Le Mans Is ON!: The Race To Efficiency

A digital supplement from the publisher of
Le Mans is ON!
>> The race to efficiency

Audi R8 Pierre Fillon, ACO LMDh regs
LE MANS 24 HOURS 2020 | COMMENT
T
he 2020 Le Mans 24-hours will be like no other. Although the Denying competition in motorsport and replacing it with a sound
race was held in September back in 1968, this is also a race business case is to deny the passion that drives most of the teams,
that will have no spectators and so will likely feel more like suppliers, chassis makers, drivers and particularly the engineers.
a test session than the endurance festival that we love. There is Despite their efforts to introduce stability, Le Mans this year will
another difference to races that have gone before, and that is the low not provide the excitement of previous editions simply because of the
number of actual car makers that are on the grid. ORECA chassis lack of competition. In LMP1 we have lost the SMP and Dragonspeed
dominate the LMP2 grid and are also the base car for Rebellion teams altogether, while others have cut back. That’s before I mention
LMP1, Aurus and Alpine, while alongside them are ByKolles, the obvious, which is the loss of the rival manufacturer teams to
Ginetta, Toyota, Ligier, Dallara, Ferrari, Porsche and Aston Martin. Toyota. In GTE-Pro, we have also lost BMW and Corvette due to
It’s a sad state of affairs for the Le Mans field that in the past scheduling issues brought about by the Covid situation. Once again
has celebrated diversity of makes. Indeed, the Le Mans relies on its privateers to get
the diversity of engineering excellence them through the hard times, and once again
is at the heart of what made Le Mans Of the 60 cars that they have put the manufacturers at the heart
extraordinary. It is made even worse by of their Hypercar class, gelded the LMP2
the fact that of the 60 cars that will take will take the start, 46 choices and are busy trying to work out the
the start, no fewer than 46 of them are future of GT racing under their control.
entered in LMP2 and GTE-Am. Traditionally, are LMP2 or GTE-Am However, we should also not lose sight
privateers have brought the weird and of the fact that for teams this remains the
the wonderful chassis, but the relentless longest day. They will have to play strategic
pursuit of the FIA to turn motor racing into a business has games like never before in their experience with a longer night,
helped to drive these centres of engineering development to wet weather forecast, lower pollen count, no test day, no day-long
the wall. This trend shows no sign of slowing, either. There break between qualifying and the race. As one team manager once
are only four chassis manufacturers for the LMP2 field (and said; never under-estimate the challenge that Le Mans presents.
the subsequent LMDh regulation set) and in the top class there A car, team and drivers must perform for 24 hours, in changing
will be balance of performance and a limit on development. temperatures and conditions. If the car breaks down on track,
The ACO and the FIA have a responsibility not only to create it must be repairable on site, or it’s out. Add in 59 other cars
stability in the world of endurance racing, which to their credit competing, and you start to understand the challenge that the race
they have achieved, but also to ensure that there is variety and provides. Despite the clear differences this year, for the teams and
innovation. For example, awarding only one tyre supplier contract to their drivers, Le Mans remains the pinnacle of endurance racing.
a category makes sense financially, but is dull for those watching and
flies in the face of the very basic principles of racing; competition. Andrew Cotton, Editor
CONTENTS
FUEL EFFICIENCY
4 LEARNING CURVE
Toyota’s hybrid development
INTERVIEW
12 PIERRE FILLON
Ten-year plan for the ACO
LMDH REGULATIONS
18 NEW ORDER
The next step for prototypes
AUDI R8
28 THE FIRST OF THE GANG
Looking back 20 years at
the birth of a legend
FUEL EFFICIENCY | TOYOTA
4 Le Mans 2020 • Racecar Engineering

r ve
Learni ng cu
Toyota has developed its LMP1 technology to the

point that the TS050 is using 300kg less fuel to travel
more than 500km further than the TS030 of 2013
By Andrew Cotton
Racecar Engineering • Le Mans 2020 5

T
Toyota’s 2.4 litre V6 is one of the
he hybrid regulations for the Le
most efficient racing engines ever
Mans 24 hours were designed to be produced by Toyota’s racing
to make the cars go further on department and had accelerated
less fuel than ever before and development after Le Mans 2015
Toyota, the last manufacturer standing
and so the only one able to do so,
has released its figures detailing the
progress made in the past eight years.
The Japanese manufacturer entered
the FIA World Endurance Championship
in 2012 with the TS030, powered by a 3.4
litre V8 engine supplemented by a super
capacitor system that stored 3.5MJ of
energy. Since then, engine capacity has
decreased, stored energy has grown to 8MJ,
power delivery has increased to 300kW
(limited by regulation) and lap times and fuel
consumption have dropped dramatically.
Originally the plan for LMP1 rule set
for hybrids was that they be based on a
maximum amount of fuel that could be
used during the 24 hours. This total would
then reduce year-on-year, which would
have been an easy concept to explain to Toyota has developed its KERS
the general public. An increase in hybrid systems over the years and got
output could have been made proportional its ERS-H to the test bench before
regulation changes caused the
to the amount of fuel required to race
technology to be scrapped
leaving the ACO and FIA with a simple
presentation to make; hybrid power
leads to reduced fuel consumption.
Future perfect?
This would have given the ACO and FIA
a clear path to the future, reducing fuel
capacity year-on-year, perhaps to the point
that it would not need it at all and would rely
solely on electric power. However unlikely
this concept is, the possibilities were endless,
including the introduction of hydrogen
as a separate line on the same graph.
Even Formula 1
engineers took notice
of these cars that The switch to batteries was a
change in philosophy of Toyota’s
hybrid programme that until then
produced 1000bhp had relied on super capacitors as
its energy storage system
at a time that they
were also looking
at such figures,
manufacturers
such as Porsche
chose Le Mans over
Formula 1 and the
future looked rosy
Limits were placed Soft cell

on the maximum
power output at
300kW in 2016,
although all the
manufacturers were
around that same
figure anyway
However, there were arguments

