Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Common Interests 24 Hours of Le Mans!

On a side note Speed's ratings have really gone up since the change to more ASSCAR. They are in the business to make money and they are. I don't blame them. They do show a lot more Rally now you have to admit just as they have stated. There are a lot of people that don't appreciate the better types of racing.

I am getting tired of seeing all of those open cockpit cars. They are becoming clones of one another like the F1 cars.
I prefer to see the sleek beauty of the old GTP or Group C cars, like the Bentley. To me they look much better than the CanAm style cars.
Ahh!,...the Jag XJR-14, Toyota Eagles, Porsche 962...those were THE ultimate racecars!!

Granted that to the casual observer the LM 900 cars look quite similar. The Audi, Cadillac, Dallara, and Courage seem to share bits and pieces. However, I must disagree with this statement when you consider the Panoz, the Japanese made Dome, and the Britsh made Ascari. They are quite different altogether. Expect to see more GTP class cars in the future though as the ACO has recently given them preference over the LMP 900's in the rulebook.

On SpeedTV, my [current] problem with them is the insane schedule for Le Mans. They're skipping the nighttime hours, and then taking a 2.5 hour break just before the finish. Admirably they're showing CART action, for which they have a contract and quite frankly I"m glad to see someone behind CART these days. But deleting coverage for monetary reason's you might ask? Yeah, just look at what their showing instead. Ton's of revenue to be had from "Consumer Product Showcase." Le Mans is a special event and requires special promotion--even for tv coverage. IMHO an advertising package geared toward specific timeframes would have easily given them enough money to show the race in it's entirety. It's 4 a.m. and you're up watching Le Mans when an ad for Waffle House hits the screen, mmm scattered and smothered!

After the 3rd qually session it' still Audi but Playstation Team Oreca is making their move with their Judd V-10.
1) Audi
2) Audi
3) Dallara
4) Audi
5) MG
6) Cadillac!
7) Dome
9) Panoz
13) Bentley

Prodrive Ferrari still leads Corvette in GTS

Morgan trails Spyker who trails everyone in GT; basically Porsche, Porsche, Porsche, Porsche... :rolleyes:

Milka Duno put a Panoz/Mugen in the gravel , and Audi Sport Team Joest just changeD an entire rear-end on the R8 in less than 4 MINUTES!!!!

Complete Results

Morgan is moving up! Turned a lap in the 4:16 range, smoking several Porsches, Ferrari's, and the Spyker.

In case you haven't seen the Morgan Aero 8


Morgan Morgan Morgan Morgan Morgan

Audi is on pole while the Prodrive Ferrari nipped Corvette for tops in GTS followed very closely by a Viper (note: could be best race all weekend!). Factory MG tops in LMP 675, US based Racers Group Porsche top in GT.

Full Lineup

Cadillac and Morgan put up very respectible times in their own classes. Caddy on podium??? Ha!

That has gotta be one of the coolest looking race cars I have ever seen!

I wonder why the Bentley is the only closed cockpit car in that picture?

Also,,,i am sure if Mario wanted to race he would do well,,,he did pretty good in 2000...he just had a costly spin, but still finished well I believe...

The Bentley is the only LM GTP (closed cockpit prototype sports car) I believe.

I just read an interesting article in the Detroit news talking about Cadillac, and how GM really doesn't support the team as well as Audi supports it's team. The Audi's spend three times more on their team than GM does on the Cadillac team ($60 million vs. $20 million IIRC). I guess that's why Audi can afford to develop cool things like direct injection, while Cadillac has to make do IRL heads, or parts from the Opel touring cars that aren't proven for endurance racing.

Bob

Bentley is the only closed cockpit car (GTP)because the rules of late have favored the open top 900 kilogram cars (LMP 900). The ACO doesn't necessarily say "We want the LMP 900's to be the premier class," but they will structure the rules to effect such an outcome. The primary reason GTP have disappeared is rear tire size. Because of the aero efficiency of the closed cockpit and a larger diameter air restrictor the ACO dictated that they must run a 14" rear tire; LMP 900's can run a 16" tire. Starting '04 GTP's will be allowed a 16" rear tire.

'04 will also mark the return of "ground effects" tunnels to prototypes and GTP's. All the current proto's and GTP's must run a flat bottom which has recently been shown to increase the likelihood of a blow-over, a la Porsche at Road Atlanta and Mercedes at Le Mans in 2000.

I need a life