Norma's latest chassis .

[Victor_RO]

If we are to believe this press release, the Norma is in the final stages of assembly, so we might see it at Spa before Le Mans.

[Just-Right]

The Norma Judd M200

See the link

http://www.endurance-info.com/versio...VARnewsID=4290

[CTD]

It looks very "normal" and not any big revolutions in design!
But looks good!, a good delivery on that would make a fine looking car!

[HORNDAWG]

Wonder if they will run on the Dunlops it is wearing?





L.P.

[The Badger]

It looks very unprepared for a 24 hour sprint !!!

Sadly , very little faith from my side for this LM effort .

[Canada ALMS fan]

I thought they were building a coupe? Mariantic had some computer generated images of a red M200 that was closed top. Regardless, the actual car looks much nice than the rendering of the coupe.

[joeb]

Originally Posted by The Badger

It looks very unprepared for a 24 hour sprint !!!

Sadly , very little faith from my side for this LM effort .

New cars are going to have teething problems, especially if the manufacturer is new to the category. But it does have a Judd in it, and that is a pretty solid lump, so that is at least 1 variable you don't have to worry about.

[zac510]

I don't blame a small manufacturer like Norma for choosing an open top, surely it's much less to worry about designing/building.

[The Badger]

Originally Posted by joeb

New cars are going to have teething problems, especially if the manufacturer is new to the category. But it does have a Judd in it, and that is a pretty solid lump, so that is at least 1 variable you don't have to worry about.

I forsee a host of issues , purely because of lack of track time .

Marrying it up to a gearbox , cooling , suspension and aero . Its just too new for Le Mans .

[joeb]

Originally Posted by The Badger

I forsee a host of issues , purely because of lack of track time .

Marrying it up to a gearbox , cooling , suspension and aero . Its just too new for Le Mans .

That may be true. Wish they had the car prior to the start of the LMS season so they could have run it a bit.

[The Badger]

That Im sure was the idea .

But comon ..... lets be honest . For a chassis to do a half reasonable job it should have a lot of testing and development done prior to Le Mans . Unlessof course , you happen to be McLaren or some other factory or factory backed team ..... and they usually teast the head off it also .

I dont mean to take away from their efforts , but , I honestly cant see anything good (at Le Mans) coming from this effort at all .

How many proper efforts have sailed onto the rocks at Le Mans within the first hour , even with a proper R&D progamme behind them ?

[CTD]

Originally Posted by The Badger

That Im sure was the idea .

But comon ..... lets be honest . For a chassis to do a half reasonable job it should have a lot of testing and development done prior to Le Mans . Unlessof course , you happen to be McLaren or some other factory or factory backed team ..... and they usually teast the head off it also .

I dont mean to take away from their efforts , but , I honestly cant see anything good (at Le Mans) coming from this effort at all .

How many proper efforts have sailed onto the rocks at Le Mans within the first hour , even with a proper R&D progamme behind them ?

Yeah, but c'mon, you have to start somewhere, and if they where able to get the car "ready" for Le Mans, why not let them race, when the reserve list is low on really good entries?

[The Badger]

Start somewhere I agree , but not at the worlds biggest sportscar race , and 24 hours to boot .

For example ..... why was KSM for example , so far down the entry list , at least its a well proven chassis they have .

We also dont know exactly who was refused an entry for a start .

You said "if" ..... thats my worry .

Im the ACO's own words ..... selection will be chosen on Pedigree amongst other things . Now , where is the pedigree ?

Again .... dont get me wrong , and Im not slating them , just feel that its a bit much to expect from a stonking new chassis-engine-gearbox combo , with no testing behind it .

Reminds me of the last BRM effort . Even Oreca/Reynard had a bad start , one chassis out on lap 1 ..... and that was Oreca .

[Victor_RO]

Let's not forget, we are talking about the French here, and French logic can, at times, be... rather questionable.


People who were refused an entry? I'd think about several WR entries under various Welter names, teams running Lucchinis, Giovanni Lavaggi...

[CTD]

Originally Posted by The Badger

Start somewhere I agree , but not at the worlds biggest sportscar race , and 24 hours to boot .

For example ..... why was KSM for example , so far down the entry list , at least its a well proven chassis they have .

We also dont know exactly who was refused an entry for a start .

You said "if" ..... thats my worry .

Im the ACO's own words ..... selection will be chosen on Pedigree amongst other things . Now , where is the pedigree ?

Again .... dont get me wrong , and Im not slating them , just feel that its a bit much to expect from a stonking new chassis-engine-gearbox combo , with no testing behind it .

Reminds me of the last BRM effort . Even Oreca/Reynard had a bad start , one chassis out on lap 1 ..... and that was Oreca .