against this concept from the start; what
happens in the rain or behind the safety
car, for example? Fuel saved could then
be burned and manufacturers were What should have been the longest day in racing for Toyota ended early for both cars. The TS030 had
looking at developing engines capable of been introduced a year earlier than expected after Peugeot withdrew due to the company’s financial
situation and much of Toyota’s early test programme was conducted in race conditions
far higher output than the ACO and FIA
intended in case they were needed. The
T
cash required to do this would have made oyota stepped into the World Endurance Championship a year earlier than planned due to the
the regulations unworkable, so they said. withdrawal of Peugeot at the start of the 2012 season that took everyone by surprise.
Instead, the organisers had a team The Japanese company started their campaign with a 3.4 litre V8 engine. This increased in
led by engineers who created a system capacity in 2014 to 3.7 litres, and then came the all-new engine for 2016, a 2.4 litre V6 twin turbo engine that
that allowed for a previously unthinkable featured lithium ion batteries in the drive train in place of the super capacitors that had gone before.
amount of energy to be stored (8MJ) and The switch to batteries meant that the team could use the same energy storage system for more than
they didn’t even worry about the amount a single race, although they took a new one for Le Mans as a precautionary measure. ‘After a year the
of energy that could be released. Petrol and Japanese did good work on the efficiency of the system and cells so they were less sensitive to temperature
diesel engines were balanced through an and so you could run them at a more constant temperature and even a bit higher and this helps with the
equivalence of technology table, and it was degredation as well,’ says Project Leader John Litjens. ‘In the early days if you had a lot of temperature
all set for an engineering heaven. Formula 1 change that was something that the cells didn’t like.’
engineers took notice of these cars that
produced 1000bhp at a time that they were
also looking at such figures, manufacturers
such as Porsche chose Le Mans over
the maximum that a manufacturer should or
could afford), but the thermal efficiency had
In the early days of
Formula 1 and the future looked rosy.
As we know it all started to unravel
also improved greatly. Today, Toyota says
that it has not yet reached that hallowed 50
the hybrid regulation
the moment that Nissan’s woes started percent that Formula 1 teams have achieved, set the manufacturers
to become public and the WEC promoter but says that it is not far off achieving
stated that manufacturers should not the ‘half way to impossible’ number. were pretty much free
turn up with less than €70m budget and
expect to compete. The Nissan GTR- Full picture to test as much as they
wished, and were able to
LM only contested one race, Le Mans Economy figures are, of course, skewed
in 2015, before the company axed the by external influences. Not only is aero
programme and the cars were crushed.
Shortly after that came the VW Group’s
a huge factor in fuel consumption,
but so are tyres, lubricants, fuels and change chassis, engines
diesel scandal which led Audi to consider
its position on a global platform with diesel
weight. The level of competition also
cannot be discounted, with that linked
and batteries at will
engines. Porsche then followed it out of to the amount it costs to compete.
the door to focus primarily on electric In the early days of the hybrid regulation
and customer racing, leaving only Toyota. set the manufacturers were pretty much the development of their new engine
However, the progress that had been made free to test as much as they wished, and and introduced it a year early, in 2016.
in the intervening years on hybrid and were able to change chassis, engines and As costs escalated measures were
ICE efficiency has been extraordinary. batteries at will. The cost of doing so was brought into place that reduced the
Not only were Porsche and Toyota outweighed by the need to compete with capacity to spend on development. Limits
competing at the maximum stored energy some serious-spending competition, which were placed on the maximum power
capacity from 2016 (Peugeot’s system was why in 2015 Toyota was so hopelessly output at 300kW in 2016, although all the
for 2012 was just 0.5MJ and its technical outclassed by Porsche and Audi. Such was manufacturers were around that same figure
director, Bruno Famin, already said this was their embarrassment that they accelerated anyway. There was a limit on the number of

batteries that could be used in a season, and

the chassis design had to last more than one Thermals
season. As it stands today, the TS050 was
T
introduced in 2016 and this is its fifth year he new Hypercar regulations will come into force in 2021
of competition without a major redesign. but while great steps have been made in improving thermal
Further measures included a reduction efficiency from the LMP1 power unit and drivetrain, the next
in the number of aero kits that could be generation will undo some of that work as regulations drive down cost.
introduced in a season, first to three and With budgets slashed from the LMP1 era to Hypercar, investment
then to two; one high downforce and one in new technology will not be possible, which will inevitably lead to
low-drag that was designed for Le Mans higher fuel consumption or a less powerful hybrid system. ‘From a
but most teams adapted at least one car to regulation point of view, it will be a step backwards,’ says Toyota Gazoo
run the kit at the preceding race at Spa. Racing Project Leader John Litjens. ‘They give you a power curve and
With all of these restrictions in place, and you can decide to do a very efficient hybrid system and engine if you
understood, Toyota set about demonstrating want, but it is all cost-driven and [that is] one of the main factors of the
in figures what they had achieved in the new regulations. We have seen the combustion engine become more
past eight years. For good measure, they thermally efficient but the technology is not the cheapest!’
also included the figures for the TS020 that While Formula 1 teams have hit the 50 per cent efficiency target, We have not
raced in 1999, without a hybrid system and the LMP1 cars have not yet, although Litjens says they are close. ‘The
with engine and aero technology that is exact number I cannot tell you, but it is a bit lower than F1,’ says the achieved 50 per
Dutchman. ‘We have not achieved 50 per cent yet but we are not far
cent yet but we
now 20 years out of date. The full table is
available at www.racecar-engineering.com. off. If you find a way to do it, you can make the relatively big steps
Efficiency drive
[needed]. We made good steps in the right direction but how much
more is in this technology it would be difficult to say.’ It comes back to
are not far off
The first indication of improvement in the old motor racing adage; how fast can you afford to go? Project leader John Litjens
efficiency is the reduction in the amount
of fuel used to travel the distance required.
Toyota took its first win in 2018 but the 2019 figure was actually more than half and was done to verify and overstress the
mileage covered by the winning car a second slower than the win in 2018. cooling systems. Mike Conway lapped
would have taken the win the previous These are extraordinary numbers, but the Paul Ricard circuit 5.4s faster than the
year from Porsche and so the figures Toyota has been most keen to emphasise quickest non-hybrid car. With a lap time of 92
remain relevant. Had Toyota significantly the amount of braking energy that was seconds for Conway, 98s for Mikhail Aleshin
reduced speed and won at a sedate pace recovered. This features the development in the SMP Dallara, the Toyota’s lap times
the figures would have lost validity. of kinetic energy recovery systems (KERS) sent shockwaves through the paddock.
The TS020, or GT-One as it was also and clearly a lot of work has gone into ‘We went through a wide programme
known, featured a 3.6 litre V8 twin turbo these areas. The ratio of recovered brake including triggering high temperatures
engine and no hybrid system. The fuel energy compared to the total brake energy that were not as hot as we were hoping
consumption per lap was 4.95 litres per lap was as low as 27 percent in 2013 and that for,’ said Technical Director Pascal Vasselon
and remarkably that remained similar in has increased since then. By 2014 that had at the time. ‘We had a new cooling system
2012 at 4.80 litres per lap. The first major increased to 41 percent, and then the switch to validate. We were hoping for higher
change in fuel consumption came in 2014 to batteries in 2016 enabled higher storage [ambient] temperatures. Sometimes we
when the 6MJ system helped take the potential compared to super capacitors, were running fast, it happens that when
load on acceleration. Fuel consumption and recovered energy is now 60 percent. you want to stress the hybrid system you
around the 13.629km circuit dropped While the brakes have been applied have to stress it more than is allowed.
to 3.51 litres per lap, a full litre less than to many areas of development, flattening Then we came back within the usual
in 2013. By regulation the consumption the curve of improvement since 2016, the limits and then had a trouble-free run.’
dropped again in 2016 when Toyota moved energy figures have also become rather
into the 8MJ column of the Appendix B of impressive. Fuel energy released per lap has Same, but different
the regulation, to 3.13 litres per lap and reduced from 192MJ in 2012 to a limited Despite the static regulations the speeds
it has remained constant since then. 124.9MJ in 2016 where by regulation it has and lap times for the Toyota TS050 have
This explains the dramatic fall in fuel remained stable ever since. Hybrid energy changed dramatically since 2016. The
consumed over the full 24-hour race by contrast has increased from 3.5MJ to fastest race lap by a Toyota in 2016 was a
compared to 1999, when the second placed 8MJ by 2016 and it would be an interesting 3m21.445 and by 2017 that had improved
car completed 4971km on 1802kg. In 2019 exercise to see what the car would be by a staggering 3.8s to 3m18.604s. That was
the winning car completed 5245.25km capable of without these restrictions. despite the fact that all three Toyotas retired
on 1205kg, nearly 600kg less fuel to travel We were given a glimpse of what was from the race before the ‘happy hour’ at
more than 250km further. In order to possible in 2018 at the pre-season test dawn when the air and track temperature
achieve this, the car had to travel faster, where Toyota ran their car for a time outside is cool but the grip and visibility are good.
clearly, as it’s a timed race. The fastest 20 the limitations imposed by the regulation. It That was the year that Kamui
percent lap time average dropped from was a deliberate act as in such a session you Kobayashi set his extraordinary qualifying
3m28.82s in 2012 to 3m19.74s in 2019. This are not bound by these same regulations, lap of 3m14.791s. The race week was
This hybrid era has seen hundreds of millions of Euros spent on

