LMES test days 1st/2nd April at Paul Ricard.

[TheNewBob]

If the R8 is still roughly competitive, my worries are for everyone else for when their next car comes along... I do hope Porsche give them some serious competition!

[brielga]

Originally Posted by The Badger

Im sceptical about the negitive claims from Oreca . Im sure Audi had a fair idea of what the new regs would do to the car . They have all the gizmos to find that out . Just wait and see ..... Audi will win Le Mans again ..... The McNish car if it has to be one .... Me ..... I want a Courage C60 win for Goossens if he gets the drive !!!

I think Oreca won't be even close to the Champion team, at least my gut feeling.

[Bentley03]

Claude has posted a good article on Infoscourse featuring an interview with Domes's chief engineer Hiroshi Yuchi. When asked if he thought the Dome could go faster he said 'perhaps not'. Verbal sandbagging?

( Infoscourse is such a good site it is a shame that the content cannot be shared by non French speaking fans. Is there any chance (Claude or Laurent) that a little Union Jack could be placed at the top of the home page leading to an English translation of the site, please? )

[BSchneiderFan]

Originally Posted by brielga

I think Oreca won't be even close to the Champion team, at least my gut feeling.

But remember than ORECA have won Le Mans before. Champion haven't.

[paul-collins]

Originally Posted by Fab

As they were 18 laps beyond at the end of the race in 2004 at LM, they still have some margin...

Last year was record-setting in terms of distance. If Audi has yet another perfect race, then everyone else will still have trouble.

The hybrids have the 2003 restrictors and 90L fuel tanks, so they will gain probably 6 laps out of that.

The main thing is that they have to have the same pit time as the Audis - which none have in the last bunch of years...

[tblincoe]

i too agree that Champion will be ahead of Oreca come June as they have better pilots IMO as well as support from Audi UK... you also have to remember that Oreca is new to the R8 and the Champion team has been running the Audi for years now and are quite familiar with the car (as are there drivers)

[Bentley03]

And I would also agree.

By the way, did anyone anticipate a Japanese entered Audi would triumph in 2004.......?

[jhansen]

But Team Goh had some time to learn the car. Oreca has not. Johnny Herbert mentioned last year that he thought the Champion bunch were the best in terms of setting the R8 up properly. That speaks volumes to me.

As for the Audis at Le Mans, they are second to none in terms of reliability, preparation, and pitwork. They also have a very deep driver line up.

It's going to be a fascinating race.

[brielga]

Originally Posted by Bentley03

And I would also agree.

By the way, did anyone anticipate a Japanese entered Audi would triumph in 2004.......?

Bentley, you're essentially right but in my eyes the 4 Audis in 04 were much more evenly matched (also in terms on drivers) than Oreca and Champion today. Even after the Lehto-Mc Nish come together reliability was the main factor and speed was less of a difference....
I appreciate the experience of Oreca as a team and I do hope they challenge Champion as much as possible, I just see the Creation or Jota guys be more challenging (at least until 10PM...)
Disclaimer: My accuracy as Cassandra is very questionable

[jhansen]

Comparing Goh's win last year to Oreca's chances this year is no comparison in my opinion.

Goh's record with the R8 prior to their Le Mans victory was very solid. They had 7th and 4th place finishes at Le Mans in 2002 and 2003. Victories at the Spa 1000K and Le Mans 1000K in 2003 and a 3rd place finish at the Monza 1000K in 2004. Not to mention, they had Tom Kristensen and Rinaldo Capello. Both are Le Mans winners with previous race wins and setup experience in the R8.

I like Champion's chances.

[Bentley03]

Despite my 'Goh' observation I too believe Champion will be the quicker and the better prepared. And if it has to be an Audi victory in June, yes I would prefer Champion to take the spoils. But I honestly can't say that I want another Audi victory.

Go Creation !!!!!

[JAG]

Have Champion ever had the quickest car when they have been up against a European R8 team whether it be Joest, Audi UK etc?

[paul-collins]

Champion were on pace last year before the big shunt, for what it's worth.

[marcush.]

honestly ,in last years prequaly the champion entry was setup worst and behaved quite differently to the other audis at the beginning.
In qualyproper the teams adopted a similar aproach with setup as far as I could observe....but the champion guys had their brakes glowing much brighter in the night...

[Mal]

It depends on the individuals who are involved. I am sure Oreca would have recruited some of the engineers etc from Team Veloqx and Joest and therefore their apparent lack of experience may not be true. However you cannot question the depth of experience in the Champion Driver line up, and that IMO is likely to swing the race in their favour.

[jhansen]

JAG: Champion outqualified Veloqx at Sebring in '04 and gave Joest fits all season long in '03. So I'd say they can be quick when they want to be. Veloqx clearly focussed on pole last year. Goh and Champion did not. And in '03 there was no point going for pole against the Bentleys. But I suppose nobody believes them when they say their focus was on race pace at Le Mans last year. Especially considering that their race pace was just fine before and after the shunt.