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This Nissan LPM1 situation is not at all a surprise. Does anyone know the latest developments in the Don Panoz vs Nissan court case?
I am sure you guys know the details involving the technical director/chief engineer at Nissan, who they basically poached to develop their deltawing copy - of the deltawing.
I would not at all be surprised if the entire LMP1 project was run to show publically their new engineer was not recruited solely for the deltawing project. So the emphasis would be on making a high profile car that cannot be construed as a copy of any existing racecar. I give you the FWD GTR LMP1 - problem solved.
In real terms who cares if it is a bit crap - it gives nissan the smokescreen they need to save their a$$ from a huge payout...........
I think Alex Hitzinger had some comment:
Porsche LMP1 technical director Alex Hitzinger described the Nissan as "brave and risky".
"The concept has very big disadvantages and it is not possible from sitting at a desk looking at pictures to judge if the potential advantages will over compensate for those disadvantages," he stated.
One of those, he explained, was the decision to run narrow nine-inch tyres at the rear rather than the maximum 14in of its rivals.
"If you run a much narrower tyre at the rear than at the front, you are sacrificing tyre potential," he said.
I read that as a thinly veiled way of saying "its a bit crap really"
For those who do not know who Don Panoz is, he started his own car company and used to run LMP1 (or P900) cars in the early 2000s against the Audi R8s. He owned the ALMS, and owns Road Atlanta circuit. He smokes like a chimney (they say he bought his private jet so he could still chain smoke on the plane) - and he made all his money from developing the nicotine patch to help smokers quit. A living legend, and hard to miss in the pitlane.
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