Racecar Engineering Le Mans 2020

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Le Mans is ON!

>> The race to efficiency Audi R8

Pierre Fillon, ACO

LMDh regs

LE MANS 24 HOURS 2020 | COMMENT

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he 2020 Le Mans 24-hours will be like no other. Although the race was held in September back in 1968, this is also a race that will have no spectators and so will likely feel more like a test session than the endurance festival that we love. There is another difference to races that have gone before, and that is the low number of actual car makers that are on the grid. ORECA chassis dominate the LMP2 grid and are also the base car for Rebellion LMP1, Aurus and Alpine, while alongside them are ByKolles, Ginetta, Toyota, Ligier, Dallara, Ferrari, Porsche and Aston Martin.

It’s a sad state of affairs for the Le Mans field that in the past has celebrated diversity of makes. Indeed, the diversity of engineering excellence is at the heart of what made Le Mans extraordinary. It is made even worse by the fact that of the 60 cars that will take the start, no fewer than 46 of them are entered in LMP2 and GTE-Am. Traditionally, privateers have brought the weird and the wonderful chassis, but the relentless pursuit of the FIA to turn motor racing into a business has helped to drive these centres of engineering development to the wall. This trend shows no sign of slowing, either. There are only four chassis manufacturers for the LMP2 field (and the subsequent LMDh regulation set) and in the top class there will be balance of performance and a limit on development.

The ACO and the FIA have a responsibility not only to create stability in the world of endurance racing, which to their credit they have achieved, but also to ensure that there is variety and innovation. For example, awarding only one tyre supplier contract to a category makes sense financially, but is dull for those watching and flies in the face of the very basic principles of racing; competition.

Denying competition in motorsport and replacing it with a sound business case is to deny the passion that drives most of the teams, suppliers, chassis makers, drivers and particularly the engineers.

Despite their efforts to introduce stability, Le Mans this year will not provide the excitement of previous editions simply because of the lack of competition. In LMP1 we have lost the SMP and Dragonspeed teams altogether, while others have cut back. That’s before I mention the obvious, which is the loss of the rival manufacturer teams to Toyota. In GTE-Pro, we have also lost BMW and Corvette due to scheduling issues brought about by the Covid situation. Once again the Le Mans relies on its privateers to get them through the hard times, and once again they have put the manufacturers at the heart of their Hypercar class, gelded the LMP2 choices and are busy trying to work out the future of GT racing under their control.

However, we should also not lose sight of the fact that for teams this remains the longest day. They will have to play strategic games like never before in their experience with a longer night, wet weather forecast, lower pollen count, no test day, no day-long break between qualifying and the race. As one team manager once said; never under-estimate the challenge that Le Mans presents.

A car, team and drivers must perform for 24 hours, in changing temperatures and conditions. If the car breaks down on track, it must be repairable on site, or it’s out. Add in 59 other cars competing, and you start to understand the challenge that the race provides. Despite the clear differences this year, for the teams and their drivers, Le Mans remains the pinnacle of endurance racing.

Of the 60 cars that will take the start, 46 are LMP2 or GTE-Am

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

g n i Learn

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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

FUEL EFFICIENCY | TOYOTA

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he hybrid regulations for the Le Mans 24 hours were designed to make the cars go further on less fuel than ever before and 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 the general public. An increase in hybrid output could have been made proportional to the amount of fuel required to race leaving the ACO and FIA with a simple presentation to make; hybrid power leads to reduced fuel consumption.

Toyota’s 2.4 litre V6 is one of the most efficient racing engines ever to be produced by Toyota’s racing department and had accelerated development after Le Mans 2015

Toyota has developed its KERS systems over the years and got its ERS-H to the test bench before regulation changes caused the technology to be scrapped

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 produced 1000bhp 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 6 Le Mans 2020 • Racecar Engineering

The switch to batteries was a change in philosophy of Toyota’s hybrid programme that until then had relied on super capacitors as its energy storage system

FUEL EFFICIENCY | TOYOTA

Limits were placed 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 looking at developing engines capable of far higher output than the ACO and FIA intended in case they were needed. The cash required to do this would have made the regulations unworkable, so they said.

Instead, the organisers had a team led by engineers who created a system that allowed for a previously unthinkable amount of energy to be stored (8MJ) and they didn’t even worry about the amount of energy that could be released. Petrol and diesel engines were balanced through an equivalence of technology table, and it was all set for an engineering heaven. Formula 1 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 Formula 1 and the future looked rosy.

As we know it all started to unravel the moment that Nissan’s woes started to become public and the WEC promoter stated that manufacturers should not turn up with less than €70m budget and expect to compete. The Nissan GTRLM only contested one race, Le Mans in 2015, before the company axed the programme and the cars were crushed.

Shortly after that came the VW Group’s diesel scandal which led Audi to consider its position on a global platform with diesel engines. Porsche then followed it out of the door to focus primarily on electric and customer racing, leaving only Toyota.

However, the progress that had been made in the intervening years on hybrid and ICE efficiency has been extraordinary.

Not only were Porsche and Toyota competing at the maximum stored energy capacity from 2016 (Peugeot’s system for 2012 was just 0.5MJ and its technical director, Bruno Famin, already said this was 8 Le Mans 2020 • Racecar Engineering

Soft cell

What should have been the longest day in racing for Toyota ended early for both cars. The TS030 had 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

T

oyota stepped into the World Endurance Championship a year earlier than planned due to the withdrawal of Peugeot at the start of the 2012 season that took everyone by surprise.

The Japanese company started their campaign with a 3.4 litre V8 engine. This increased in 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 featured lithium ion batteries in the drive train in place of the super capacitors that had gone before.

