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American LeMans
PRUETT: Tuesday Petit Le Mans Blog
Peugeot's 100M head start, Luhr checks his knobs, Corvette can't wait for their GT2, Pug can't crash and Audi's R15 starts to take shape...
Marshall Pruett  |  Posted October 01, 2008   Braselton, GA
"Go fast but PLEASE don't crash" is the mandate from Peugeot's Bruno Famin to his three drivers. If they get caught up in a crash, Famin says they're done. (Photo: Marshall Pruett)



A Lion on a Short Leash

I spoke with Peugeot technical director Bruno Famin who mentioned the team is out of options for spare body parts – if they crash again, they’re in bad shape. I joked with him that surely there was a Home Depot nearby they could visit to buy aluminum siding and wood paneling to fashion repairs with, and he fired back a look that read like it hadn’t been ruled out as a possibility.

“I’m sure you saw Silverstone…we do not have any carbon left. Our carbon shop is at maximum capacity and we are only catching up right now with repairs – no more new parts for us right now. It is not a good feeling.”

While this might sound like a tall tale from ‘The Lion’ I wandered around the side of their paddock tent structure, looked inside the complex, and confirmed Bruno was being honest.

The Road Atlanta track has gotten the team’s full attention after Pedro Lamy’s serious off last Saturday. “Yes, it is VERY fast. I’d say turn one is almost too fast, very dangerous, but the whole circuit is like this. The race will be a big risk for us. There are many cars that are slow and wandering, like the car that caused Pedro’s crash. I think the guy looked in his mirrors, saw the 908, and got frightened so he stop looking where he was going and pull in front of Pedro. I think the race could be like this for ten hours.”

No Friends for Rafa

Mazda’s 3rd driver Rafael ‘Rafa’ Matos is a noticeable last minute scratch from the entry list. It seems that with a potential IndyCar drive within his grasp, he’s bailed on Mazda for the hopes of a greener pastures.

He’s a great guy, usually, and a phenomenal driver, but for someone Mazda’s referred to as the ‘Mazda Motorsports Ladder Poster Boy,’ I think he owed them a more responsible exit from his obligations. Rafa had been scheduled for a Petit drive with Mazda since the beginning of the year, but now Ben Devlin and Gerardo Bonilla will go it alone. The two are plenty fit and very keen to do the race as a duo, but don’t expect any Christmas cards to be headed Rafa’s way from Mazda this year.

The kid has been a revelation since he came to America, and this bit ‘biting the hand that’s fed him’ routine is the first unimpressive thing he’s done. Let’s hope it’s his last.

On a positive note, B-K's new Mazda-Lola coupe passed technical inspection on their first try -- a testament to the hard work the team has put into the new car in a relatively short amount of time. with their crash in testing last weekend, flying through tech with nothing out of compliance is all the more impressive. Great job, guys.


Peugeot’s Making Plenty of Steam
Audi and Peugeot use the same Shell diesel fuel, but with the power the 908 is making at Road Atlanta, maybe they've added in a secret southern ingredient...used Waffle House cooking oil? (Photo: Marshall Pruett)

What was the 2007 Petit Le Mans pole time set by the #2 Audi R10 TDO of Luhr and Werner? 1:08.9

One of the leading ALMS teams had a steady stop watch on Peugeot last Saturday, and noted a majority of laps that were either slow or semi-slow. The 908 appeared to lift early into turn one and coast most of the way through, which leads me to believe they were trying to prevent the opposition from getting an accurate read on their potential.

But then, and to that stop watch man’s surprise, they snuck in one lap at full chat before pitting. What was the time?

1:05.6.

Ouch.

“Do I have this thing on the right channel?”

I asked a friend at Audi about the pacey Pug’s lap and he shared a funny (and revealing) occurrence from last Saturday. “Lucas (Luhr) was following the Pug pretty closely and wanted to see if he could maintain a reasonable gap down the long back straight. He eased up just a touch on entry in turn seven (that leads onto the back straight) to get on the throttle REALLY early and see how he’d fare. He said they got about half way down the straight and the Pug’s just pulling him like gangbusters.
"Let's see, where's the 'keep up with Peugeot' button?..." wondered Audi driver Lucas Luhr on Saturday. (Photo: Audi)

“Lucas was just shocked by this and said he started looking down at his steering wheel to make sure he didn’t have the engine running on the wrong map, or if he’d done something else wrong. He said he looked over two or three times to make sure the car was on the proper setting because he couldn’t fathom how the Pug could pull him that much. He told us that from the time he exited turn seven to when they both got to turn ten, the Pug had put a hundred meters between them! That’s a hundred meters of pure power and aero right there. No wonder they could run 3:18’s at Le Mans. That’s kinda’ ridiculous, isn’t it? A hundred meters…”

Corvette’s GT2 Must First Appear.

