ACO President, Jean-Claude Plassart. (Photo: Jeff Bloxham/LAT Photographic) » More Photos
Cost control, a reduction in speeds, and parity amongst manufacturers and privateers were but a few of the topics discussed recently when I sat down with Jean-Claude Plassart, President of the Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO), and Technical Director Daniel Poissenot, the man tasked to with leading the sporting regulations for the ACO.
For an organization that prides itself in granting it’s competitors more freedom than can be found in any other major international series, the moral and practical dilemmas of how to promote innovation while restricting the rules and resources allowed is a job few would want to have. The future of prototype and GT racing appears to be further changing in ways that will account for the second generation of fuel and power innovations that were encouraged with the previous set of ACO rules in 2004. Diesels have since become the standard bearers for LMP1 performance, and alternative fuels that range from ‘clean diesel’ to E85 Ethanol are leading a move towards the ‘greening’ of sportscar racing thanks to the ACO.
Many of the changes in automotive technology—technology that manufacturers want to showcase and promote at Le Mans (and in the LMS and ALMS) are in response to a global spike in energy costs and a need to lower harmful emissions. With the sales of diesel road cars commonplace in Europe and set to claim greater shares of the American marketplace, and alternative fuels steadily growing in popularity and availability, the ACO’s form of sportscar racing strives to mirror the world they race within. These sensibilities – a connectedness to the world at large – dominate the manner in which Plassart and Poissenot uphold their responsibilities.
For the men who hold the reins to the present and future of global sportscar racing, one would expect an air of entitlement or officialdom to saturate their presence, but their humility and passion stand out in a sport dominated by complicated and dictatorial personalities.
ACO Sporting Director and Le Mans Clerk of the Course, Daniel Poissenot.(Photo: Jeff Bloxham/LAT Photographic) » More Photos
To start, I asked how they form their decisions on where to take the direction of the series. What came from their answers illustrated that Plassart and Poissenot see themselves as not only the directors of Le Mans-style racing, but also as shepherds of the history of the Le Mans 24 Hours event.
“The future is very important, with new rules and new equivalency, of course. But also I think what is very important at Le Mans is the story of many men who have made the story of Le Mans. All these men… we are talking about the pilots, about mechanics and also the spectators. Our history is very important, and these aspects make us carefully consider our rules.
“And these reasons here, all we did to build and improve at Le Mans to make the facility the best for all that come to be a part of the spectacle. The circuit should keep with the cars and remain fresh without losing character or memories of the past.”
Plassart makes sure to drive home the point about the ACO’s responsibility to maintaining tradition at Le Mans by drawing from its origins as the most respected and tenured competition for automotive advancement and innovation when laying the foundation for the event’s future.
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“I think no circuit in the world has all this history. Because, in fact, the first Grand Prix was born in Le Mans because in 1906 there was the first French Grand Prix; over one hundred years ago, the first Grand Prix is born in Le Mans. During all this year we have to keep that in mind when we are talking about rules and regulation. Le Mans was a laboratory of new techniques. And it was our suggestion -- to respect all these people who worked and are impassioned at Le Mans -- to keep Le Mans a laboratory of new technology.”
With a future-minded series in his care, Plassart also affirms his commitment to maintaining the ACO’s leadership role in making Le Mans a test bed for automotive evolutions.
“When somebody asks me what would be the energy of cars in 20 years, I say, ‘I don't know, but what I know is we will be experimenting with it at Le Mans.’ You know, like diesel now with the Audi, the carbon brakes with the Jaguar. Windshield wipers. We have that in our cars for every day now. We have safer cars; much of this was made by endurance racing, and many of these things were made at Le Mans.
Fans, the circuit, and the cars in mind when formulating new rules that alter and impact the history of the classic event. (Photo: Getty Images) » More Photos
“Le Mans is more than only a race between cars…there is much to be learned, so we have to always keep that in mind. I think when you are [in my position] you don't have to only look behind, you have to look for tomorrow. But in our club we have to keep this in mind, what was yesterday and why we are here for so long.”
It’s clear the ACO sees performance balancing as a tool to implement equal measures of parity and safety as teams continue to push the development of prototypes into the stratosphere. LMP and GT lap times have leapt forward by more than a second at most tracks in the past twelve months, with much of this speed attributed to better tires and increased downforce in all four categories.
“It's a hard job to have perfect regulations,” Poissenot said. “It's difficult to balance the performance of the diesel cars with the gasoline cars. Yes, it's difficult, but also the Le Mans platform is the only one with [a] connection with the road car. In the American Le Mans series they use this word “relevant”. And we want this series relevant with the road car for the future. A gallon is 3.677 dollars. One dollar more than one year ago. So for the future we have to think about the big [changes] to engines, to emissions; we have to work in this direction.
“We want to have a good show, but teams are always improving the car…going faster and faster and sometimes we have to take some decisions to balance the performance. We see cars now are too fast, so we [also] balance for safety reasons.”
Peugeot’s pace at Le Mans shocked the ACO -- the French team’s 908 LMP1 machine clocked a time almost eight seconds faster than it managed in 2007. With the artifice of a 3:30 second barrier held as the ACO’s desired threshold for lap times, the 3:18.5 set in qualifying by Peugeot cemented Plassart and Poissenot’s decision to slow all of the cars. Even the lead LMP2 car was dangerously close to the 3:30 mark, qualifying just 2.3 seconds shy of the preferred mark.