The switch to batteries meant that the team could use the same energy storage system for more than a single race, although they took a new one for Le Mans as a precautionary measure. ‘After a year the Japanese did good work on the efficiency of the system and cells so they were less sensitive to temperature and so you could run them at a more constant temperature and even a bit higher and this helps with the degredation as well,’ says Project Leader John Litjens. ‘In the early days if you had a lot of temperature change that was something that the cells didn’t like.’

the maximum that a manufacturer should or could afford), but the thermal efficiency had also improved greatly. Today, Toyota says that it has not yet reached that hallowed 50 percent that Formula 1 teams have achieved, but says that it is not far off achieving the ‘half way to impossible’ number.

Full picture Economy figures are, of course, skewed by external influences. Not only is aero a huge factor in fuel consumption, but so are tyres, lubricants, fuels and weight. The level of competition also cannot be discounted, with that linked to the amount it costs to compete.

In the early days of the hybrid regulation set the manufacturers were pretty much free to test as much as they wished, and were able to change chassis, engines and batteries at will. The cost of doing so was outweighed by the need to compete with some serious-spending competition, which was why in 2015 Toyota was so hopelessly outclassed by Porsche and Audi. Such was their embarrassment that they accelerated

In the early days of the hybrid regulation set the manufacturers were pretty much free to test as much as they wished, and were able to change chassis, engines and batteries at will the development of their new engine and introduced it a year early, in 2016.

As costs escalated measures were brought into place that reduced the capacity to spend on development. Limits were placed on the maximum power output at 300kW in 2016, although all the manufacturers were around that same figure anyway. There was a limit on the number of

FUEL EFFICIENCY | TOYOTA batteries that could be used in a season, and the chassis design had to last more than one season. As it stands today, the TS050 was introduced in 2016 and this is its fifth year of competition without a major redesign.

Further measures included a reduction in the number of aero kits that could be introduced in a season, first to three and then to two; one high downforce and one low-drag that was designed for Le Mans but most teams adapted at least one car to run the kit at the preceding race at Spa. With all of these restrictions in place, and understood, Toyota set about demonstrating in figures what they had achieved in the past eight years. For good measure, they also included the figures for the TS020 that raced in 1999, without a hybrid system and with engine and aero technology that is now 20 years out of date. The full table is available at www.racecar-engineering.com.

Efficiency drive The first indication of improvement in efficiency is the reduction in the amount of fuel used to travel the distance required.

Toyota took its first win in 2018 but the mileage covered by the winning car would have taken the win the previous year from Porsche and so the figures remain relevant. Had Toyota significantly reduced speed and won at a sedate pace the figures would have lost validity.

The TS020, or GT-One as it was also known, featured a 3.6 litre V8 twin turbo engine and no hybrid system. The fuel consumption per lap was 4.95 litres per lap and remarkably that remained similar in 2012 at 4.80 litres per lap. The first major change in fuel consumption came in 2014 when the 6MJ system helped take the load on acceleration. Fuel consumption around the 13.629km circuit dropped to 3.51 litres per lap, a full litre less than in 2013. By regulation the consumption dropped again in 2016 when Toyota moved into the 8MJ column of the Appendix B of the regulation, to 3.13 litres per lap and it has remained constant since then.

This explains the dramatic fall in fuel consumed over the full 24-hour race compared to 1999, when the second placed car completed 4971km on 1802kg. In 2019 the winning car completed 5245.25km on 1205kg, nearly 600kg less fuel to travel more than 250km further. In order to achieve this, the car had to travel faster, clearly, as it’s a timed race. The fastest 20 percent lap time average dropped from 3m28.82s in 2012 to 3m19.74s in 2019. This

Thermals

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he new Hypercar regulations will come into force in 2021 but while great steps have been made in improving thermal efficiency from the LMP1 power unit and drivetrain, the next generation will undo some of that work as regulations drive down cost.

With budgets slashed from the LMP1 era to Hypercar, investment in new technology will not be possible, which will inevitably lead to higher fuel consumption or a less powerful hybrid system. ‘From a regulation point of view, it will be a step backwards,’ says Toyota Gazoo Racing Project Leader John Litjens. ‘They give you a power curve and you can decide to do a very efficient hybrid system and engine if you want, but it is all cost-driven and [that is] one of the main factors of the new regulations. We have seen the combustion engine become more thermally efficient but the technology is not the cheapest!’

While Formula 1 teams have hit the 50 per cent efficiency target, the LMP1 cars have not yet, although Litjens says they are close. ‘The exact number I cannot tell you, but it is a bit lower than F1,’ says the Dutchman. ‘We have not achieved 50 per cent yet but we are not far off. If you find a way to do it, you can make the relatively big steps [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 the old motor racing adage; how fast can you afford to go?

2019 figure was actually more than half a second slower than the win in 2018.

These are extraordinary numbers, but Toyota has been most keen to emphasise the amount of braking energy that was recovered. This features the development of kinetic energy recovery systems (KERS) and clearly a lot of work has gone into these areas. The ratio of recovered brake energy compared to the total brake energy was as low as 27 percent in 2013 and that has increased since then. By 2014 that had increased to 41 percent, and then the switch to batteries in 2016 enabled higher storage potential compared to super capacitors, and recovered energy is now 60 percent.

While the brakes have been applied to many areas of development, flattening the curve of improvement since 2016, the energy figures have also become rather impressive. Fuel energy released per lap has reduced from 192MJ in 2012 to a limited 124.9MJ in 2016 where by regulation it has remained stable ever since. Hybrid energy by contrast has increased from 3.5MJ to 8MJ by 2016 and it would be an interesting exercise to see what the car would be capable of without these restrictions.

We were given a glimpse of what was possible in 2018 at the pre-season test where Toyota ran their car for a time outside the limitations imposed by the regulation. It was a deliberate act as in such a session you are not bound by these same regulations,

We have not achieved 50 per cent yet but we are not far off Project leader John Litjens

and was done to verify and overstress the cooling systems. Mike Conway lapped the Paul Ricard circuit 5.4s faster than the quickest non-hybrid car. With a lap time of 92 seconds for Conway, 98s for Mikhail Aleshin in the SMP Dallara, the Toyota’s lap times sent shockwaves through the paddock.