development, both aero and mechanical in a bid to improve efficiency
With Le Mans
2020 taking place
in September, the
possibility of cooler
temperatures, dry
conditions and a
smaller grid size
than previously
all lend itself to
even faster times Le Mans 2015 was Toyota’s worst performance, embarrassed by the pace of the Audi and Porsche. Post-race,
development of the new engine was accelerated and introduction was brought forward by a year
particularly warm and there had been

a long period of dry weather preceding
the race. The track was also closed from
the night before, unlike previous years
when it was open to the public until
shortly before track action began.
For 2018, however, the lap time had
dropped to 3m17.658s and the following
year was a further four tenths of a second
faster. The lap time of 3m17.297s set in
2019 by Conway stands as the fastest
race lap ever recorded at Le Mans by a
Toyota driver. With Le Mans 2020 planned
for September, the possibility of cooler
temperatures, some dry conditions and a
60-car grid all lend itself to even faster times.
This hybrid era has seen hundreds of
millions of Euros spent on development,
both aero and mechanical in a bid to
improve efficiency and for that the
regulations can only be judged as a A dominant run in 2016 ended on the penultimate lap, and the number 5 was not even classified
success. Never before in endurance
racing have such budgets been made
available to race development teams
and it may be that they will not be
made available again in the future.
This has been a golden age of
technical development in motor racing.
The new regulations will not provide for
the same evolution as the FIA and ACO
pursue their quest to reduce cost by
limiting development (see sidebar).
By revealing their figures, Toyota has
been able to demonstrate its rate of
development over the past decade of
racing at Le Mans. Although limited by
regulation and lack of competition towards
the end of the programme the development
curve is never the less impressive. The Le
Mans 24 hours and ACO will move onto
the next phase that will see endurance
racing through the next decade but for
now we should take time to reflect on
the fuel efficiency, speed and technical Le Mans 2019, number 7 led but a puncture late in the race forced a pitstop, but a sensor failure meant that
capability of these hybrid LMP1 cars. the wrong tyre was changed. That handed the race to the sister car which all race had been slower

INTERVIEW | PIERRE FILLON, ACO PRESIDENT
Target zero
The ACO has set itself at the forefront of environmental technology and the
President, Pierre Fillon, has a plan to reduce net emissions to zero by 2030
By Andrew Cotton
Pierre Fillon with Chase Carey (right) and FIA President

Jean Todt (left) at Le Mans. Each of the three are committed
to reducing costs in racing and improving the environmental
impact of everyday motoring

P
ierre Fillon, President of the since 2012, he has his eyes set on the Are you happy with the hybrid era of Le
Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO), future regulations and maintaining Mans, and what is the future of the Le Mans
has overseen one of the most the ACO’s position as a leader in the regulations? In the past the LMP1 category
technically advanced periods of introduction of new technology in racing. has been a test bed of technology and is it
racing ever witnessed at Le Mans. Although Over the next decade he wants to see now, or in the next ten years, going to be
Le Mans has seen the introduction of new fuels introduced to the top class an attractive place for young engineers?
new technologies in the past, such as at Le Mans and reduce the net carbon ‘If we speak about hybrid, we started to
disc brakes and bio-ethanol fuels, since emissions from the race to zero by 2030. work on [the regulation set] in 2008 and
he took office in 2013 the hybrid era of introduced the technology in 2012. With
sports car racing has taken powertrain Alternative thinking this technology we said [we wanted cars to
technology to a whole new level. It’s an ambitious target, but the ACO has a use] 30 per cent less fuel, and in ten years
Spending by the VW Group in this flexible regulation set that it believes will we have saved 50 per cent of fuel. At the
era was estimated to be in the region of encourage young engineers with disruptive time we were discussing and introducing
€400m per year between Porsche and Audi. technology ideas to experiment over a long the technology, few people were speaking
Petrol was pitted against diesel fuels, super distance race. Using such opportunities as about the environment, less than today
capacitors were pitted against batteries, ‘Garage 56’ that sit outside the traditional so it was a good vision for the ACO to
and kinetic energy recovery systems were regulation set and which in the past has seen work on that. I think it has accelerated the
pitted against heat energy recovery system. the Nissan Deltawing and the Nissan Zeod maturity of this technology, and today it is
compete, he hopes that new technologies being introduced in other race series such
Reduction race such as synthetic fuels will find their way as rallying, and today most of our cars are
While Fillon recognises the enormous cost into Le Mans and accelerate alternative fitted with hybrid. It is a good step towards
of development that went with this era, thinking for the cars that we drive every day. massive electrification for the future.
particularly for the manufacturers, he is However, it is not only on track that the ‘I am sure that Le Mans has played its
justifiably proud of this period of time in development will take place. A week before role in the development for road cars, so
terms of its overall environmental impact on the Le Mans 24 hours 2020, Fillon sat down for me I am happy with hybrid. Of course,
racing and the wider production car world. with Racecar Engineering to discuss this it was expensive, but that was because it
However, having reduced the fuel incredible technical era, the future, and the was Porsche, Audi, Toyota and Nissan and
consumption of LMP1 cars dramatically forthcoming edition of this great race. so it was easy to spend! In the cars we had
Over the next decade he wants to see new fuels introduced

to the top class at Le Mans and reduce the net carbon
emissions from the race to zero by 2030
Fillon is a keen amateur racer who takes to the track in

classic and customer cars on occasion to keep his eye in

two different hybrid systems [kinetic and

heat recovery systems] which is not the
in the medium term and hydrogen is a
solution as are batteries. For the category We will speak about only
case on road cars, but I am sure that it has
accelerated the introduction in road cars.’
for the gentlemen drivers and privateers we
can use this neutral fuel in the short term.’
one name for the category
In Britain there is a target of a ban on sale What do you see in the next ten years
and two options for entry
of diesel and petrol by 2035, and then for the Le Mans regulations?
the government also included hybrid in ‘We are working on having zero emissions For me, the synthetic fuel is important
that ban. What is your opinion of that? by 2030 and we want to promote for the for the future because even if we have
‘I think it is not realistic in the short term. spectators the use of hybrid and electric hydrogen we need to develop the [idea of ]
[We are working on] neutral fuel, which cars, and parking closer to the track if you zero emission CO2, and by 2024 hydrogen
is when you remove the CO2 when you use an electric car or something like that. is the only way. But, we will continue to
produce the fuel, or at least the sum [of the We have to think about incentives to reduce have LMP2, LMP3 and GT and it is important
emission output] is zero. We are working the CO2 produced. Our plan for June next that this category use some neutral fuel. ‘
on this technology. In motorsport it is year is that we should have hydrogen
a good option to have all electric, or all shuttles for the spectators to go from the Looking at this Le Mans weekend, you
hydrogen technology, and in 2023/4 we paddock to Mulsanne or Indianapolis.’ will announce the final rules set for
want to have zero CO2 in motorsport. LMDh and LMH. Can we just agree
‘We have measured our carbon for the Is there a plan to introduce another to call it a Global Prototype?
24-hour race, and 70 per cent of our output category, based on Garage 56, that you ‘We want to have a global name for this
comes from the spectators. After that, most take an LMP3 chassis with free choice category. We will speak about only one
of the rest is the competitors with their of power unit, and it is developed with name for the category and two options
shuttles and so on. The race on the track is alternative fuel or propulsion system? for entry, to build their car or buy it and
only 1.4 per cent [of the total CO2 emissions]. ‘Garage 56 is completely open. We have introduce engine and aero. For the next five
Motorsport does not produce more CO2 several projects in the pipeline and if years we will have a ‘global prototype’ story
than the Olympic Games or the World Cup. someone wants to come with an LMP3 with and most of the cars will be equipped with
We need to have zero emission motorsport a biofuel, or a battery, it is possible. hybrid systems and in the meantime we will
We need to have zero emission motorsport in the medium