It's a pretty big risk letting them race, as they might do a JLOC! (This should be a term )
But if the rumors about Pescarolo are true, then KSM is in, and there is no one else on the Prototype Reserve list.
Of Course at Le Mans, it seems unprofessional by the ACO to let a car that new race, but i welcome them as there seems to be no real replacement?.
Has there ever been published a "rejection list"?.

But a fact is that ACO seems to allow 1 or 2 "crazy" entries per year. Dome both last year and this year was crazy in the way that it was entered by small unknown teams which hadn't even tested the already build car. And perhaps this is a part of the Le Mans spirit, where small teams with questionable material fight for completing the 24hours, and doing there best with a margin of a budget of the bigger teams.

[Justin Moran]

Isnt this what Le Mans 24hr racing is all about? I know we have the factory teams, who will undoubtedly win overall, and we have the privateer who against all the odds manages to race for 24hrs to finish, a true endurance effort.

Good luck to em!

Or is this just a "British" thing?

[HORNDAWG]

Originally Posted by C9/89

Isnt this what Le Mans 24hr racing is all about? I know we have the factory teams, who will undoubtedly win overall, and we have the privateer who against all the odds manages to race for 24hrs to finish, a true endurance effort.

Good luck to em!

Or is this just a "British" thing?

No, I do not believe it to be just a "British" thing!





L.P.

[davehenrie]

It's not like they are completely in-experienced. Norma has produced chassis before and Pegasus has been running a semi-successful team for several years now. They have a reputation of finishing events, even if they are usually not the fastest.

I am 'hopeful' they will be more than just another Jloc.

dh

[Justin Moran]

Originally Posted by HORNDAWG

No, I do not believe it to be just a "British" thing!





L.P.

Thank you, sometimes I get the feeling some people want F1 style teams only to run. this should never be the case, in the true sprit of Le Mans there has to be the "shoestring" entry or two.

[Victor_RO]

Photos from the car's shakedown test at Nogaro from Endurance-Info: http://www.endurance-info.com/versio...ance-4444.html

Also, another French car was being shaken down there as well... a pretty special old one at that.

[The Badger]

Originally Posted by C9/89

Thank you, sometimes I get the feeling some people want F1 style teams only to run. this should never be the case, in the true sprit of Le Mans there has to be the "shoestring" entry or two.

Shoestring entry or two , I have no problem with . But to expect a new car to run reliabily for 24 hours is not realistic , unless you have done a shed load of testing with it .

Now the car is out , lets see what they can do with it . I sincerly wish them all the best . But I cant see it lasting .

Maybe you can , so lets have a friendly bet ? Wish it was a real bet , I dont mind winning a few quid .

[tux1234]

The car looks the part, hope they can get to a decent distance in the race.

[davehenrie]

Originally Posted by The Badger

Shoestring entry or two , I have no problem with . But to expect a new car to run reliabily for 24 hours is not realistic , unless you have done a shed load of testing with it .

Now the car is out , lets see what they can do with it . I sincerly wish them all the best . But I cant see it lasting .

Maybe you can , so lets have a friendly bet ? Wish it was a real bet , I dont mind winning a few quid .

The Judd DB will certainly be de-tuned so there shouldn't be any question of that surviving. I'm assuming they are using an off the shelf transmission like an Xtrac or Hewland. THose are solid pieces. It is rare for P2 cars to complete all 24 hrs without drama. Barring an accident, there is a good chance they will at least finish.

I was reading about the year when the Binnie Lola won their class at Le Mans. They spent the better part of the last hour sitting in the pits so they could minimize any chance of a crash before the end. I think only two cars were running at the end. Since then, I think we have seen a slow increase in reliability. Moving up to the 800+kg weight limit probably has done as much to improve reliability as anything else. The teams are not forced to cut, cut, cut in regards to weight savings any more.
Based on my ramblings, I think there is a BETTER than 50% chance the Norma finishes the 24hrs and is classified.(running and 75% distance)
Can we set up a betting pool? lol!
dh

[Panhard]

Ah those of little faith not only is the car ready for LeMans but will be officially launched at leMans with the ACO on Tuesday next week. The car has run very well in testing this week at two different tracks in the south of France.
As a reminder the last Norma LMP1 ran in ALMS and leMans in 2003.
Two cars were fielded here between 2000 & 2003 in Grand Am & ALMS.
Norma has had great success with the M20 CN selling over 150 cars in Europe.
The M200 is the latest car & only current chassis to meet 2011 specs for LMP2.
hope this clears up some of the speculation

[FIRE]

Good looking car.

What material is the body made off?