‘We went through a wide programme including triggering high temperatures that were not as hot as we were hoping for,’ said Technical Director Pascal Vasselon at the time. ‘We had a new cooling system to validate. We were hoping for higher [ambient] temperatures. Sometimes we were running fast, it happens that when you want to stress the hybrid system you have to stress it more than is allowed.

Then we came back within the usual limits and then had a trouble-free run.’

Same, but different Despite the static regulations the speeds and lap times for the Toyota TS050 have changed dramatically since 2016. The fastest race lap by a Toyota in 2016 was a 3m21.445 and by 2017 that had improved by a staggering 3.8s to 3m18.604s. That was despite the fact that all three Toyotas retired from the race before the ‘happy hour’ at dawn when the air and track temperature is cool but the grip and visibility are good.

That was the year that Kamui Kobayashi set his extraordinary qualifying 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 10 Le Mans 2020 • Racecar Engineering

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 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 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 capability of these hybrid LMP1 cars.

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

A dominant run in 2016 ended on the penultimate lap, and the number 5 was not even classified

Le Mans 2019, number 7 led but a puncture late in the race forced a pitstop, but a sensor failure meant that the wrong tyre was changed. That handed the race to the sister car which all race had been slower Racecar Engineering • Le Mans 2020 11

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

12 Le Mans 2020 • Racecar Engineering

P

ierre Fillon, President of the Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO), has overseen one of the most technically advanced periods of racing ever witnessed at Le Mans. Although Le Mans has seen the introduction of new technologies in the past, such as disc brakes and bio-ethanol fuels, since he took office in 2013 the hybrid era of sports car racing has taken powertrain technology to a whole new level.

Spending by the VW Group in this era was estimated to be in the region of €400m per year between Porsche and Audi.

Petrol was pitted against diesel fuels, super capacitors were pitted against batteries, and kinetic energy recovery systems were pitted against heat energy recovery system.

Reduction race While Fillon recognises the enormous cost of development that went with this era, particularly for the manufacturers, he is justifiably proud of this period of time in terms of its overall environmental impact on racing and the wider production car world.

However, having reduced the fuel consumption of LMP1 cars dramatically

since 2012, he has his eyes set on the future regulations and maintaining the ACO’s position as a leader in the introduction of new technology in racing.

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.

Alternative thinking It’s an ambitious target, but the ACO has a flexible regulation set that it believes will encourage young engineers with disruptive technology ideas to experiment over a long distance race. Using such opportunities as ‘Garage 56’ that sit outside the traditional regulation set and which in the past has seen the Nissan Deltawing and the Nissan Zeod compete, he hopes that new technologies such as synthetic fuels will find their way into Le Mans and accelerate alternative thinking for the cars that we drive every day.

However, it is not only on track that the development will take place. A week before the Le Mans 24 hours 2020, Fillon sat down with Racecar Engineering to discuss this incredible technical era, the future, and the forthcoming edition of this great race.

Are you happy with the hybrid era of Le Mans, and what is the future of the Le Mans regulations? In the past the LMP1 category has been a test bed of technology and is it now, or in the next ten years, going to be an attractive place for young engineers?

‘If we speak about hybrid, we started to work on [the regulation set] in 2008 and introduced the technology in 2012. With this technology we said [we wanted cars to use] 30 per cent less fuel, and in ten years we have saved 50 per cent of fuel. At the time we were discussing and introducing the technology, few people were speaking about the environment, less than today so it was a good vision for the ACO to work on that. I think it has accelerated the maturity of this technology, and today it is being introduced in other race series such as rallying, and today most of our cars are fitted with hybrid. It is a good step towards massive electrification for the future.

‘I am sure that Le Mans has played its role in the development for road cars, so for me I am happy with hybrid. Of course, it was expensive, but that was because it was Porsche, Audi, Toyota and Nissan and 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

Racecar Engineering • Le Mans 2020 13

INTERVIEW | PIERRE FILLON, ACO PRESIDENT two different hybrid systems [kinetic and heat recovery systems] which is not the case on road cars, but I am sure that it has accelerated the introduction in road cars.’

in the medium term and hydrogen is a solution as are batteries. For the category for the gentlemen drivers and privateers we can use this neutral fuel in the short term.’

In Britain there is a target of a ban on sale of diesel and petrol by 2035, and then the government also included hybrid in that ban. What is your opinion of that?

‘I think it is not realistic in the short term.

[We are working on] neutral fuel, which is when you remove the CO2 when you produce the fuel, or at least the sum [of the emission output] is zero. We are working on this technology. In motorsport it is a good option to have all electric, or all hydrogen technology, and in 2023/4 we want to have zero CO2 in motorsport.

‘We have measured our carbon for the 24-hour race, and 70 per cent of our output comes from the spectators. After that, most of the rest is the competitors with their shuttles and so on. The race on the track is only 1.4 per cent [of the total CO2 emissions].

Motorsport does not produce more CO2 than the Olympic Games or the World Cup. We need to have zero emission motorsport

What do you see in the next ten years for the Le Mans regulations?

‘We are working on having zero emissions by 2030 and we want to promote for the spectators the use of hybrid and electric cars, and parking closer to the track if you use an electric car or something like that.

We have to think about incentives to reduce the CO2 produced. Our plan for June next year is that we should have hydrogen shuttles for the spectators to go from the paddock to Mulsanne or Indianapolis.’

Is there a plan to introduce another category, based on Garage 56, that you take an LMP3 chassis with free choice of power unit, and it is developed with alternative fuel or propulsion system?

‘Garage 56 is completely open. We have several projects in the pipeline and if someone wants to come with an LMP3 with a biofuel, or a battery, it is possible.