term and hydrogen is a solution, as are batteries
The ACO has a clear target to reduce

CO2 emissions in racing, and has
placed hydrogen technology at the
heart of its plans for the future

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continue to develop our Mission H24 project. example like Ginetta. It is open for them. to win. This is balance of performance.
Hydrogen is top of all the investment of a I think we will continue to have a balance Unfortunately we have no choice.’
lot of countries, including Germany which between the small manufacturers, artisans
will invest €9bn, and France fortunately if you like, and the larger manufacturers.’ When we had in the past Dome, Courage,
announced last week that it will invest €7bn ORECA, we had variety and yet the grids
to develop the hydrogen technology, so The awarding of one tyre contract for a were still full. You have a larger grid
this is a good choice. We have been working category was for balance of performance now so more cars to accommodate, but
on this technology for three years now, purposes, but motor racing is competition. would it not be better to have variety
and I think that this is a good direction. To remove that you remove the essence of on the grid, whatever the size?
‘There will be an announcement about racing. What is the reason for awarding ‘For me it is just a question of cost. To
the evolution of the LMP3 and Mission H24 these tyre contracts to single makers? develop a chassis is very expensive and
[at Le Mans in 2020], and will announce a ‘Four years ago never would I have accepted you cannot design a chassis and build
new partner. In Formula E you have all the to have a balance of performance in the top three or four cars and run at Le Mans. It is
same technology [for all competitors], but category. I agree that the competition is the too expensive. With the new LMP2 right
in Le Mans in 2024/25 you will have a battle competition, but the world has changed and now most of the cars are ORECA and I
between classic technology, including hybrid you have to move with the world. You have hope that the next generation of LMP2
and hydrogen, and it will be interesting.’ to choose between spending a lot of money, you will have more than one of the four.’
and the manufacturers who spend the most
On the grid this year there are very few car are likely to win, and you cannot continue to We have written in Racecar Engineering
makers. Has Le Mans lost its diversity? spend so much money. This is now finished. about the increase in spec hybrid systems
‘It is true that this year we have a low Maybe in the future it will come back but in other forms of racing such as the
number but this is just now. If you look at this time it is impossible not to reduce British Touring Car Championship. Will
to the future, you will have Glickenhaus, the cost. Motorsport would disappear. you introduce that into LMP2 and have
Kolles, Peugeot is coming back, other ‘If you want to attract manufacturers, you all of your prototypes as hybrids?
brands are working on a return in 2022 and need a lot of fans for a return on investment, ‘It will be a question of cost. In LMDh
2023, so I think we will continue to have a young people and a new generation, so you will have a spec hybrid system. If
balance between chassis manufacturers you have to deal with the environmental we are able to have the LMP2 cars at
and constructors like Ligier, ORECA and issue, reduce the costs and give small the same price as today but fitted with
so on. We can have other ones in LMH, for and big manufacturers the same chance a hybrid system, then why not?’
To develop a chassis is very expensive and you cannot design

a chassis and build three or four cars and run at Le Mans
Le Mans has a habit of attracting all sorts of spectators, from avid fans to
Spanish royalty, and the odd film star like Brad Pitt (centre). This year’s race
will take place behind closed doors, but the ACO has a plan for the future

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ENDURANCE | LMDH
‘You can now go

and win Le Mans
with probably ten times
less budget than 2014’
David Floury, ORECA technical director

New
order
The ACO and IMSA recently

released the regulation set that
will govern the global platform
top class prototype, and it has
proven popular
By Andrew Cotton

ENDURANCE | LMDH
E
arlier this year, the ACO and IMSA races of the US-based IMSA series, including high-power one and the manufacturers
announced they had completed Daytona, Sebring, Watkins Glen and the involved, including Mazda, Acura and
their assessment into the global Petit Le Mans, as well as the key race from Cadillac, accepted that hybridisation was
platform prototype and early in May the FIA World Endurance Championship; a necessary technology to tempt in more
unveiled the first details of the programme. the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Such a programme manufacturers such as Ford and BMW.
Labelled at Daytona in January as would offer a huge return on investment Come March of that year, however,
‘LMDh’ for Le Mans Daytona (the h has for both teams and manufacturers and the FIA and ACO arrived in Sebring and
yet to be defined), the minimum weight would have allowed manufacturers to announced they were sticking with high-
has been fixed at 1,030kg and maximum make a solid case to their board members power hybrid systems, four-wheel drive
power output defined at 500kW. These to build cars. Things were progressing and a targeted €30m (approx. US$32.6m)
two parameters ran hand in hand nicely until, inexplicably, the ACO, along price tag. Following a presentation of
earlier in the process, so it was natural with its partner, the FIA, veered off course the rules at Château Élan in Sebring, the
to keep them in step. The hybrid system and headed down the road of Hypercar. paddock was stunned and IMSA vowed
for the LMDh category appears to be ACO representatives had turned up at to press on with what it considered the
relatively tame, housed on the rear axle Daytona in January 2018 and explained right way forward on its own path.
only, although the effect on overall lap the low-cost concept, as covered in RE
time is anything but. Offer any racing V28N4. The idea was for a rear axle-only Hyper ventilate
team an extra 30kW of power for the hybrid, perhaps a maximum of 4MJ storage The Hypercar regulations catered to the
full lap and they will gladly accept it. capacity, and lower power delivery for a highest possible technology at a time
These details have taken a long time longer period of time than the short, sharp when, particularly in the US, manufacturers
to arrive, and the path to this conclusion delivery of the current LMP1 hybrids. had already reached the conclusion that
has been anything but straightforward, The reasoning behind it was sound. the hybrid era was too expensive for
due to complications introduced by The move away from four-wheel drive endurance racing and the technology could
the FIA mid-negotiation that skewed (removing KERS from the front axle), high- be outdated. Hypercar was for extreme
the pitch and left manufacturers and power hybrids was logical cost saving. cars that were capable of achieving a
technical working groups in total disarray Having a low-power hybrid system would target lap time at Le Mans of 3m15s. To
as plan after plan was introduced. also interest the US teams more than a the FIA this seemed modest. Estimated
World in motion
The original concept was that the ACO, FIA The move away from four-wheel drive, high-
and IMSA organisations produce a global
platform car that could compete in the key power hybrids was logical cost saving
From left: FIA WEC Championship promoter Gerard Neveu, Pierre Fillon (seated),
IMSA president John Doonan, NASCAR CEO Jim France (seated) and IMSA CEO Ed Bennett

