LeMans – DeltaWing Partners with Gurney and Highcroft for 2012’s 24 Hour

Ben Bowlby’s DeltaWing concept has not faded into the past, as much as many IndyCar fans may wish it. The concept lives and will make an appearance in a place where we here at OpenPaddock had thought it was best suited from the beginning, endurance sports car racing. After all, the concept originally produced and displayed at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in May 2010 could only very loosely have been called an open-wheel car. It genuinely does resemble a prototype sports car more than a single-seater formula car. However, that…

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Le Mans Notes 06/08/11; Sarrazin Peugeot Set Pace

Just as it appeared Audi had lay claim to the top three positions during provisional qualifying Peugeot Sport Total‘s Stephane Sarrazin peeled off a blistering lap that undercut the German squad by nine-tenths of a second during an incident packed session. The Audi Sport Team Joest R18 TDI’s and Team Peugeot Sport Total 908’s were fastest throughout the session. The 908 of Sebring winners Team Oreca Matmut were seventh in LMP1. The Pescarlo Judd was the fastest of the petrol powered LMP cars, in eighth position, nearly two seconds ahead of…

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Preview; Le Mans 24 Hours

And so it begins this Saturday. The 79th running of the Le Mans 24 Hours, without question the  world’s greatest sports car race and arguably the world greatest racing event, 56 cars, in four classes, lapping the famed Circuit de la Sarthe at nearly 75% full throttle per lap. 28 LMP cars (Le Mans Prototype) will start.  New LMP1 cars from Audi, Peugeot and Aston Martin will battle for the overall win. Even with new regulations to bridge the gap between diesel and petrol powered cars, the factory teams hold…

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FIA, ACO Announce World Endurance Championship

The FIA and the ACO, organizers of the 24 Hours at Le Mans and the Intercontinental Le Mans Championship (ILMC) have announced a World Endurance Championship starting in 2012. There will be a manufacturer’s championship and driver championship. The FIA press release stated “In establishing this new category of motorsport championship, both the FIA and ACO are keenly aware it needs to be a laboratory for innovation and the development of new technologies, allowing motor manufacturers to express, through the rigours of competition, their ability to be inventive and, as…

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