We will speak about only one name for the category and two options for entry For me, the synthetic fuel is important for the future because even if we have hydrogen we need to develop the [idea of ] zero emission CO2, and by 2024 hydrogen is the only way. But, we will continue to have LMP2, LMP3 and GT and it is important that this category use some neutral fuel. ‘ Looking at this Le Mans weekend, you will announce the final rules set for LMDh and LMH. Can we just agree to call it a Global Prototype?

‘We want to have a global name for this category. We will speak about only one name for the category and two options for entry, to build their car or buy it and introduce engine and aero. For the next five years we will have a ‘global prototype’ story and most of the cars will be equipped with 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

14 Le Mans 2020 • Racecar Engineering

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INTERVIEW | PIERRE FILLON, ACO PRESIDENT continue to develop our Mission H24 project.

Hydrogen is top of all the investment of a lot of countries, including Germany which will invest €9bn, and France fortunately announced last week that it will invest €7bn to develop the hydrogen technology, so this is a good choice. We have been working on this technology for three years now, and I think that this is a good direction.

‘There will be an announcement about the evolution of the LMP3 and Mission H24 [at Le Mans in 2020], and will announce a new partner. In Formula E you have all the same technology [for all competitors], but in Le Mans in 2024/25 you will have a battle between classic technology, including hybrid and hydrogen, and it will be interesting.’

On the grid this year there are very few car makers. Has Le Mans lost its diversity?

‘It is true that this year we have a low number but this is just now. If you look to the future, you will have Glickenhaus, Kolles, Peugeot is coming back, other brands are working on a return in 2022 and 2023, so I think we will continue to have a balance between chassis manufacturers and constructors like Ligier, ORECA and so on. We can have other ones in LMH, for

example like Ginetta. It is open for them.

I think we will continue to have a balance between the small manufacturers, artisans if you like, and the larger manufacturers.’

The awarding of one tyre contract for a category was for balance of performance purposes, but motor racing is competition.

To remove that you remove the essence of racing. What is the reason for awarding these tyre contracts to single makers?

‘Four years ago never would I have accepted to have a balance of performance in the top category. I agree that the competition is the competition, but the world has changed and you have to move with the world. You have to choose between spending a lot of money, and the manufacturers who spend the most are likely to win, and you cannot continue to spend so much money. This is now finished.

Maybe in the future it will come back but at this time it is impossible not to reduce the cost. Motorsport would disappear.

‘If you want to attract manufacturers, you need a lot of fans for a return on investment, young people and a new generation, so you have to deal with the environmental issue, reduce the costs and give small and big manufacturers the same chance

to win. This is balance of performance.

Unfortunately we have no choice.’

When we had in the past Dome, Courage, ORECA, we had variety and yet the grids were still full. You have a larger grid now so more cars to accommodate, but would it not be better to have variety on the grid, whatever the size?

‘For me it is just a question of cost. To develop a chassis is very expensive and you cannot design a chassis and build three or four cars and run at Le Mans. It is too expensive. With the new LMP2 right now most of the cars are ORECA and I hope that the next generation of LMP2 you will have more than one of the four.’

We have written in Racecar Engineering about the increase in spec hybrid systems in other forms of racing such as the British Touring Car Championship. Will you introduce that into LMP2 and have all of your prototypes as hybrids?

‘It will be a question of cost. In LMDh you will have a spec hybrid system. If we are able to have the LMP2 cars at the same price as today but fitted with 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

16 Le Mans 2020 • Racecar Engineering

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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

18 Le Mans 2020 • Racecar Engineering

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

Racecar Engineering • Le Mans 2020 19

ENDURANCE | LMDH

E

arlier this year, the ACO and IMSA announced they had completed their assessment into the global platform prototype and early in May unveiled the first details of the programme.

Labelled at Daytona in January as ‘LMDh’ for Le Mans Daytona (the h has yet to be defined), the minimum weight has been fixed at 1,030kg and maximum power output defined at 500kW. These two parameters ran hand in hand earlier in the process, so it was natural to keep them in step. The hybrid system for the LMDh category appears to be relatively tame, housed on the rear axle only, although the effect on overall lap time is anything but. Offer any racing team an extra 30kW of power for the full lap and they will gladly accept it.

These details have taken a long time to arrive, and the path to this conclusion has been anything but straightforward, due to complications introduced by the FIA mid-negotiation that skewed the pitch and left manufacturers and technical working groups in total disarray as plan after plan was introduced.

World in motion The original concept was that the ACO, FIA and IMSA organisations produce a global platform car that could compete in the key

races of the US-based IMSA series, including Daytona, Sebring, Watkins Glen and the Petit Le Mans, as well as the key race from the FIA World Endurance Championship; the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Such a programme would offer a huge return on investment for both teams and manufacturers and would have allowed manufacturers to make a solid case to their board members to build cars. Things were progressing nicely until, inexplicably, the ACO, along with its partner, the FIA, veered off course and headed down the road of Hypercar.

ACO representatives had turned up at Daytona in January 2018 and explained the low-cost concept, as covered in RE V28N4. The idea was for a rear axle-only hybrid, perhaps a maximum of 4MJ storage capacity, and lower power delivery for a longer period of time than the short, sharp delivery of the current LMP1 hybrids.

The reasoning behind it was sound.

The move away from four-wheel drive (removing KERS from the front axle), highpower hybrids was logical cost saving.

