LMS Round 2: Monza, April 25-27, 2008

[chewymonster]

Originally Posted by sssssssss

I guess the only reason for professional drivers to really gain the sums of money they gain is because of the risk that their job implies while providing the great show. The rest of it is sheer fun. To me, the safety thing today is just redundant and an artificial notion behind which certain interests can be hidden.

I think professional race drivers are paid big money because they are really fast. I don't think racing would be any better if there were injuries often, plus a death or two each year. It doesn't make racing any better.

[minimangler]

Originally Posted by deggis

Ralf Jüttner, technical director of Audi Sport: "We are obviously not happy about the contact between Pedro and Mike. We do not find it very beautiful but we also know that this is a race that it can happen and we see no grounds are to bear complaint with the race director. We do not make a big deal."

translation from endurance-info.com

haha that's either german or english translated to french then back to english.

Can you tell?

[deggis]

French->English at least, don't know but google translator is not perfect, most of that is probably from it

[broadrun96]

If the youtube poster is correct, looks like Ortelli wont be ready by LM. His description says compound fracture and dislocation of his ankle, not sure but sounds like longterm recovery there.
Looks like the car preformed great in protecting him from much worse, I'm sure it hurts but heavily modifying the track for what happens once is really over-reacting for an isolated thing. Tweaking on the cars some could help but nothing radical is warranted. And yes I know I sound callous and have never been lucky, or unlucky, enough to be in his position but would like to think I would think the same as I do from the safety of my couch.

[rich07]

OMG!! OMG!! That is one of the biggest accidents I have ever seen! How close was he to hitting the Audi in midair! So apparently Ortelli only has an injured ankle-I suspect he will miss LM, a big shame for Oreca but thank goodness Ortelli is alright (in perspective)-it could have been much worse.

[deggis]

Another video from the crash: http://youtube.com/watch?v=lNkySVNNpog

This shows it in real time, plus the slowmo views and what McNish saw.

[kingkai]

Originally Posted by rich07

OMG!! OMG!! That is one of the biggest accidents I have ever seen! How close was he to hitting the Audi in midair! So apparently Ortelli only has an injured ankle-I suspect he will miss LM, a big shame for Oreca but thank goodness Ortelli is alright (in perspective)-it could have been much worse.

Big shame for Oreca?
It is a pity for them, a car written off. They couldn't do anything about it being airborn. Just as with the take off of the DBR-9 over in ALMS, the cars aren't designed to go side or back ways at full speed. This with a bump in the grass made it all happen.
I can't get it, people debating the rules. They aren't the old GT1 end 90s which took off because air got under the front splitter.

[Spyderman]

Originally Posted by tux

The Imsa Porsche was disqualified due to an airbox infringement. So the Farnbacher Porsche inherits the victory.

The original GT2 class result was revised three hours after the race. The victory of the Porsche fielded by the IMSA Matmut Performance team with drivers Richard Lietz (Austria) and Raymond Narac (France) was revoked because the cable of the organisers’ data recording device had come loose. As a result, the second-placed Farnbacher Racing team moved up to first position. Winners of the GT2 class in Monza are therefore Porsche works driver Richard Westbrook, Allan Simonsen and Lars Erik Nielsen. - Porsche Press Release

[Jimbob-18]

I hope Stephane recovers from his injuries soon. It would be a shame not to see him racing at LM or even Spa. Get well soon Stephane!

[The Badger]

I bet Nishy was saying his prayers last night ..... so close to being collected .

A credit to the design of the chassis constructor , that thing was sheding stuff all over the shop !!!

Wonder if Ortelli's injury will hamper his Le Mans efforts , not something you want to have to do with im sure , a still not 100% ankle , by the time LM arrives .

They already have their drivers picked ..... any reserve on their squad ?

[chernaudi]

Originally Posted by broadrun96

If the youtube poster is correct, looks like Ortelli wont be ready by LM. His description says compound fracture and dislocation of his ankle, not sure but sounds like longterm recovery there.
Looks like the car preformed great in protecting him from much worse, I'm sure it hurts but heavily modifying the track for what happens once is really over-reacting for an isolated thing. Tweaking on the cars some could help but nothing radical is warranted. And yes I know I sound callous and have never been lucky, or unlucky, enough to be in his position but would like to think I would think the same as I do from the safety of my couch.

If Ortelli broke his ankle like that, I doubt that he would've walked away from the crash with as little help as has been reported. In the NASCAR Nationwide race, Franchitti broke his ankle and had to be helped to the ambulance-and it's estimated that Dario will be out for 3 weeks.

If Stephane could walk away from that accident with as little assistance as has been hinted at, there's little chance that his injury is as bad as Dario's, let alone worse. Ortelli might miss Spa if he and de Chaunac are uncomfortable with the healing of the injury, but Le Mans should see him back in the Oreca.

[GT6]

Just seen the video of the accident, I was listen to the race live and I RLM did not do it justice, glad than Stephane is not seriously injured and McNish must be wondering how many lives he has left.

[Spyderman]

Have they said what made the car veer so suddenly to the right?
Was it just unstable under breaking , or was it a mechanical fault?

[gwyllion]

Brake disc failure? Or caliper?