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ENDURANCE | LMDH
budgets for Audi and Porsche were closer Jean Todt (left) with former ACO president,
to €200 million (approx. US$217.2m) at Jean-Claude Plassart, at the signing to
the height of the hybrid war, but to the begin the FIA WEC at Le Mans in 2011
American teams and manufacturers these
figures were far higher than they could
afford, and significantly more than they
were spending to compete currently.
There was a chasm between the two
rule sets, but IMSA had to tread carefully
as the basis of its top class was the ACO
and FIA’s LMP2 chassis, and it relied on
the GTE regulations for its GTLM class,
so could not afford a falling out.
Toyota committed to the Hypercar early,
the Japanese manufacturer clearly seeing
the benefit of racing at Le Mans, and was
one of the leading voices in the move to
retain the more efficient front-axle hybrid
energy recovery system. However, there
was no one else willing to join the party
under these regulations. Aston Martin,
McLaren, Ferrari, Porsche, Ford and others
were all at the table at various stages of
the process and none of them wanted this the cake. Shortly after the first details of including Hyundai were also believed to
technology. Some wanted to go non-hybrid, the LMDh regulations were confirmed in be at the table with a view to joining the
some wanted a road car base, some wanted the media in May, the FIA announced that US series regulations. Ferrari, Porsche and
mild hybridisation. As a result, the ACO it would bring its Hypercar parameters Lamborghini are all closely eyeing the
and FIA caved and allowed all concepts: into line with the US rules. Weight is finalised LMDh regulations, and at least
hybrid prototype; non-hybrid prototype; reduced from 1,100kg to 1,030kg, and Porsche has confirmed its board has already
hybrid road car and non-hybrid road car. power dropped from 585kW to 500kW. ordered a concept study based upon them.
Glickenhaus and ByKolles announced On the Hypercar table sits Toyota with
their participation in Hypercar alongside Power up Peugeot, Glickenhaus and ByKolles, plus
Toyota, but the Holy Grail was a new The FIA’s announcement in mid-May of this other as yet un-named manufacturers, but
manufacturer, and in Aston Martin they year signalled the third change in engine thought to include Mercedes and Honda.
had it. The Valkyrie programme was regulations for Hypercar. Its original concept Ferrari is also looking at these regulations
confirmed at Le Mans in 2019 and it was for around 600bhp, plus a powerful closely as it wants to build its own chassis, as
seemed to put the FIA and ACO back into hybrid system, but with the Valkyrie well as engine, although may have to go for
a powerful position in their ongoing battle road car producing more than 1,000bhp, the low-cost LMDh option if it goes at all.
for supremacy to create the global car. reducing its output to fall in line with the At 600bhp, it seems highly likely
In November 2018, the ACO and FIA’s others was not viable. Toyota, Glickenhaus the current US engine manufacturers
position was further strengthened by the and ByKolles all agreed to increase their will not need to build entirely new
announcement that Peugeot would also ICE power output to more than 700bhp. power units, although there are still
join Hypercar. The announcement from the Toyota was rumoured to have been some final details to be finalised
French came just a week before it announced working on a four-cylinder engine, but before they push the green button.
it was withdrawing from the World Rally abandoned that idea in order to reach The impact of LMDh on Hypercar was
Championship. The two announcements the higher power output required to already large but, when Aston Martin
were clearly linked, but even the FIA admitted compete with the Aston Martin. Likewise, stopped the development of its Valkyrie
Peugeot’s announcement was a surprise. Glickenhaus abandoned his plan to modify competition car, the regulations took
a Ferrari 488 engine and instead went with on even more importance. Here was the
Game changer Pipo Moteurs to produce a twin turbo V8, chance to have a car on a low budget and,
Aston Martin then suspended its Hypercar essentially two four-cylinder inline engines if performance balancing could be agreed
programme earlier this year. This was mated. These decisions were taken before upon, one that could race at Le Mans.
not a surprise, but it weakened the FIA’s the announcement of LMDh in January. This set of regulations were supposed to
hand. That hand was further weakened The LMDh plan retained the power have been released at Sebring in March, but
when, at the opening round of the IMSA output target of 600bhp engines as there the coronavirus scuppered that plan. Virtual
series at Daytona, the US organisation was no need to change. The plans were meetings replaced those that were planned
announced its next generation prototype largely driven by the manufacturers face-to-face and the regulations have
would be labelled LMDh, and its cars would already involved in IMSA while others now been distributed to manufacturers.
be allowed to race in the top category
at Le Mans. This was a game changer.
This is a global platform car, continues ‘It was not easy to find a balanced working
to be based on the LMP2 chassis with
manufacturer engine installation, aero and point between the US and Europe’
styling and will continue to be a cheap form
of motorsport. Le Mans was the cherry on David Floury

ENDURANCE | LMDH
An ORECA LMP2 chassis with Acura

engine and body competing in the
current DPi category, which is soon
to be replaced by LMDh with the
same mixed manufacturer concept
The choices are stark for the The hybrid system will come from a in DPi [Daytona Prototype international]
manufacturers: take an existing chassis, single supplier, yet to be named, and few to limit the cost on this side. The hybrid
gearbox, electronics and hybrid system, fit other details are available. It has been system is a top up of the IC. A low-voltage
your own engine and develop an aero kit unofficially confirmed that the system system would have been 30kW but only
from there, or build a ground-up prototype will be high voltage, of the order of 600- for five seconds or so, and it would have
to your exact specification. Both concepts 800V to help keep its weight down. been mild. This is boosting all the time.’
will be performance balanced and both will ‘If you look at it, it is not such a mild Clearly, there will have been a major
compete at the key races around the world. hybrid,’ says ORECA’s technical director, discussion with Toyota that has developed
David Floury. ‘It looks like it is because its another powerful hybrid system.
Power down power output seems low if you compare Regenerating energy from the front axle is,
The LMDh hybrid power output is the topic it to a current system, but that boosts argued Toyota, the most efficient method
of contention, very low compared to the at 300kW only for a fraction of time at of doing so, and certainly large amounts
systems developed for Porsche, Toyota and the exit of the corner and then you are of energy can be collected from a front-
Audi. The old LMP1 hybrid systems had a only on the IC. Here, the hybrid system is mounted KERS. However, power delivery
power output artificially limited to 300kW going to boost all around the lap as soon back to the front axle, and the resultant
and incredible energy recovery systems were as you have full throttle. It is a different occasional four-wheel-drive capability,
created, both KERS and exhaust driven. situation. At the end of the day, the MGU is more complicated and expensive
Under the new regulations, power output will be capable of much more power than a rear-mounted system only.
will be limited to one tenth of that figure, capacity because of the regen’ side. Before Aston Martin committed
just 30kW but, rather than spend all the ‘The battery and [energy] saving of the to the regulations, an agreement was
power in one go on acceleration, it will be MGU is still quite high, but the idea is the reached whereby an old rule resurfaced.
distributed around the lap more liberally. IC power is limited to more or less what is Hybrid power can only be delivered to