Having a low-power hybrid system would also interest the US teams more than a

Hyper ventilate The Hypercar regulations catered to the highest possible technology at a time when, particularly in the US, manufacturers had already reached the conclusion that the hybrid era was too expensive for endurance racing and the technology could be outdated. Hypercar was for extreme cars that were capable of achieving a target lap time at Le Mans of 3m15s. To the FIA this seemed modest. Estimated

The move away from four-wheel drive, highpower 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

20 Le Mans 2020 • Racecar Engineering

high-power one and the manufacturers involved, including Mazda, Acura and Cadillac, accepted that hybridisation was a necessary technology to tempt in more manufacturers such as Ford and BMW. Come March of that year, however, the FIA and ACO arrived in Sebring and announced they were sticking with highpower hybrid systems, four-wheel drive and a targeted €30m (approx. US$32.6m) price tag. Following a presentation of the rules at Château Élan in Sebring, the paddock was stunned and IMSA vowed to press on with what it considered the right way forward on its own path.

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ENDURANCE | LMDH budgets for Audi and Porsche were closer to €200 million (approx. US$217.2m) at the height of the hybrid war, but to the 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 technology. Some wanted to go non-hybrid, some wanted a road car base, some wanted mild hybridisation. As a result, the ACO and FIA caved and allowed all concepts: hybrid prototype; non-hybrid prototype; hybrid road car and non-hybrid road car.

Glickenhaus and ByKolles announced their participation in Hypercar alongside Toyota, but the Holy Grail was a new manufacturer, and in Aston Martin they had it. The Valkyrie programme was confirmed at Le Mans in 2019 and it seemed to put the FIA and ACO back into a powerful position in their ongoing battle for supremacy to create the global car.

In November 2018, the ACO and FIA’s position was further strengthened by the announcement that Peugeot would also join Hypercar. The announcement from the French came just a week before it announced it was withdrawing from the World Rally Championship. The two announcements were clearly linked, but even the FIA admitted Peugeot’s announcement was a surprise.

Game changer Aston Martin then suspended its Hypercar programme earlier this year. This was not a surprise, but it weakened the FIA’s hand. That hand was further weakened when, at the opening round of the IMSA series at Daytona, the US organisation announced its next generation prototype would be labelled LMDh, and its cars would be allowed to race in the top category at Le Mans. This was a game changer.

This is a global platform car, continues to be based on the LMP2 chassis with manufacturer engine installation, aero and styling and will continue to be a cheap form of motorsport. Le Mans was the cherry on 22 Le Mans 2020 • Racecar Engineering

Jean Todt (left) with former ACO president, Jean-Claude Plassart, at the signing to begin the FIA WEC at Le Mans in 2011

the cake. Shortly after the first details of the LMDh regulations were confirmed in the media in May, the FIA announced that it would bring its Hypercar parameters into line with the US rules. Weight is reduced from 1,100kg to 1,030kg, and power dropped from 585kW to 500kW.

Power up The FIA’s announcement in mid-May of this year signalled the third change in engine regulations for Hypercar. Its original concept was for around 600bhp, plus a powerful hybrid system, but with the Valkyrie road car producing more than 1,000bhp, reducing its output to fall in line with the others was not viable. Toyota, Glickenhaus and ByKolles all agreed to increase their ICE power output to more than 700bhp.

Toyota was rumoured to have been working on a four-cylinder engine, but abandoned that idea in order to reach the higher power output required to compete with the Aston Martin. Likewise, Glickenhaus abandoned his plan to modify a Ferrari 488 engine and instead went with Pipo Moteurs to produce a twin turbo V8, essentially two four-cylinder inline engines mated. These decisions were taken before the announcement of LMDh in January.

The LMDh plan retained the power output target of 600bhp engines as there was no need to change. The plans were largely driven by the manufacturers already involved in IMSA while others

including Hyundai were also believed to be at the table with a view to joining the US series regulations. Ferrari, Porsche and Lamborghini are all closely eyeing the finalised LMDh regulations, and at least Porsche has confirmed its board has already ordered a concept study based upon them.

On the Hypercar table sits Toyota with Peugeot, Glickenhaus and ByKolles, plus other as yet un-named manufacturers, but thought to include Mercedes and Honda.

Ferrari is also looking at these regulations closely as it wants to build its own chassis, as well as engine, although may have to go for the low-cost LMDh option if it goes at all.

At 600bhp, it seems highly likely the current US engine manufacturers will not need to build entirely new power units, although there are still some final details to be finalised before they push the green button.

The impact of LMDh on Hypercar was already large but, when Aston Martin stopped the development of its Valkyrie competition car, the regulations took on even more importance. Here was the chance to have a car on a low budget and, if performance balancing could be agreed upon, one that could race at Le Mans.

This set of regulations were supposed to have been released at Sebring in March, but the coronavirus scuppered that plan. Virtual meetings replaced those that were planned face-to-face and the regulations have now been distributed to manufacturers.

‘It was not easy to find a balanced working point between the US and Europe’ 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 manufacturers: take an existing chassis, gearbox, electronics and hybrid system, fit your own engine and develop an aero kit from there, or build a ground-up prototype to your exact specification. Both concepts will be performance balanced and both will compete at the key races around the world.

Power down The LMDh hybrid power output is the topic of contention, very low compared to the systems developed for Porsche, Toyota and Audi. The old LMP1 hybrid systems had a power output artificially limited to 300kW and incredible energy recovery systems were created, both KERS and exhaust driven.

Under the new regulations, power output will be limited to one tenth of that figure, just 30kW but, rather than spend all the power in one go on acceleration, it will be distributed around the lap more liberally.

24 Le Mans 2020 • Racecar Engineering

The hybrid system will come from a single supplier, yet to be named, and few other details are available. It has been unofficially confirmed that the system will be high voltage, of the order of 600800V to help keep its weight down.

‘If you look at it, it is not such a mild hybrid,’ says ORECA’s technical director, David Floury. ‘It looks like it is because its power output seems low if you compare it to a current system, but that boosts at 300kW only for a fraction of time at the exit of the corner and then you are only on the IC. Here, the hybrid system is going to boost all around the lap as soon as you have full throttle. It is a different situation. At the end of the day, the MGU will be capable of much more power capacity because of the regen’ side.