[Svierge]

Originally Posted by Holt

I have no sound on, I turned radio lemans off after here him use these rediculous nick names like 'Rocky'. I saw the stop go graphic appear right after he passed the audi after overshooting the chicane

Imagine if formula 1 announcers followed internet lingo and started to call michael schumacher 'Schuey' during the race and others called the Peugeot 'Pug'

Awwww, diddums!

Interesting reference to F1, as the commentators regularly referred to MS as 'Schuey' and, in Germany, 'Schumi', so you have lost your own argument there.

Never watched 'bike racing either, I see. If you had, you'd have heard references to Foggy, Poggi, and various others over the years.

[Jonerz]

@deggis: thanks for the Audi comment. I figured they wouldn't complain, but they also complain about rules in the ALMS so... who knows!

It was a strange weekend with all these accidents. Dario, Heikki, Dindo, Jamie C-W, Ortelli, the IndyCar pit accident... one of those weekends I guess.

Chris

[AU N EGL]

When you watch the video real close, the right rear wheel, or right rear suppension ( something in that area ) failed, and the leading edge of the right rear wheel bock and moves in. Then the car crashed.

My guess suppension failure under braking load.

[brielga]

Originally Posted by The Badger

I bet Nishy was saying his prayers last night ..... so close to being collected .

A credit to the design of the chassis constructor , that thing was sheding stuff all over the shop !!!

Wonder if Ortelli's injury will hamper his Le Mans efforts , not something you want to have to do with im sure , a still not 100% ankle , by the time LM arrives .

They already have their drivers picked ..... any reserve on their squad ?

A lot of credit to McNish by IMMEDIATELY radioing his team to have the ambulance sent to pick up Ortelli. Thinking of your fellow driver at that point shows the kind of persone he is. Hats off.

[The Badger]

Yeah ..... NcNish seems to be one of those all round nice people .

[cmk]

No doubt, McNish is a top bloke in every sense of the word. Not just to have that concern, but to have the clarity of mind to pop on the radio immediately after the incident and correctly identify both the severity of the accident and the driver involved while continuing to manhandle an R10 at race pace, is truly stunning. It shows you why he's a racing driver and we are typing on forums...

[JAG]

Originally Posted by sssssssss

Can't really see the contradiction... It's not restrictions on qualifying PACE, it's aero rules that they might change in order to generally slow the cars down.
Quote:
The ACO is considering a reduction in performances in LM P1 and
LM P2 for safety reasons, given the fact that the 3m 30s barrier was
breached in the 2007 race.
Discussions with the entrants will begin in 2008 to introduce such
measures in 2009 or 2010.
The modifications to be made will apply mainly to the bodywork, the
wings and the air restrictors, so that the LM P1 cars’ times will not
dip under 3m 30s over a lap of the Le Mans circuit.

P.S. Sorry for the late post.

3.30 is the arbitary figure the ACO have chosen which they do not wish to see broken, consistently, during a race. Qualifying pace is not factored in.

When regs are stable, and cars take great leaps forward each season, just as in F1, the organisors need to adjust regs to maintain what they judge to be acceptable current speeds.

Other than the Lola Aston Martin, petrol cars won't go under 3.30 during the race, consistently, this year, the diesels undoubtedly will.

In '09 we'll likely see all LMP1/2 cars with smaller, less effiecient rear wings, while diesels will likely recieve restrictor cuts around 5% and 25kg+ ballast to counter their torque advantage. Dependent on the pace of the Lola Aston Martin, homolgated engine restrictors may be brought closer in line with the Judds and AER's.

The net result will be cars in '09 will be within a second or two (ish) of the '08 pace , but petrol cars will be closer to the diesels.

[knighty]

how did this Duncan Tappy guy do for Rollcentre?.....was he quick?........they finished the race so I'm assuming he was a good lad, would be good to see a young lad get noticed again, well done martin for giving him a chance me says.

[Dani Filth]

he was doing a decent job .. and so was Vanina

[JAG]

Originally Posted by Jimbob-18

I disagree, Monza needs to have a good look at itself. 2 Drivers injured in 2 different days aand Capello's quite big accident at the start as well doesn't boast well for the circuit. If it's all totally the cars, how come stuff like this hasn't happened at Barcelona, Spa, Nurb, Silverstone, ect in the past or in the case of Barcelona, this year already? Yes, the cars can be improved, any injury to a driver means the saftey can be improved, but the tracks need to be safe as well if the crash was at 250 km/h

An obvious solution for me would be to put gravel traps on the grassed areas before and aft the first chicane.

The Oreca car, at worst, would have rolled over a couple of times if it had dug into a gravel trap, rather then being launched by hard, uneven grass verges.

If it had actually made it's way to the other side of the track, it again would have dug into, and been slowed, by the second gravel trap, rather than the hard ground simply cartwheeling the car, as opposed to absorbing the energy.

The problem was that nothing was in place to slow a car that went off at that place/angle, and instead contributed to a more severe accident than neccessary.

[The Badger]

Originally Posted by Dani Filth

he was doing a decent job .. and so was Vanina

Bet Dr . Ullrich doesnt think that . Didnt she take out the number 1 Audi ?