North Bend, WA -- They say you can't tell a horse without a program -- and the same is true at The 24 Hours of Le Mans, where there are four classes of cars and nearly 50 cars screaming around the 8.48 mile track. So while this should have been one of the first articles, let's look at the classes, what constitutes each class and the winners at the 75th running of this famous race.
LMP1: LMP stands for Le Mans Prototype 1. These cars are among the most expensive race cars in the world, behind only those on the Formula One circuit. (Note: At left you see the Peugeot LMP1) They are sophisticated tigers of speed with the latest in technology (meaning aerodynamics to help them stick to the road) that allow them to attack the famed Circuit De Sarthe. They must weight a minimum of 1982 pounds (that 925 kilograms in euro-speak) and can be powered by several different flavors of engines, including 6,000 cc for naturally aspirated, 4,000 cc for supercharged or turbocharged engines, and 5,500 cc for supercharged or turbocharged diesel engines. This is the class where the fastest cars and normally the overall winners are found, given their larger engines and the ability to use all of that horsepower on this long course. These cars with their specially built chassis, and bodies that look pretty zoomy and turn laps that average over 160 mph for a lap. The bodies can either be open cockpit like the Audis or closed cockpit like Peugeots (though this will change in 2010 where all cars are mandated to be closed cockpit designs.)This year is was basically a race between Audi and Peugeot and although the Peugeot set the fast time in qualifying, when the white flag dropped and the race started, the Audi dominanted the Peugeots (more on that later.)
LMP2: This is the little brother to the LPM1 -- Le Mans Prototype 2 is lighter with smaller engines; Minimum weight is 1652 pounds (or 675 kilograms) and the displacement for the engines is 3400 cc for naturally aspirated engines, 2,000 cc for supercharged or turbocharged engines. While the LMP1 may run engines with any number of cylinders, the LMP2 can run a maximum of eight cylinders. As you can see from the picture at the left, unless you know what to look for it is difficult to to tell a LMP2 from a LMP1 just by looking at the car. So make sure you get a program first thing. While on the Le Mans course where horsepower is at a premium and the LMP1 cars tend to dominate, on shorter and tighter tracks where handling is as important as speed, LMP2 cars have been known to win these events.
GT1: GT Stands for Grand Touring (from the Italian Grand Tourisimo) and basically is a car that is based on production car, meaning that the car must be street legal when it comes from the manufacturer. (At left is the Aston Martin factory car that was driven in part by David Brabham.) It also must have at least two doors that are functional. GT1 rules are for cars that are produced at the rate of one car a month. For normally aspirated engines these cars can have a maximum of 8,000 cc and for supercharged or turbocharged engines the engines can be a maximum of 4,000 cc. Eight for the cars depends on the engine used but is normally between 1125 and 1325 kilograms (in American that would be between 2475 pounds and 2915 pounds.)
GT2: This class of cars is for larger manufacturers and the production run rate is a minimum of one car a week. To be honest I am not really sure the difference between GT1 and GT2 -- but it appears to be how big the car manufacturer of the vehicle is; there is nothing that really spells it out, although I am sure that the ACO thinks the rules are quite clear. At left is the Ferrari F 430 which according the program is a GT2 car. Other GT2 cars are the Porsche 911, and the Panoz Esperante.
This class was won by a Porsche 911, number 76, that completed 320 laps. At left is the winner racing down the front straight with the Audi LMP1 car. The car was driving by Frenchman Raymond Narac, an Austrian, Richard Lietz, and an American, Patrick Long. It was the first win for all three drivers.
There are four main classes at the 24 Hours of Le Mans designated by the following:
LMP1: LMP stands for Le Mans Prototype 1. These cars are among the most expensive race cars in the world, behind only those on the Formula One circuit. (Note: At left you see the Peugeot LMP1) They are sophisticated tigers of speed with the latest in technology (meaning aerodynamics to help them stick to the road) that allow them to attack the famed Circuit De Sarthe. They must weight a minimum of 1982 pounds (that 925 kilograms in euro-speak) and can be powered by several different flavors of engines, including 6,000 cc for naturally aspirated, 4,000 cc for supercharged or turbocharged engines, and 5,500 cc for supercharged or turbocharged diesel engines. This is the class where the fastest cars and normally the overall winners are found, given their larger engines and the ability to use all of that horsepower on this long course. These cars with their specially built chassis, and bodies that look pretty zoomy and turn laps that average over 160 mph for a lap. The bodies can either be open cockpit like the Audis or closed cockpit like Peugeots (though this will change in 2010 where all cars are mandated to be closed cockpit designs.)This year is was basically a race between Audi and Peugeot and although the Peugeot set the fast time in qualifying, when the white flag dropped and the race started, the Audi dominanted the Peugeots (more on that later.)
LMP2: This is the little brother to the LPM1 -- Le Mans Prototype 2 is lighter with smaller engines; Minimum weight is 1652 pounds (or 675 kilograms) and the displacement for the engines is 3400 cc for naturally aspirated engines, 2,000 cc for supercharged or turbocharged engines. While the LMP1 may run engines with any number of cylinders, the LMP2 can run a maximum of eight cylinders. As you can see from the picture at the left, unless you know what to look for it is difficult to to tell a LMP2 from a LMP1 just by looking at the car. So make sure you get a program first thing. While on the Le Mans course where horsepower is at a premium and the LMP1 cars tend to dominate, on shorter and tighter tracks where handling is as important as speed, LMP2 cars have been known to win these events.Winner of LMP2 class in 2007 was the Pescarolo Sport team that was just a lap behind the Peugeot when the checkered flag dropped. It would have been interesting to see if the Pescarolo team could have overcome the Peugeot team has there been better weather at the end of the race.
GT1: GT Stands for Grand Touring (from the Italian Grand Tourisimo) and basically is a car that is based on production car, meaning that the car must be street legal when it comes from the manufacturer. (At left is the Aston Martin factory car that was driven in part by David Brabham.) It also must have at least two doors that are functional. GT1 rules are for cars that are produced at the rate of one car a month. For normally aspirated engines these cars can have a maximum of 8,000 cc and for supercharged or turbocharged engines the engines can be a maximum of 4,000 cc. Eight for the cars depends on the engine used but is normally between 1125 and 1325 kilograms (in American that would be between 2475 pounds and 2915 pounds.)The winner of the GT1 class as in fact the very car pictured here, the Aston Martin 009, that finished with 343 laps. The Corvette was second in the class, a lap down to the Aston Martin with no chance of catching up at the end due to the caution flag that was flown during a portion of the last laps of the race.
GT2: This class of cars is for larger manufacturers and the production run rate is a minimum of one car a week. To be honest I am not really sure the difference between GT1 and GT2 -- but it appears to be how big the car manufacturer of the vehicle is; there is nothing that really spells it out, although I am sure that the ACO thinks the rules are quite clear. At left is the Ferrari F 430 which according the program is a GT2 car. Other GT2 cars are the Porsche 911, and the Panoz Esperante.
This class was won by a Porsche 911, number 76, that completed 320 laps. At left is the winner racing down the front straight with the Audi LMP1 car. The car was driving by Frenchman Raymond Narac, an Austrian, Richard Lietz, and an American, Patrick Long. It was the first win for all three drivers.
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