‘The battery and [energy] saving of the MGU is still quite high, but the idea is the IC power is limited to more or less what is

in DPi [Daytona Prototype international] to limit the cost on this side. The hybrid system is a top up of the IC. A low-voltage system would have been 30kW but only for five seconds or so, and it would have been mild. This is boosting all the time.’

Clearly, there will have been a major discussion with Toyota that has developed another powerful hybrid system.

Regenerating energy from the front axle is, argued Toyota, the most efficient method of doing so, and certainly large amounts of energy can be collected from a frontmounted KERS. However, power delivery back to the front axle, and the resultant occasional four-wheel-drive capability, is more complicated and expensive than a rear-mounted system only.

Before Aston Martin committed to the regulations, an agreement was reached whereby an old rule resurfaced.

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 dry, and at a higher speed in the wet.

Performance balancing is going to be a headache for the governing bodies.

Production identity The performance balancing system has long been clearly defined, although the details have taken time to confirm, and again it is IMSA that has led the way with designing its process. Drag and power limits are placed on the basic car and tested in the wind tunnel and on the dyno. Cars are then balanced, which means the roadcar styling departments can have limited impact on aero performance. What comes out in the final product is a prototype that is identifiable to its production car cousins.

Engine characteristics have proven harder to manage, particularly in the case of Cadillac and its large capacity V8 engine that has led IMSA to delve even into the length

of its gears to reduce performance, allowing Acura and Mazda to compete without having to out-spend their American rivals.

The cars are based on the next generation LMP2 cars, which are due for introduction into the WEC in 2023. LMDh cars will therefore come first, but at least the four chosen manufacturers – Ligier, Multimatic, Dallara and ORECA – are able to start design work on the new cars. ‘It will be a completely new car with different dimensions,’ says Floury. ‘Obviously you need to accommodate for the hybrid system.’

The road to these regulations has been rather simpler than others. Although Ford was known to have wanted a larger hybrid system and was driving the hybrid route in IMSA, there was consensus that the US teams and series did not want the complexity or costs.

The current DPi regulations are based on the existing LMP2 regulations

and there was no reason to change that concept. Key elements of the car are fixed, such as the gearbox, braking system, clutch and chassis. They are homologated for five years and there is currently no plan to change that process.

IMSA will have this platform as its main category, but the organisation has accepted that Hypercars can race at its key race, the Daytona 24-hours, in January 2022. This measure is understood to have come from Glickenhaus, who wants to race his Hypercar on home soil.

Further tracks will accept the Hypercars once the BoP has been established.

Here to stay As yet, there is no clear reason why manufacturers cannot mix and match their cars. Ferrari could, for example, build its own chassis, engine and body, while taking IMSA’s hybrid system and reduce the need Racecar Engineering • Le Mans 2020 25

ENDURANCE | LMDH for expensive development in this area. This possibility will increase the attractiveness of Hypercar to a manufacturer, although costs will certainly be different between the two.

‘There will be a difference, but it is difficult to know the gap between the two,’ says ORECA managing director, Hugues de Chaunac. ‘I don’t know the budget of Hypercar, but there will be a big gap. When a car manufacturer is spending money, they always spend more than a private team. It is difficult to say for the moment because the cost to have a competitive car, and to have a top-level car, in Hypercar [is high]. To have [a Hypercar] is one thing but to have a top car with everything free on the hybrid system, for instance, it can cost a [lot]. This is defined in the LMDh. You cannot spend a lot on each component.’

Car architecture The LMDh chassis will be designed with compromises as it is primarily a customerbased chassis. ‘You should be in a position to accommodate all types of engines, so you have to make provision for a non-stressed engine,’ confirms Floury, who will now start work on the ORECA LMDh / LMP2 car. ‘We are

designing the spine and the car architecture, doing some simulation work and working on the aero. We don’t have all the styling input from the OEMs, but it is good to prepare for the future. At the moment we are more in a conceptual stage than fine-tuning stage.’

Deals have been struck with Michelin for both series. IMSA is near the start of a 10-year deal for its series in the US, the WEC signed its deal with Michelin after succumbing to pressure from its partner manufacturers. One tyre will be for the four-wheel-drive Hypercar, a second option will be available for the twowheel-drive Hypercar, as well as for the LMDh cars, reducing the amount of development and cost for the teams and the tyre partner.

Costs are aimed low enough that customer teams can afford to represent manufacturers in both series. A common figure for the current privateer LMP1 cars were around €4-6million (approx.

US$4.35-6.52m) per car, while the manufacturer budgets were far higher.

This is widely accepted as a common cost for manufacturers in IMSA, while the privateers run on less money, although are finding it increasingly difficult to raise funds. ‘It has been a very efficient process,

‘[With] the same development, you can race in the US, Europe and at Le Mans’ David Floury

all credit to the ACO and IMSA,’ says Floury.

‘It was not easy to find a balanced working point between the US and Europe and, at the end of the day, it is successful and good for the sport because LMDh is good value for money and a good way to reduce the budget. You can now go and win Le Mans with probably ten times less budget than 2014, and this is quite efficient with a global platform. And [with] the same development, you can race in the US, Europe and at Le Mans, which is brilliant. In the post-COVID situation, this a good package.’

Logical step ‘As these technical regulations will attest, LMDh is a logical and appropriate next step to follow the successful Daytona Prototype international (DPi) in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship,’ commented IMSA president, John Doonan. ‘The LMDh will retain many attributes that led to the success of DPi, but the addition of relevant technologies and the convergence of regulations with the ACO opens the door for more manufacturers to participate in the future. We could not be more proud of 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 thrashed out in the final set of regulations that are intended for publication at Le Mans. Until then, the signs are positive for the global platform prototype category.

