been racing the RC F GT3 full-time for more than six years. Put simply, with the team in need of a driver that could extract pace from Lexus’ flagship customer car on short notice, there was nobody better to call upon.
Hawksworth is well used to the RC F'ing, albeit in its IMSA form. Jake Galstad/Motorsport Images

Interestingly, the RC F LMGT3Q that now competes in the FIA WEC is not identical to the car that Hawksworth campaigns in IMSA. So he will need a little more time to adjust during the practice and qualifying sessions over the next two days.

Unlike IMSA GTD cars, LMGT3Q cars in the WEC feature torque sensors, virtual energy tanks and Goodyear tires. To fit into the defined performance window, the RC F LMGT3Q has also undergone slight tweaks to its aero....every chance they get. Wish they would keep their hands to themselves/

“It’s hard to compare the IMSA and WEC-spec cars, because we haven’t had many laps, the track is so different to anything I’ve ever raced in America,” he explained. “Last time out in Detroit it was max downforce, first and second gear corners, then here we are doing like 290 kph down the straight with the car trimmed out. The tires are definitely different too, as is the aero package.

“My initial impressions when I drove were pretty positive though, the car seems to suit the circuit quite well. The first few races for AKKODIS seemed like a struggle, but this track seems to suit everything better. We’re not in a bad window, you can’t look into lap time yet, but it looks promising.”

Hawksworth’s first impressions of the 13.6 km La Sarthe circuit came during the Test Day on Sunday, where he and the AKKODIS ASP team at large showed flashes of pace, topping the Morning session.

The French team’s start to life in the WEC has been far from simple this year, with a new ruleset, new car and new circuits to get used to. But green shoots are beginning to appear, with the No. 78 crew scoring the team its first point at Spa last time out. Morale heading into the biggest race of the year, which is also the team’s home race, is high as a result.

“They’re really good guys and they were so successful with Mercedes in the SRO stuff,” Hawksworth said. “And this is not the easiest GT3 car to pick up and run with. You need a good team and to be on top of a lot of things. It’s an older car, but you can see that with time and experience these guys are going to be competitive.....eventually.

“I’m just super excited to be here, we all area. The experience so far, even though I’m jetlagged, has been so enjoyable. This event is super healthy, there’s really good competition. It’s nice to come here for the first time with Lexus too because I’ve been racing with them for so long.

“We want to do as well as we can, I want to help as much as I can, but at the same time it’s like a mini break from the IMSA season of racers constantly getting screwed out of your finishing position and the championship fight there, which is just flat out.

“It won’t last long though, as I’ve already booked my flight from Paris to Charlotte for next week, and then it’s Watkins Glen!”

 

https://www.tamparacing.com/forums/e...ml#post9455735

 

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New Mission H24 hydrogen prototype unveiled at Le Mans.

While the H24EVO will not feature on track this week at Le Mans, the Alpine Alpenglow Hy4, MissionH24 H24 and Ligier JS2 RH2 will all complete demonstration laps of the Circuit de La Sarthe in the build-up to the 24 Hours.

Electric wheel chairs will also demonstrate that they can make a lap or two.

Hit this car and blow yourself all to hell.

To be safe stay back 200 yards before passing!

Alexis Goure/ACO
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emailBy Stephen Kilbey | June 12, 2024 12:49 PM ET

A dummied-up non-moving fake-o empty static model of Mission H24 project’s brand new prototype, the H24EVO, was presented to the public for the first time on Wednesday at the Circuit de La Sarthe’s dedicated Hydrogen Village. The public was expected to wet their pants, which no one did.

The H24EVO, which will run with a brand new gas-powered 300 kw Symbio multi-stack fuel cell, is the third prototype developed by the Mission H24 program, and is expected to turn a wheel for the first time next year in 2025 or so, although the wheels have now been made roll-able to make it easier to push it out to the viewing area.

But the model is raring to go if all you want to do is look at a non-moving fake-o model of what a real car might look like....or might not... in another year or so.