The LMDh cars will be designed with compromises
as it is primarily a customer-based chassis
the front wheels over 120km/h in the of its gears to reduce performance, allowing and there was no reason to change
dry, and at a higher speed in the wet. Acura and Mazda to compete without that concept. Key elements of the car
Performance balancing is going to be a having to out-spend their American rivals. are fixed, such as the gearbox, braking
headache for the governing bodies. The cars are based on the next system, clutch and chassis. They are
generation LMP2 cars, which are due for homologated for five years and there is
Production identity introduction into the WEC in 2023. LMDh currently no plan to change that process.
The performance balancing system has cars will therefore come first, but at least IMSA will have this platform as its
long been clearly defined, although the the four chosen manufacturers – Ligier, main category, but the organisation
details have taken time to confirm, and Multimatic, Dallara and ORECA – are able has accepted that Hypercars can race
again it is IMSA that has led the way with to start design work on the new cars. ‘It at its key race, the Daytona 24-hours, in
designing its process. Drag and power limits will be a completely new car with different January 2022. This measure is understood
are placed on the basic car and tested in dimensions,’ says Floury. ‘Obviously you need to have come from Glickenhaus, who
the wind tunnel and on the dyno. Cars are to accommodate for the hybrid system.’ wants to race his Hypercar on home soil.
then balanced, which means the road- The road to these regulations has Further tracks will accept the Hypercars
car styling departments can have limited been rather simpler than others. Although once the BoP has been established.
impact on aero performance. What comes Ford was known to have wanted a
out in the final product is a prototype that larger hybrid system and was driving Here to stay
is identifiable to its production car cousins. the hybrid route in IMSA, there was As yet, there is no clear reason why
Engine characteristics have proven consensus that the US teams and series manufacturers cannot mix and match their
harder to manage, particularly in the case of did not want the complexity or costs. cars. Ferrari could, for example, build its
Cadillac and its large capacity V8 engine that The current DPi regulations are own chassis, engine and body, while taking
has led IMSA to delve even into the length based on the existing LMP2 regulations IMSA’s hybrid system and reduce the need

ENDURANCE | LMDH
for expensive development in this area. This designing the spine and the car architecture, all credit to the ACO and IMSA,’ says Floury.
possibility will increase the attractiveness of doing some simulation work and working on ‘It was not easy to find a balanced working
Hypercar to a manufacturer, although costs the aero. We don’t have all the styling input point between the US and Europe and,
will certainly be different between the two. from the OEMs, but it is good to prepare for at the end of the day, it is successful and
‘There will be a difference, but it is the future. At the moment we are more in a good for the sport because LMDh is good
difficult to know the gap between the two,’ conceptual stage than fine-tuning stage.’ value for money and a good way to reduce
says ORECA managing director, Hugues Deals have been struck with Michelin for the budget. You can now go and win Le
de Chaunac. ‘I don’t know the budget of both series. IMSA is near the start of a 10-year Mans with probably ten times less budget
Hypercar, but there will be a big gap. When deal for its series in the US, the WEC signed than 2014, and this is quite efficient with
a car manufacturer is spending money, its deal with Michelin after succumbing to a global platform. And [with] the same
they always spend more than a private pressure from its partner manufacturers. One development, you can race in the US, Europe
team. It is difficult to say for the moment tyre will be for the four-wheel-drive Hypercar, and at Le Mans, which is brilliant. In the
because the cost to have a competitive a second option will be available for the two- post-COVID situation, this a good package.’
car, and to have a top-level car, in Hypercar wheel-drive Hypercar, as well as for the LMDh
[is high]. To have [a Hypercar] is one thing cars, reducing the amount of development Logical step
but to have a top car with everything free and cost for the teams and the tyre partner. ‘As these technical regulations will attest,
on the hybrid system, for instance, it can Costs are aimed low enough that LMDh is a logical and appropriate next step
cost a [lot]. This is defined in the LMDh. You customer teams can afford to represent to follow the successful Daytona Prototype
cannot spend a lot on each component.’ manufacturers in both series. A common international (DPi) in the IMSA WeatherTech
figure for the current privateer LMP1 SportsCar Championship,’ commented
Car architecture cars were around €4-6million (approx. IMSA president, John Doonan. ‘The LMDh
The LMDh chassis will be designed with US$4.35-6.52m) per car, while the will retain many attributes that led to the
compromises as it is primarily a customer- manufacturer budgets were far higher. success of DPi, but the addition of relevant
based chassis. ‘You should be in a position This is widely accepted as a common technologies and the convergence of
to accommodate all types of engines, so you cost for manufacturers in IMSA, while the regulations with the ACO opens the door
have to make provision for a non-stressed privateers run on less money, although for more manufacturers to participate in
engine,’ confirms Floury, who will now start are finding it increasingly difficult to raise the future. We could not be more proud of
work on the ORECA LMDh / LMP2 car. ‘We are funds. ‘It has been a very efficient process, the instrumental role our IMSA technical
team played alongside their counterparts
at the ACO to deliver these regulations.’
There are further details that have to be
‘[With] the same development, you can thrashed out in the final set of regulations
that are intended for publication at Le
race in the US, Europe and at Le Mans’ Mans. Until then, the signs are positive for
the global platform prototype category.
David Floury
Wayne Taylor’s WTR team has consistently

represented Cadillac’s prototype racing brand
at the highest level, winning the Daytona 24
hours three times and the title in 2017

RACECAR FOCUS | AUDI R8
The first
of the gang
It has been 20 years since Audi first won the Le Mans

24 Hours with its now iconic R8, but the development
phase of the car was anything but easy
By Andrew Cotton

A
udi’s R8 Le Mans Prototype set
a new standard in endurance
racing. The car won for the first
time at Sebring in 2000, and that
year went on to record the first of five wins
at Le Mans. The legend grew with every race.
Tom Kristensen, Emanuele Pirro and Frank
Biela won Le Mans three times together
between 2000 and 2002, Audi drivers won
the American Le Mans Series every year
from 2000 to 2005 for Audi Sport North
America, Team Joest and Champion Racing,
and the European Le Mans Series for Apex
Motorsport. The car looked unbeatable.
The R8 firmly established Audi in
endurance racing at a time when the sport
needed the stability. From 1999, when
six manufacturers competed, just three
continued in 2000 including Cadillac,
Chrysler through its Mopar brand and
The R8 firmly Audi. BMW continued in private hands,

but it was a shock to the system after
established Audi in the drama and excitement of 1999.

Audi had contested the 1999 race and
endurance racing was relieved to come out of it with a podium
on its first visit to Le Mans. The brand had
arrived in endurance racing to great fanfare
in December 1998 with a presentation
of a prototype in Berlin that bore more
resemblance to its future production
cars than the cars that actually raced.
The R8 was Audi’s first ever attempt
at a fully fledged prototype, having
previously only ever developed racecars
from production ’shells and the 3.6-litre
V8 was the manufacturer’s first dedicated
race engine since the 1930s.
As it was all new, there was a steep
learning curve for the Ingolstadt team
of designers and engineers before
the start of one of the most successful
sportscar racing programmes ever.