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

26 Le Mans 2020 • Racecar Engineering

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

28 Le Mans 2020 • Racecar Engineering

A

The R8 firmly established Audi in endurance racing

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 Audi. BMW continued in private hands, but it was a shock to the system after the drama and excitement of 1999.

Audi had contested the 1999 race and 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.

Racecar Engineering • Le Mans 2020 29

RACECAR FOCUS | AUDI R8 Audi had flirted with the idea of running a GT1 car at the height of the FIA GT Championship when Porsche, Mercedes and BMW (through McLaren) were contesting this new global series in 1997. However, despite a presentation from Richard Lloyd with a complete car design, the decision was taken by Audi management to instead go to prototype racing at Le Mans with an all-new, carbon fibre tub car designed in-house at Audi Sport.

Short cut Audi knew that it needed to take short cuts to the top and buy in experience. The appointment of Team Joest was logical.

The team had won Le Mans in 1984 and 1985 with the privateer Porsche 956, and again in 1996 and 1997 with the Porsche WSC. The team was available to take on the project to win Le Mans with Audi and had the expertise the manufacturer needed.

However, the first prototype was due to be delivered in 1998, and Audi management had reservations that this deadline would be achieved. Audi bought a factory in Norfolk, England that had the facilities required to build a prototype,

The 3.6-litre V8 was the manufacturer’s first dedicated race engine since the 1930s and the decision was taken to spread the bet and build two versions of the R8.

Racing Technology Norfolk (rtn) was an early version of Toyota’s TMG facility in Cologne and Toyota Team TOM’s had run out of this factory for years before Audi acquired it. However, the R8R programme was nine months into a difficult development programme when Audi bought the facility so there was no option to switch the programme to the UK factory. Instead, when Dr Franz-Josef Paefgen, chairman of the Board of Management of Audi AG, aired concerns about the German team delivering on time, rtn was commissioned to develop a closed car, the R8C, alongside the German open-top prototype.

‘It was the first time this group of people [in Audi Sport] made a prototype from zero,’ admits Wolfgang Ullrich, then head of Audi Motorsport, of the R8R programme. ‘ [Chief designer] Wolfgang Appel had done a lot of different things before, but nothing like this.

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

30 Le Mans 2020 • Racecar Engineering

‘There was competition, and at the end we made both concepts. The R8R was a concept we started first, and then we said okay, by the rule book maybe you are better with a closed car.

‘When the game started with Le Mans, I had a group of people that, up until then, had always been taking a raw bodywork from the production line to make a racecar out of it. They had never before done a white sheet of paper, or monocoque design.

‘Dr Paefgen thought maybe [we wouldn’t be able to] make it, and I announced very loudly in Berlin that we were there to win it in the first year! To which he said, “We should take experienced people from England.”’

Double top Even more memorably, this was the first time one manufacturer had entered two prototype concepts, LMP for open cockpit cars and LM GTP for closed cars. At Le Mans 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.

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 V8 engine produced by Ulrich Baretzky, Audi Sport’s head of engine technology, but there was a crucial difference in the drivetrains of the two concepts. The R8R ran with a Ricardo gearbox, the R8C with Xtrac.

While Audi Sport UK pressed ahead with its car in isolation, the Audi R8R that was being developed in Germany bore a striking resemblance to the Ferrari 333SP, having based its design on the already successful model. It was similar enough to the Ferrari that the team called it the Ingolstadt Ferrari.

The basic packaging of the car saw the positioning of the radiators and the double roll hoop a carry-over from the Ferrari, although the finer details, such as the front suspension pick-up points, were different.

The radiator at the front was clearly an issue in the first test at Sebring. ‘Emmanuele Pirro drove the car and complained at the heat coming into the cockpit,’ remembers Ullrich. ‘I told him that the Ferrari had run like that for years and no driver had been grilled, but he was not amused. He came into the pit lane in Sebring and made a sign for me to come over to the car and said I

should drive it down the pit lane and back to the tent. I did it and for sure it was warm, but in Spa I think they would have asked for this heating. Not at Sebring, though.’

Teething problems The R8R was pronounced ready to run at Sebring in March 1999 but, with such a new programme, there were teething problems in testing. The strength of some of the carbon fibre parts commissioned from various companies in Germany were found to be inadequate.

‘The R8R was flexing on the front so much, we were testing in Daytona at the end of 1998 and there was a Riley and Scott private team that were pit in, and we were pit out,’ remembers Team Joest’s technical director, Ralf Juttner. ‘Michele [Alboreto] always pitted complaining that the car was vibrating like hell. We tried using wires to hold the splitter lip, but over 250km/h everything was flexing. Once, on the radio he said he was coming past the pits and for us to watch. The thing was flexing.

‘Watching the car going down to the first corner, we had a team of 30 or 40 engineers,

all in Audi red, and the privateer team were just four. They watched the car as well and, as it went into turn one, they turned to us and applauded. It was so embarrassing.’

Joest had already worked with David Price at Surrey, UK-based DPS Composites on its 962 and WSC car and knew the company was capable of producing the quality of parts needed to make the R8R work properly. As this version of the R8R was left clearly wanting, a secret design was commissioned. It involved a whole new front end that fitted within the original bodywork but improved airflow and strength.

‘A designer we knew very well made a new design of the front end, including the splitter, the nose and the radiator, ducting, radiator mounts and fixation, but with the same aero,’ recalls Juttner.

‘Dr Ullrich knew about it, but the design department didn’t. The underfloor was all the same, but the mounting was different, and this time it was designed for stiffness, built by [David Price at] DPS. ‘At one stage in the programme we mounted the new parts to the car and 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

Racecar Engineering • Le Mans 2020 31

RACECAR FOCUS | AUDI R8 We showed them what a difference it made, even though the shape was the same, just much stiffer, and that changed their approach, but I remember it led to a little bit of friction at the time.’

