Audi LMP1 Discussion

[chernaudi]

Originally Posted by gwyllion

Or you should just stop with this speculation

Face it, Marshall Pruett was wrong with his report of wide front tyres on the R15.

As Mike pointed out, just read article 19 of the 2011 rules

Also read the latest press release of Audi: http://www.audi.com/com/brand/en/experience/motorsport/motorsport-news.detail.2011~01~audi_confirms_driver.html

Unless what Mr. Boone says about the R15 is correct, Audi will have to do something to fix the R15's low speed front grip problems/inconsisitencies. Unless the R15 will have a huge straightline speed advantage--which in theory should be unlikely--the R15 should be uncompetitive in terms of speed as the ACO don't want the newer cars to be shown up by obsolecent machinery, especially with the R15 being a one off.

So what if Audi can't run the wider tires--the ACO can't stop them from tuning the suspension, which seems to be the source of the problems to begin with.

Of course, the R15, especially as it's now almost 3 years old and if it has it's issues rectified, should at least be as fast as the R18, as the R18 is early in it's test cycle, and the R15 has a full sprint package, while the R18's are in LM areo spec it seems--the tab dive planes instead of the larger twin set the likely have for the ILMC rounds, and the low wing/sloping fin points towards that.

Also, is it me, or does the R15 have a modified rear deck: The flourish on the end of the tail outboard of the wing endplates seems to be shorter than on the 2010 car, as there seems to be more endplate exposed in the side shot of the R15 (different shading of red on the deck and endplate may give that away)?

If that's the case, for a car that's supposed to have minimal changes, it seems that something may have.

Lets see in a few weeks time if Audi returns to Sebring, because the R15 may be still in 2010 spec (unlikely), which would hinder the relevance of this test, and the R18 and R15 seem to be polar opposites as far as aero specs.

But if the R15 is in 2011 specs and is faster than the R18, there may still be hope for Audi to be competitive at Sebring with the 90x, which little has been heard of that since one was written off in Dec.

And one more thing: under balance of performance, could Audi be allowed to run at 900kgs like other grandfather LMP1s, or will the R15 be stuck at 930kgs, possibly to counter what would likely still be a big torque advantage?