Audi LMP1 Discussion

[The Badger]

Originally Posted by EverOne

"Mr Montagny is not driving for me and he ' ll never drive for me" Ulrich Dixit
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xipnO9gofhI

Em , well Mr.Ulrich made a bit of an arse of himself there , if you ask me .

Does that mean McNish will never get a drive with Luxury Racing , for causing the accident ..... all crap .

I would put Montagny in any car , the man is brilliant . Shoulda been in a Pescarolo run car .

[Dead-Eye]

Originally Posted by The Badger

Em , well Mr.Ulrich made a bit of an arse of himself there , if you ask me .

Does that mean McNish will never get a drive with Luxury Racing , for causing the accident ..... all crap .

McNish didn't lie about crashing into the Ferrari.

[Articus]

McNish needs no introduction. He has already won all there is in protos to win. Montagny on the other hand has all to prove and is making a mess of it. Now he doesnt have a job. Either all other teams aren't smart or "Theres something about Montagny" go figure...

[cmk]

Originally Posted by CTD

Isn't Montagny noted to drive the Loeb Racing car at the test day?

Perhaps, though only Seb himself is on the list I saw (and Marroc should be available too, no?). At any rate, given that it's just for kicks and they are not racing at Spa or LM, I would not have considered that much of a conflict.

[porsche91722]

What's done is done, Gene in an Audi. It sounded a bit odd when I first heard the news, what with his blocking at Le Mans last year, albeit under team orders. The comments made by Dr. Ulrich at PLM about Montagny were in the heat of the moment. Montagny, no doubt has quite the reputation now, as a bit of a hothead, but I think under the direction of Ulrich, his aggression could probably have been controlled more purposefully than Peugeot. I like Montagnys style, and I hope he scores a regular spot back in a front-running LMP.

[MitchZ06]

I don't think The Doctor was speaking out of line at Petit, need I remind you of Montangy at Imola last year?....

[chernaudi]

New video (well, not really new, but edited):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnTc7yio1bU

Same video footage as the original, but with new photos at the end, and the title has been changed from "e-tron" to "Ultra".

And about the wail, it's not the e-tron system, which I'm seriously beginning to doubt due to Audi Sport comments and the fact that the noise doesn't seem to electromechanical in nature, could it just be varying audio quality in the videos? And could it be that the CFC gearbox casing doesn't cancel noise like an aluminum or magnesium one would?

Also still on the gearbox, it seems pretty clear that Audi adopted the pullrod rear suspension out of packaging reasons. But is it out of aero? Doubtful, as exhaust blown diffusers and big volume diffusers are banned in the FIA/ACO's rules for the WEC. CG or light weight? Possibly, but probably not the main aim.

I think its to get the suspension system out of the way for two reasons: One, to distance if away from the exhaust system, and two, to get it out of the way to allow Audi to revert to an R10/R15-type cassette gearbox quick change system for the transmission and differential assemblies. They have the exhaust pipe/particle filter in the way already, and having to deal with the suspension parts maybe getting in the way could be a time-waster, especially with the exhaust lay out adding to that.

A lower CG and such may be beneficial side-effects, but it's probably got a lot more to do with isolating that away from a big heat source (exhaust pipe and getting rid of some of the heat shielding), and for ease of maintenance and servicing, even if it is just to change out gear clusters for set up purposes.

[gwyllion]

An update on Bernhard's recovery proces: http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/artic...d-to-recovery/

[EverOne]

I think is the first picture of the 2 2012 R18 cars

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...&type=1&ref=nf

[Laurent]

A fem more : http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?s...2628180&type=1

[chernaudi]

This looks like maybe the parking lot or paddock area at Paul Ricard, which means that Audi may've done--or is doing--their 30 hour test.

I also noticed that the #2 Audi has a bit of an "unfinished" look to it, and I don't like that it seems that it's their HD bodywork--I have never really liked the blunt front fenders on the sprint R18s, as they seem to be draggy and just look out of place. But of course, Audi know better than I do, and there's no Peugeot for whom straightline speed was their bread and butter... Then again, it seems that the rear bodywork is the same between the #4 (LM spec) and #2 (possibly sprint spec), so the #2 really seems to be "unfinished" and maybe the sprint blunt fendered nose might not be raced, or the HD package is in its very early stages.