Race debut The endurance racing programme was a steep learning curve for Audi’s motorsport department, but with the challenges faced in preparing the car now either in progress or solved, it was time to go racing.

Sebring in March 1999 saw the debut of the new car, but the bumpy Florida circuit is unforgiving and ambient temperatures, even at that time of year, are usually high.

‘It was jumping and was a pig, it was ridiculous,’ remembers Juttner. ‘We really felt for the drivers, but the biggest issue that year was the reliability of the gearbox.

The car that finished third at Sebring, with Michele Alboreto, Dindo Capello and Stefan Johansson, ran the last few hours with only two or three gears.

‘When we opened the gearbox after the race, it was like a blown-up pinball table.

We were lucky to finish at all, but we did complete the race and that was good.’

Understandably, the team went to Le Mans in June that year with trepidation. Throughout testing, the gearboxes had problems, and the team knew it was unlikely to get through the whole 24 hours without issue.

‘When we approached Sebring in 1999, we had experienced massive problems with gearboxes in testing, and it was always dog-ring failures, nothing to do with the drivers or the electronics,’ says Juttner.

‘We had a guy in Bavaria who had made a pneumatic system for bikes and he knew [Audi designer] Wolfgang Appel. He came up with a system for the R8R. We had it at a test and it was a disaster. We had new 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.

‘We were pretty sure we wouldn’t make [the finish] with the system we had, 32 Le Mans 2020 • Racecar Engineering

so there was a question of what to do.

We had to try something and, looking at it now, it was the right decision.’

R8 interim The cars ran at Le Mans in 1999 and finished third and fourth, but the design of the next car, an all-new R8, was already well underway and by the end of the year it was ready to start testing. A new quickchange rear end had been designed but Joest had to make use of the R8R once again to put miles on this new back end.

‘When we went to the R8, we went to test at Sebring and here at Joest we had built a mule, an interim car, which was the chassis of the R8R but with the rear end of the new Audi R8,’ explains Juttner. ‘That was not that easy, though, because in the R8 the engine was fully stressed, whereas the R8R had a subframe. We had to modify the R8R chassis to take engine mounts that in this situation had never been designed to take the loads. In the fuel cell we had tubes and all sorts, but it all worked as it should although it didn’t conform to regulations.

‘The R8 interim car was already so much better than the R8R. [Team Joest chief engineer] Jo Hausner said we should put the same springs and dampers in the car that we had in the race in 1999 [for back-to-back testing] and Tom [Kristensen] did his first test with us with Audi at that time. He was selected by Mr Hausner to sit in the car and jump around the Sebring circuit. We had decided to give the car to the new guy to lose his teeth, but to our surprise the handling wasn’t that bad.’

The second R8 became available for the race, and the team was then complete.

Kristensen, who had won Le Mans in 1999 for BMW, was placed alongside the established Touring Car stars Biela and Pirro while Allan McNish, winner for Porsche in 1998, lined up alongside Alboreto and Capello. The two Audis started on the front row of the grid and finished the race in first and second position after completing more than 1,300 miles and setting a fastest race lap 1.5s quicker than the previous record.

Despite the convincing one-two position, the two R8s did not have a perfect race.

Biela lost time when he accidentally turned off the electronics switch, while Alboreto suffered a puncture that damaged the front bodywork. However, the main issue was the brakes. Biela stopped after eight hours for a three-minute bleed of the brakes, handing the lead to McNish. The Scot continued without bleeding the brakes and, with Capello, led in the last hour.

Brake dancing Light rain and fading brake pressure caused the Italian to do a half spin, which was enough to bring the sister car within striking distance. ‘The car’s brakes were worsening, and Emanuele [Pirro] was going very well in the other Audi. With just 20 minutes remaining, he went ahead of us,’ said McNish at the time.

There was much work to do on the cars post-Sebring. The brake issue was partly to do with the bumps around the track, but the team also strengthened the uprights and hubs ready for Le Mans and changed the brake seals and fluid to prevent the same thing happening again.

Le Mans demands less of the brakes than Sebring, but Audi was taking

‘It was jumping and was a pig, it was ridiculous’ Team Joest technical director, Ralf Juttner

At Sebring in 1999 the R8R made its race debut, but was plagued with gearbox problems, leading the team to experiment with a pneumatic gearshift system

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RACECAR FOCUS | AUDI R8

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 race, the R8R was put back into service.

‘The drivers that knew the interim car from the test wanted to have that car for the races, but we only had one car, so who should have it?’ recalls Juttner.

‘It was not legal anyway because of all the changes inside the fuel cell and so on, but they really wanted to race it!’

While the open prototype had found some kind of favour with the team, the R8C had a different future ahead of it.

The Volkswagen Audi Group had by then developed its W12 engine and wanted to race it, and the rtn team in the UK had a car

The new R8… was a step change in design concept

34 Le Mans 2020 • Racecar Engineering

With a new tub, layout, weight distribution and aero, the 2000-era R8 was a brand new racecar

that the Group thought could be adapted to take the engine. Ultimately, the changes required to accommodate the cooling, already marginal with a 3.6-litre turbo V8 but impossible to achieve with a 6.0-litre W12, meant it was cheaper and quicker to design a new car to accommodate the engine. The R8C was therefore parked while a new car was designed and built, though ultimately it never ran with the W12 engine. Although the engine bay was large enough to take it, the engine was shelved after a test in the back of a Lola.

The new car then sat with no engine and no future until it was fitted with the same 3.6-litre V8 twin turbo that had been used in the R8C in 1999, was painted green, and went on to compete at Le Mans in 2001 as the Bentley EXP Speed 8, forerunner to the all-new Speed 8 in 2003.

The R8 meanwhile, took its first win at Le Mans in 2000, the three cars taking the first three positions overall and the car went on to a glittering career on both sides of the Atlantic defining an era of Sportscar racing and changing Audi’s sporting profile forever.

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