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American LeMans
ALMS: Sebring Winter Test Notebook
LMP equivalency regulations, Robertson’s rebuild, Atherton speaks on 2010 & Dyson’s No. 20 car to reappear?
John Dagys  |  Posted February 24, 2010   Sebring, FL
Dyson Racing is one of three LMP2 teams that used the 2008-specification rear wing at the test. (John Dagys)
LMP Equivalency Regulations Expected Soon

For prototype teams, it was one of the most talked about topics up and down pit road all week. With less than one month before the start of the Twelve Hours of Sebring and just 52 days until the second round at Long Beach, IMSA has yet to publish specific details on the starting points for each prototype competing in the combined LMP category this season.

In efforts to rekindle the epic battles for the overall win seen in years’ past, the Series announced plans last August to combine both LMP1 and LMP2 cars into a single category for 2010. Before formulating the starting points for its balance of performance, IMSA had to wait for the ACO to confirm its 2010 regulations before making any adjustments. With the ACO regs not being released until December, it put the folks at IMSA up against the clock.

“Everybody’s asking the same questions and wants to know the answers. If it were that easy, I would have had it sorted a month ago,” said Scot Elkins, IMSA’s VP of Operations. “But it’s not that easy. The [LMP2] rear wing, E85 equivalency and other things all play together. It’s not just one decision on one thing. It all ties together and that’s why it’s taking so long to get sorted out. The idea is to come out of this test exactly knowing where we’ll be at.”

Elkins confirmed to me that two technical bulletins - one for the specifications for all cars competing at Sebring and the other for the starting points for the combined LMP class, which debuts at Long Beach - will be released within the next week.

While there was a general sense of frustration up and down the paddock over the delay in announcing the starting points, most teams understood the circumstances IMSA is currently facing.

“Ideally we would have had [the starting point regulations] in October, but it’s difficult times for the economy,” said Patron Highcroft Racing team owner Duncan Dayton. “While it’s frustrating and somewhat disappointing, it’s practical in that you have to make sure all the different constituents are happy. We can’t afford to lose a single team, so it’s important that everyone has some sort of handle in the drafting of the rules.”

Despite being expected to conform to the full ACO rulebook at Sebring and Petit Le Mans, P2 teams were at the Winter Test this week with cars not in full compliance. For instance, Patron Highcroft Racing’s HPD ARX-01C, the Team Cytosport Porsche RS Spyder and Dyson Racing’s Lola B09/86 all ran with the 2008 specification 2-meter wide rear wing, which was only permitted last year in the ALMS per a waiver by IMSA.

Now, it appears IMSA will issue a new waiver for P2 teams wanting to run the full width rear wing as opposed to the 1.6-meter wide, in efforts to cut down on expenses. After all, it would have been a costly venture for teams like Dyson and Cytosport, who don’t have Le Mans entries, to upgrade to new aerodynamic packages, which could run up to $500,000 depending on the car.

“I think IMSA wants to keep the rules as stable as possible,” said Dyson Racing VP and sporting director Chris Dyson. “There’s really no need right now for people to start implementing rule changes and imposing requirements on the team that’s just going to add expense and not add to the spectacle.”
The Wirth Research-developed ARX-01C bodywork will be on Strakka Racing's HPD entry at the Le Mans Series Paul Ricard test on March 7-8. PHR expects to get their bodywork shortly after. (John Dagys)

But for teams like Patron Highcroft Racing, who will make the trip across the Atlantic for the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June, need to have a car in full ACO specification. And with pre-season testing completed in what’s believed to be close to IMSA spec, it leaves them without any solid track time with their car in full ACO trim.

While the team will not run their 2010-spec HPD ARX-01C bodywork at Sebring, Dayton is hopeful that IMSA will allow them to use the revised aerodynamic package, featuring the 1.6-meter rear wing, at Long Beach and Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in preparation for Le Mans.

“The thing that I don’t quite get is that the 1.6 meter rear wing is a disadvantage as far as cornering, so I don’t know why so many people are wound up about it,” Dayton said. “They don’t need to buy it because the wide rear wing is a performance advantage. We were proposing that we would get a weight break to run the smaller rear wing. Whether that happens or not, we’ll wait and see.”

The rear wing is just one piece in completing the balance of performance puzzle. IMSA can also adjust a car’s air restrictor, minimum weight and fuel capacity to help bring the P1 and P2 cars in line together. These changes are nothing new, as IMSA has handed down adjustments to cars in all categories for a number of years.