Audi had flirted with the idea of running

a GT1 car at the height of the FIA GT The 3.6-litre V8 was the manufacturer’s first
Championship when Porsche, Mercedes and
BMW (through McLaren) were contesting
dedicated race engine since the 1930s
this new global series in 1997. However,
despite a presentation from Richard and the decision was taken to spread the ‘There was competition, and at the
Lloyd with a complete car design, the bet and build two versions of the R8. end we made both concepts. The R8R
decision was taken by Audi management Racing Technology Norfolk (rtn) was was a concept we started first, and then
to instead go to prototype racing at Le an early version of Toyota’s TMG facility in we said okay, by the rule book maybe
Mans with an all-new, carbon fibre tub Cologne and Toyota Team TOM’s had run out you are better with a closed car.
car designed in-house at Audi Sport. of this factory for years before Audi acquired ‘When the game started with Le Mans,
it. However, the R8R programme was I had a group of people that, up until then,
Short cut nine months into a difficult development had always been taking a raw bodywork
Audi knew that it needed to take short programme when Audi bought the facility from the production line to make a racecar
cuts to the top and buy in experience. The so there was no option to switch the out of it. They had never before done a white
appointment of Team Joest was logical. programme to the UK factory. Instead, sheet of paper, or monocoque design.
The team had won Le Mans in 1984 and when Dr Franz-Josef Paefgen, chairman ‘Dr Paefgen thought maybe [we wouldn’t
1985 with the privateer Porsche 956, and of the Board of Management of Audi AG, be able to] make it, and I announced very
again in 1996 and 1997 with the Porsche aired concerns about the German team loudly in Berlin that we were there to win it
WSC. The team was available to take on the delivering on time, rtn was commissioned in the first year! To which he said, “We should
project to win Le Mans with Audi and had to develop a closed car, the R8C, alongside take experienced people from England.”’
the expertise the manufacturer needed. the German open-top prototype.
However, the first prototype was ‘It was the first time this group of people Double top
due to be delivered in 1998, and Audi [in Audi Sport] made a prototype from zero,’ Even more memorably, this was the first
management had reservations that this admits Wolfgang Ullrich, then head of Audi time one manufacturer had entered two
deadline would be achieved. Audi bought Motorsport, of the R8R programme. ‘ [Chief prototype concepts, LMP for open cockpit
a factory in Norfolk, England that had the designer] Wolfgang Appel had done a lot of cars and LM GTP for closed cars. At Le Mans
facilities required to build a prototype, different things before, but nothing like this. in 1999, Audi, Panoz, Courage, Pescarolo,
BMW and Nissan all competed in the LM
P900 class, while Toyota, Mercedes and
Audi’s R8C were built to LM GTP regulations.
The Audi R8R was designed and developed in Germany, but

the layout borrowed heavily from the Ferrari 333SP. It was
even referred to as the Ingolstadt Ferrari for a while

Never before had one manufacturer debuted Prototypes in both LMP and LM GTP classes at the same event. It was a formidable display of technology
Both Audis featured an all-new, 3.6-litre should drive it down the pit lane and back all in Audi red, and the privateer team were
V8 engine produced by Ulrich Baretzky, to the tent. I did it and for sure it was warm, just four. They watched the car as well and,
Audi Sport’s head of engine technology, but in Spa I think they would have asked as it went into turn one, they turned to us
but there was a crucial difference in the for this heating. Not at Sebring, though.’ and applauded. It was so embarrassing.’
drivetrains of the two concepts. The R8R ran Joest had already worked with David
with a Ricardo gearbox, the R8C with Xtrac. Teething problems Price at Surrey, UK-based DPS Composites
While Audi Sport UK pressed ahead with The R8R was pronounced ready to run on its 962 and WSC car and knew the
its car in isolation, the Audi R8R that was at Sebring in March 1999 but, with such company was capable of producing the
being developed in Germany bore a striking a new programme, there were teething quality of parts needed to make the R8R
resemblance to the Ferrari 333SP, having problems in testing. The strength of some work properly. As this version of the R8R
based its design on the already successful of the carbon fibre parts commissioned was left clearly wanting, a secret design was
model. It was similar enough to the Ferrari from various companies in Germany commissioned. It involved a whole new front
that the team called it the Ingolstadt Ferrari. were found to be inadequate. end that fitted within the original bodywork
The basic packaging of the car saw the ‘The R8R was flexing on the front so but improved airflow and strength.
positioning of the radiators and the double much, we were testing in Daytona at the ‘A designer we knew very well made
roll hoop a carry-over from the Ferrari, end of 1998 and there was a Riley and Scott a new design of the front end, including
although the finer details, such as the front private team that were pit in, and we were the splitter, the nose and the radiator,
suspension pick-up points, were different. pit out,’ remembers Team Joest’s technical ducting, radiator mounts and fixation,
The radiator at the front was clearly an director, Ralf Juttner. ‘Michele [Alboreto] but with the same aero,’ recalls Juttner.
issue in the first test at Sebring. ‘Emmanuele always pitted complaining that the car ‘Dr Ullrich knew about it, but the design
Pirro drove the car and complained at the was vibrating like hell. We tried using wires department didn’t. The underfloor was
heat coming into the cockpit,’ remembers to hold the splitter lip, but over 250km/h all the same, but the mounting was
Ullrich. ‘I told him that the Ferrari had run everything was flexing. Once, on the radio different, and this time it was designed for
like that for years and no driver had been he said he was coming past the pits and stiffness, built by [David Price at] DPS.
grilled, but he was not amused. He came for us to watch. The thing was flexing. ‘At one stage in the programme we
into the pit lane in Sebring and made a sign ‘Watching the car going down to the first mounted the new parts to the car and
for me to come over to the car and said I corner, we had a team of 30 or 40 engineers, had to raise the ride height five times.
In early testing the R8R was found wanting. Carbon fibre parts proved too weak and flexed,
while drivers suffered excessive heat in the cockpit due to the front-mounted radiator