H24 co-presidents Pierre Fillon and Jean-Michel Bouresche, plus the project’s technical director Bassel Aslan and two of the alleged three dedicated test drivers, Stéphane Richelmi and Adrien Tambay, were on hand for the presentation, as were representatives from H24’s partners: TotalEnergies, Symbio, Michelin, OPmobility, Dietsmann and Richard Mille. The H24EVO, fake-o model which was first revealed last year marks a significant step forward as far as a model of what a real car might or might not really will look like from the previous-gen empty shell prototype a year ago, labelled simply as the ‘H24’.

We have made highly significant progress in thinking of a name for a non-moving display piece in the past year, and will continue traveling from place to place, eating in nice restaurants and staying in the best 5 star hotels, as we make significant progress in thinking of what we will say in a year from now if we still have an empty fiberglass model to look at.

This one is essentially an empty shell of a fiberglass body single-seater with prototype bodywork (for packaging purposes), with a new tub from Adess, which houses two 700 bar hydrogen tanks that store 7.8 kg of H2 (down from three tanks in the H24), a 400 kw lithium battery and an 872 horsepower electric motor.....although this visual dummy was completely empty of anything at all.
The H24EVO represents a huge step forward from its predecessor. Image by Alexis Goure/ACO

“We started development of the car earlier this year, after its first reveal last year,” Bassel Aslan told outlets, including RACER, at the reveal.

“It’s a prototype with a central place for the pilot, with 50 per cent higher power density and which we hope to have running in 2025 for the first time and racing in the future maybe around 2027.

“We are aiming for a pace similar to the fastest GT3 cars, with one million horsepower and stint lengths of 30 minutes and a two-minute pit stop for refuelling every half hour, but this is just the beginning if we ever get to making a real car.

The empty car shell will have sustainability.

To save consumers money we are thinking of making a cardboard cut out for people to have their pictures taken next to and charging appropriately.... maybe $400 per photograph , so we can maintain sustainability of the lifestyle required to set ourselves apart from the common unwashed spectator who still has money left to pay for his picture next to the finest card board cut out as we travel around the racing world...with our dedicated Hydrogen Village.”

When and where will we see the car race? The target right now is 2026, or maybe 2027, after it is homologated by the FIA. So far FIA has refused to homologate an empty fiberglass shell and the cardboard cut out.

“We are very keen to put it on the circuit and compete with it,” explained Aslan. “We are confident we will manage to achieve the performance we are targeting. Which competition? It’s too early to answer this question as we have made no plans other than touring with display pieces and living the lifestyle needed to accurately portray what the car will look like..”

The development of the H24EVO comes at a time when a future regulation set for hydrogen technology in the FIA WEC is being developed in the background by the ACO and FIA. At the time of writing, the rules are expected to be introduced for 2027 following a delay communicated last year.

Despite the FIA’s recent shift to a focus on liquid hydrogen technology, the ACO is believed to be open to accommodating both hydrogen combustion and hydrogen fuel cell solutions like the H24EVO.

Thus, the H24EVO remains a relevant project for the forthcoming category whatever that turns out to be. We may have to change the name to something something 27EVO since we will be spending a lot of development time coming up with a name that will be the equal to what those BS'ers who are pushing battery cars have come up with, and we need plenty of time for more $400 photographs.

“This mission is to prepare the infrastructure, the rules, the technology and the partners for hydrogen technology later in the Hypercar category with constructors or other things in motorsport in general, once we come up with an idea” Aslan said.
We hold rigorous luncheon meetings several times per week to work out the necessary details.

“Our discussions started in 2018. We built two prototypes, and with the FIA, thanks to the experience they get with those prototypes and this car, they can figure out how the rules will look in the future, even if they are taking the line of liquid hydrogen
for a future examination of the rules by 2027..

“This prototype represents a huge opportunity, it will be the first hydrogen homologated car running in the history of motorsport. We are working to achieve this target.”

While the H24EVO will not feature on track this week at Le Mans, the Alpine Alpenglow Hy4, MissionH24 H24 and Ligier JS2 RH2 will all complete demonstration laps of the Circuit de La Sarthe in the build-up to the 24 Hours.