While P1 and P2 cars ran separately in 2008, they were effectively balanced to battle for the overall win. Five different driving squads from four teams and three manufacturers claimed overall victories that year, in what was some of the most exciting down-to-the-wire battles in all of road racing at the time. But the 2009 season brought further performance cutbacks in LMP2, mandated by the ACO, which spread the gap between the two categories again.

Prototype teams are excited at the prospect of getting back to that close racing, potentially by as soon as Long Beach when the combined category takes effect.

“I don’t envy [IMSA’s] position but I think the more problematic thing was actually separating the classes like they did last year,” Dyson said. “I think to try and re-institute what we had a couple of years ago is something that they’re really having to think hard about. The delay doesn’t help anybody, but at the same time you can understand.”
Team Cytosport didn't apply for an invite to Le Mans and will instead focus exclusively on the 2010 ALMS season. (John Dagys)

Elkins has been in constant communication with the ACO to come to an agreement on the waivers IMSA will likely issue for Sebring. He says it’s a necessity due to some of the Series’ differences. E85, for example, is not a permitted fuel choice at Le Mans or in the Le Mans Series, but is in the ALMS. Add that equation to P2 teams running full-width rear wings and other small differences, and it opens up a distinct number of variables.

“There’s still a few things we’re going to have to mix and match, even for Sebring under ‘ACO-spec’ we’re going to still have waivers for some of these cars because of how different things are here,” Elkins said. “We feel like we’re pretty sorted but just have to put a few final things back into place and then we’ll throw out a bulletin.”

Robertson’s Rebuild

When David Murry took the Robertson Racing Doran Ford GT-R onto the track for the first time Monday morning, it had marked the completion of a five-week-long rebuild of the car from the ground-up.

Last month, the mid-engined super car was totaled in an accident while competing in a club race at Sebring. The chassis was a complete write-off, and while it might have marked the end of the road for some teams, it didn’t stop the Dick Barbour Racing crew from getting a new car assembled in record time.

Within days of the accident, the team had acquired a new bare-bones chassis from Doran and began rebuilding the car at its Braselton, Ga. shop. It took the better part of four weeks to complete the build, with the transporter leaving last Saturday en route to Sebring for the two-day Winter Test.
Robertson Racing's Doran Ford GT-R was rebuilt around a brand-new Ford GT chassis. (John Dagys)

“We were able to build the car we wanted, plus make a few little reasonable changes,” said team manager Andrew ‘H’ Smith. “We moved the fuel [filler] and vent to the front of the car. When we had our accident, it crushed all of the fuel filler pipes in the back of the car. It got me thinking. If we’re going to crush fuel filler pipes, I rather have it be at the cold end of the car than the hot end. It also gives me one less person in pit lane, which makes things easier.”

The other major development is the car’s new swan-neck designed rear wing. Similar to the Acura ARX-02a and Jaguar XKRS, the major difference of the Robertson’s wing comes with the location of the supports. Instead of it wrapping around in the front, the wing attaches from the rear, with the philosophy of creating less aerodynamic resistance.

“In GT, you run the wing 50 millimeters forward of the rearward most point of the car, which allows you space to come around the back,” he explained of the design. “You take advantage of the fact that you don’t even split the air before it gets to the leading edge of the wing.

“I think Jaguar saw it and thought it was a great idea, but didn’t think it fully through, because if you come around the back where there’s space in GT, you can take advantage of exposing the whole of the underside to clean air, or as clean as it comes across the car.”

While Smith admitted the swan-neck design is unlikely to produce any massive gains on the race track, it certainly isn’t hurting the car’s performance or efficiency. Team co-owner/driver David Robertson was proud to point out the new development and confirmed the team is back for another full-season campaign.
Robertson Racing's revised rear wing. (John Dagys)

After a breakout 2009 season which saw David Murry claim the pole at Petit Le Mans and lead over 30 minutes of an Asian Le Mans Series race in Okayama, Japan, the team was approached by Ford Racing about the possibility of a future technical alliance. However, Robertson said that hasn’t panned out to its full potential yet.

The Robertson’s also haven’t lost hope on fielding a second car, granted the necessary funding comes together.

“I want to run two cars,” David said. “I want to run one and put some 20-something-year-old hot shoes, absolute pro drivers in one [car] and see what it can do. We really talked about how to do that, but I can’t come up with the money to do it.

“I’d still like to run us next year and run a second car. So we’re doing a lot to raise money, but you know how hard it is. If we succeed the way we want, we’ll do both of them next year. If we succeed halfway, we’ll be back [with one car] next year. If we don’t, we’ll probably do something fun and cheaper.”

But Robertson said the final option would only come as a last resort.

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