The Pratt & Miller boys are excited to start the next chapter in their ALMS racing history when Corvette moves into GT2 next season, but as I learned today, they still need a car to start playing with. They've had a C6 in the shop to look at, but that was taken back and they're waiting to learn when a new mule will return for the mechanics and engineers to pour over. The GT2 challenger was announced to exploit a unique steel and aluminum joined chassis, and despite the traditional hardships of welding the two metals together, the technology and expertise to do so has long been in GM's arsenal.

Beyond the challenge of the new steel/alloy chassis, the P&M boys are most excited to have a new goal to reach for. they've taken the GT1 C6.R to the end of its development cycle -- it's not that they've run out of ideas; without spending a fortune to exploit infinitesimal gains, the C6.R is as perfect as it can be made within their current budget. I don't want to say that they're bored with the car, but a new GT2 machine to focus on will certainly motivate everyone in ways they haven't had since Aston Martin left GT1 in 2006. That should worry everyone in GT2, by the way...

Rumors and Rumblings:

Penske has request their 2008 car numbers for 2009. I’ve gotten credible info that despite Porsche possibly having a change of heart and keeping their Penske/Porsche program going in ’09, much like the financial bailout plan, this has fallen through. Look for Dyson to get a semi-works deal next year, but not to the elevated (and expensive) level Roger’s team enjoyed.

I can only speculate as to what Penske will compete with next season, but with the massive resources he’s dedicated to the ALMS, it should be interesting.

Penske also appears to have a Grand-Am entry on the way – something we’ve been hearing rumors of all Summer, but it’s not known if this is just for Daytona or for an entire season. what's next? Powerboats? Monster Trucks? Drifting?

One thing is for sure: Penske isn’t standing still.

Rumors have Audi’s new R15 engine on the dyno and running strong. Rumors also have the engine smaller and lighter than the first generation TDI powerplant, which makes sense, as a V10 would tend to be smaller and lighter than a V12…

They are also rumored to be moving from a 5spd to a 6spd. When the R10 was on the CAD screens in ’05 they had no reference to draw from for gear ratio choice, and went with a 5-speed as the billion lb-ft of torque could easily pull each gear. With Peugeot opting for a 6-speed and using the shorter gear splits to exploit optimized RPM drops, Audi’s been caught out with a design that needs updating.

So, be on the lookout for an open-top R15 with a diesel V10 driving through a 6-speed…can you hear the faint sounds of Peugeot engineers whimpering? They just fired the 908’s designer, Paolo Cantone…maybe they should ring him up and see if he’ll come back.

I've also heard that Acura’s new LMP1 challenger will be as creative as the 908, if not a level or two beyond where Peugeot has set the LMP1 bar. Consider what Nick Wirth and Acura have done with a chassis not of their design, and what they should be able to do with 18 months of work on a clean sheet P1 project. Acura knows how to make power and mileage; Nick is an aerodynamic artist, and the combo of Wirth Research and Acura also know how to put together a proper mechanical package. There are no boxes that aren’t ticked in that partnership. Acura's done an impressive job of keeping details of the ARX-02a under wraps, but when facts do start to emerge, everyone will be in for a treat.

If you thought the P-car battles were exciting this year, 2009 is looking too good to be true. All we need is Lucchini to announce a 2-stroke H-16-engined spaceframe P1 chassis and we’re off to the races…

Check out our 2008 Petit Le Mans Spotters Guide!

Marshall Pruett is Automotive and Sportscar Racing Editor for SPEEDtv.com. Pruett grew up at "Pruett's Olde English Garage," his father's shelter for abused foreign cars, and spent his childhood being dragged across the West Coast to help with his dad's amateur racing exploits. Pruett spent twenty years working in various open-wheel and sportscar series, retiring from active duty in 2001. And in case you were wondering, no, he isn’t related to Scott Pruett.

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The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEEDtv.com, SPEED, FOX, or NewsCorp.
The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEED.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or SPEED
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