We showed them what a difference it so there was a question of what to do. Kristensen, who had won Le Mans in
made, even though the shape was the We had to try something and, looking 1999 for BMW, was placed alongside the
same, just much stiffer, and that changed at it now, it was the right decision.’ established Touring Car stars Biela and Pirro
their approach, but I remember it led while Allan McNish, winner for Porsche
to a little bit of friction at the time.’ R8 interim in 1998, lined up alongside Alboreto and
The cars ran at Le Mans in 1999 and finished Capello. The two Audis started on the front
Race debut third and fourth, but the design of the row of the grid and finished the race in first
The endurance racing programme was a next car, an all-new R8, was already well and second position after completing more
steep learning curve for Audi’s motorsport underway and by the end of the year it than 1,300 miles and setting a fastest race
department, but with the challenges faced was ready to start testing. A new quick- lap 1.5s quicker than the previous record.
in preparing the car now either in progress change rear end had been designed but Despite the convincing one-two position,
or solved, it was time to go racing. Joest had to make use of the R8R once the two R8s did not have a perfect race.
Sebring in March 1999 saw the debut of again to put miles on this new back end. Biela lost time when he accidentally turned
the new car, but the bumpy Florida circuit ‘When we went to the R8, we went to off the electronics switch, while Alboreto
is unforgiving and ambient temperatures, test at Sebring and here at Joest we had suffered a puncture that damaged the front
even at that time of year, are usually high. built a mule, an interim car, which was the bodywork. However, the main issue was
‘It was jumping and was a pig, it was chassis of the R8R but with the rear end of the brakes. Biela stopped after eight hours
ridiculous,’ remembers Juttner. ‘We really the new Audi R8,’ explains Juttner. ‘That was for a three-minute bleed of the brakes,
felt for the drivers, but the biggest issue not that easy, though, because in the R8 handing the lead to McNish. The Scot
that year was the reliability of the gearbox. the engine was fully stressed, whereas the continued without bleeding the brakes
The car that finished third at Sebring, R8R had a subframe. We had to modify the and, with Capello, led in the last hour.
with Michele Alboreto, Dindo Capello R8R chassis to take engine mounts that in
and Stefan Johansson, ran the last few this situation had never been designed to Brake dancing
hours with only two or three gears. take the loads. In the fuel cell we had tubes Light rain and fading brake pressure
‘When we opened the gearbox after the and all sorts, but it all worked as it should caused the Italian to do a half spin, which
race, it was like a blown-up pinball table. although it didn’t conform to regulations. was enough to bring the sister car within
We were lucky to finish at all, but we did ‘The R8 interim car was already so striking distance. ‘The car’s brakes were
complete the race and that was good.’ much better than the R8R. [Team Joest worsening, and Emanuele [Pirro] was
Understandably, the team went chief engineer] Jo Hausner said we should going very well in the other Audi. With
to Le Mans in June that year with put the same springs and dampers in the just 20 minutes remaining, he went
trepidation. Throughout testing, the car that we had in the race in 1999 [for ahead of us,’ said McNish at the time.
gearboxes had problems, and the team back-to-back testing] and Tom [Kristensen] There was much work to do on the
knew it was unlikely to get through did his first test with us with Audi at that cars post-Sebring. The brake issue was
the whole 24 hours without issue. time. He was selected by Mr Hausner to sit partly to do with the bumps around the
‘When we approached Sebring in 1999, in the car and jump around the Sebring track, but the team also strengthened
we had experienced massive problems circuit. We had decided to give the car to the uprights and hubs ready for Le Mans
with gearboxes in testing, and it was always the new guy to lose his teeth, but to our and changed the brake seals and fluid to
dog-ring failures, nothing to do with the surprise the handling wasn’t that bad.’ prevent the same thing happening again.
drivers or the electronics,’ says Juttner. The second R8 became available for Le Mans demands less of the brakes
‘We had a guy in Bavaria who had made a the race, and the team was then complete. than Sebring, but Audi was taking
pneumatic system for bikes and he knew
[Audi designer] Wolfgang Appel. He came
up with a system for the R8R. We had it at
‘It was jumping and was a pig, it was ridiculous’
a test and it was a disaster. We had new Team Joest technical director, Ralf Juttner
parts from Germany flown in and were
ready to go early afternoon, but had to
stop again in the early evening because
of gearboxes. Within a few laps we had
dog-ring problems again, so we threw it out
thinking it was the problem and didn’t work.
‘In hindsight, that decision was
premature. Later, we found that just a
few parameters were wrong between the
engine and gearbox but we were already
nervous so went back to the original
gearshift mechanism. We went to Le Mans
with both cars fitted with a standard
manual gear lever, and Audi came with two
systems of the Megaline. The idea was to
give one to Audi Sport UK and we would
run the other. Audi UK didn’t want it; they
thought it was too late to put it in but we
put it on both our cars, and it worked.
At Sebring in 1999 the R8R made its race debut, but was plagued with gearbox
‘We were pretty sure we wouldn’t problems, leading the team to experiment with a pneumatic gearshift system
make [the finish] with the system we had,

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The new R8 arrived in 2000 and scored a convincing one-two victory on

its debut at Sebring, though this time suffered brake problems
no chances, having committed three

of its new cars to Le Mans to try to
win the trophy for the first time.
The new R8 had been on the design
board since before Easter in 1998 and was
a step change in design concept, with
new tub, layout, weight distribution and
aero. This was a totally new car, taking all
the learning from the early experience
of the R8R and improving upon it.
Different future
As a post-script to Audi’s triumphant
debut of the R8 at Sebring, there were
two further races of the American Le Mans
Series, one at Charlotte in North Carolina,
the other Silverstone. With the R8s being
prepared for Le Mans and unavailable to With a new tub, layout, weight distribution and aero, the 2000-era R8 was a brand new racecar
race, the R8R was put back into service.
‘The drivers that knew the interim that the Group thought could be adapted The new car then sat with no engine
car from the test wanted to have that car to take the engine. Ultimately, the changes and no future until it was fitted with the
for the races, but we only had one car, required to accommodate the cooling, same 3.6-litre V8 twin turbo that had been
so who should have it?’ recalls Juttner. already marginal with a 3.6-litre turbo V8 used in the R8C in 1999, was painted green,
‘It was not legal anyway because of all but impossible to achieve with a 6.0-litre and went on to compete at Le Mans in
the changes inside the fuel cell and so W12, meant it was cheaper and quicker 2001 as the Bentley EXP Speed 8, fore-
on, but they really wanted to race it!’ to design a new car to accommodate the runner to the all-new Speed 8 in 2003.
While the open prototype had found engine. The R8C was therefore parked The R8 meanwhile, took its first win at Le
some kind of favour with the team, the while a new car was designed and built, Mans in 2000, the three cars taking the first
R8C had a different future ahead of it. though ultimately it never ran with the three positions overall and the car went on
The Volkswagen Audi Group had by then W12 engine. Although the engine bay was to a glittering career on both sides of the
developed its W12 engine and wanted to large enough to take it, the engine was Atlantic defining an era of Sportscar racing
race it, and the rtn team in the UK had a car shelved after a test in the back of a Lola. and changing Audi’s sporting profile forever.
The new R8…

was a step
change in
design concept

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Le Mans Is ON!: The Race To Efficiency

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A digital supplement from the publisher of

>> The race to efficiency

4 Le Mans 2020 • Racecar Engineering

Toyota has developed its LMP1 technology to the

Racecar Engineering • Le Mans 2020 5

Limits were placed Soft cell

However, there were arguments

8 Le Mans 2020 • Racecar Engineering

batteries that could be used in a season, and

This hybrid era has seen hundreds of millions of Euros spent on

particularly warm and there had been

Racecar Engineering • Le Mans 2020 11

Pierre Fillon with Chase Carey (right) and FIA President

12 Le Mans 2020 • Racecar Engineering

Over the next decade he wants to see new fuels introduced

Fillon is a keen amateur racer who takes to the track in

Racecar Engineering • Le Mans 2020 13

two different hybrid systems [kinetic and

We need to have zero emission motorsport in the medium

The ACO has a clear target to reduce

14 Le Mans 2020 • Racecar Engineering

Ÿ Absolute & Diﬀerential measurement

Mezzo designs and fabricates micro channel heat

Mezzo is an approved supplier of radiators for

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16 Le Mans 2020 • Racecar Engineering

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Racecar Engineering • Le Mans 2020 19

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An ORECA LMP2 chassis with Acura

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Racecar Engineering • Le Mans 2020 25

Wayne Taylor’s WTR team has consistently

26 Le Mans 2020 • Racecar Engineering

It has been 20 years since Audi first won the Le Mans

28 Le Mans 2020 • Racecar Engineering

The R8 firmly Audi. BMW continued in private hands,

established Audi in the drama and excitement of 1999.

Racecar Engineering • Le Mans 2020 29

Audi had flirted with the idea of running

The Audi R8R was designed and developed in Germany, but

30 Le Mans 2020 • Racecar Engineering

Racecar Engineering • Le Mans 2020 31

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