Also, it seems on the "sprint" nose that either the front fender is lowered or area immediately in front of the holes and outboard of the vane is really raised.

[gwyllion]

Paul Truswell was invited to a dinner with Audi Sport this week: http://trussers.blogspot.com/2012/04...d-writers.html

He found out that this H (= Howden Haynes) is not the race engineer of the McNish/Kristensen/Capello car, but of the #4 R18 ultra driven by Jarvis/Rockenfeller/Bonanomi.

[CTD]

Originally Posted by gwyllion

Paul Truswell was invited to a dinner with Audi Sport this week: http://trussers.blogspot.com/2012/04...d-writers.html

He found out that this H (= Howden Haynes) is not the race engineer of the McNish/Kristensen/Capello car, but of the #4 R18 ultra driven by Jarvis/Rockenfeller/Bonanomi.

Hmm very interesting.
Who was race engineer for Tom in the 2000-2002?

[chernaudi]

Also strange is that Brad Kettler is usually the guy who spends the most time with the younger drivers, but then again I don't think that Brad was an actual race engineer, but was co-techincal director with Juttner.

[The Badger]

I thought Kettler was ex Champion racing , and not at the same level within the team as Juttner . Juttner is a Jöst man for ages .

[Simmi]

Maybe H is off to Porsche in 2014!

[mackteck]

don't the engineers work for an agency or something and not directly for Joest/audi?

[The Badger]

Juttner may even be a Jöst partner . He has been with Jöst since his Porsche 956 days iirc .

[Simmi]

Originally Posted by The Badger

Juttner may even be a Jöst partner . He has been with Jöst since his Porsche 956 days iirc .

Will certainly be interesting how things separate out when Porsche arrive and who goes where.

[gwyllion]

Originally Posted by Simmi

Maybe H is off to Porsche in 2014!

Paul Truswell explains why H is not working on the hybrid

There doesn't seem to be anything particularly sinister or conspiratorial here - it is merely that H found himself working more on the ultra over the winter, whereas Zeidtler (an experienced race engineer from Joest) has spent more time with the hybrid. It does, however, raise an interesting question for the race in June. Since the Le Mans 24 hours is a round in the WEC, a tactical, (double) points-scoring finish might be attractive to those with World Championship aspirations. For H and his team of 'young chargers', points will not mean a thing. For H, Le Mans is and should be 'win or bust'!

[gwyllion]

Originally Posted by mackteck

don't the engineers work for an agency or something and not directly for Joest/audi?

Howden Haynes, Leena Gade and Kyle Wilson-Clarke all work for Progressive Motorsport. This is explained in an earlier entry of Paul Truswell's blog:

For me, this cameo is an illustration of how close the “Audi family” operates. Although Howden, Leena and Kyle all work for Progressive Motorsport, on a contract basis for Joest Racing, who are Audi Sport’s partner in Sports-Prototype racing, you would never be able to tell, walking through Audi’s garage, who belongs to which organisation. The Audi family is a very strong ethos within the organisation, to a large extent driven by Dr Wolfgang Ullrich, Audi’s head of Motorsport.

[Simmi]

Originally Posted by gwyllion

Paul Truswell explains why H is not working on the hybrid

Yeah I read that, but you have to ask yourself why that was the case. I'd say it's pretty clear that Nishy/TK/Dindo were going to be in the Hybrid. Surely it stands to reason H would have worked on that car if he knew he'd be staying with that pairing.

Maybe Audi wanted a shake-up?

[gwyllion]

In Spa Dieter Gass will take over the role of Wolfgang Ullrich:

Double commitments: For Audi Sport, next weekend will mark one of several double commitments in the 2012 season. In parallel to the DTM at the Lausitzring, the second round of the World Endurance Championship (WEC) will be held at Spa-Francorchamps. Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich will travel to Spa first and then be on location at the Lausitzring from Friday on. His role at Spa will be taken over by Dieter Gass, who has been Head of Racing Commitments at Audi Sport since January 1.

[gwyllion]

http://www.mulsannescorner.com/newsmarch12.html has a detailed comparison of the different aero configurations that Audi has at its disposal for Spa.

[Coopz21 x]

Originally Posted by gwyllion

http://www.mulsannescorner.com/newsmarch12.html has a detailed comparison of the different aero configurations that Audi has at its disposal for Spa.

Nice!!