The infamous Porsche LMP

[jhansen]

There is a good summary of the Porsche LMP project on Musanne's Corner. It's a good read. Too bad this car never turned a wheel in race conditions. A Porsche-Audi battle over the past four years would have been interesting indeed. And then if Cadilac would have continued the development of its 2002 spec car...if, if, if!

Thanks for the write-up Mike! For those that don't know, this is an excellent technical site and is a must for any sportscar fan.

http://www.mulsannescorner.com/porschelmp1.html

[GT1]

Just one thing. I do think Porsche have admitted the car exists, at least Alvin Springer has.

Last year in the Speed booth he said "We had a car to fight Audi, that is no secrect anymore". That was a response to the question of how it would have been to fight an R8.

[rdjones]

IIRC there was a rummour that went around the Porsche LMP900 car actully became the Audi R8. This of cause both Audi and Porsche laughed the story off.

[GT1]

I don't believe that, but I do belive there was something between the Porsche not racing against their main rival on the track and their closest friend on the street, which would have been Audi.

[Javi]

Volkswagen (audi) financed most of the cost of the Cayenne / Touareg platform development, so it´s logical to think that in return thay asked porsche to freeze their LMP and let Audi free space. At least its engine was carried to the Carrera GT. And, from a sporting point of view, we can all put porsche on the hook for doing that, but, after the sales success of the cayenne, financially they proved to be right, and, maybe, now they´ve got the money to start again an LMP program...

[GT1]

Regarding Cadillac...that was General Motors chance to prove it could duke it out with the worlds best. Instead they cancelled it the minute their three year contract ran dry.

It was a mis managed, cherry picked program that was only concerned about TV commericals.

Personally, I am glad they are gone. The only thing worse than ending the program was starting it. Most manufacturers come to a racing program thinking "Were gonna win!". GM came in and did a lot of PR, and then retreated having accomplished nothing except recieving international critisisim and hinting at what could have been with a few stron runs in the late hours of the program.

[Cadete]

ah, the wonderfull three year programs "one to learn, the second to go to the podium, the third to win everything". but then you see that all of them have the same plan and everyone drops out in fear of bad publicity....

that's why I like privateers, they'll stick around just for the racing.

EDIT: by the way, this post is a exagerated view, don't take everything I say by the letter

[Tim Northcutt]

A Related Note:

While at Mid-Ohio, I read in the Mansfield newspaper's Sports section that an exec from Porsche was there...when asked about a possible LMP, he said that there was something on the boards, but no final decision had been made to go full forward yet....

[rdjones]

Originally posted by Tim Northcutt
A Related Note:

While at Mid-Ohio, I read in the Mansfield newspaper's Sports section that an exec from Porsche was there...when asked about a possible LMP, he said that there was something on the boards, but no final decision had been made to go full forward yet....

Now that is good news and really the news that a lot of people have been waiting for, if of course it is ture. If it is ture I expect to see them back on the grid in 2006.

[jhansen]

If design work was completed in May of 1999, which was followed by the chassis production, when could that test have taken place? The reason I ask is that it is clear that McNish is driving in the photo. Well in 2000 Nishy of course drove the R8 to an ALMS title and 2nd overall at Le Mans. I'm assuming Nishy tested the R8 prior to the 2000 season. In which, he possibly tested the two cars within a short span of time. A matter of months maybe. Wonder what he thought?

[rdjones]

I would think that the test place sometime in the late summer of 1999. Nishy must have signed for Audi with in a matter of weeks after the test.

[jhansen]

Thanks rdjones...anyone know when the R8 began testing?

I think it also further displays the cooperation between Audi and Porsche, as McNish was transfered over with ease.

[rdjones]

IIRC correctly the car debut at Sebring in 2000 and was then put away until Le Mans, with Audi using the 1999 version of the R8 in between. So they must have started testing the car around the same time that Porsche where testing the above mentioned car.

[Tim Northcutt]

Originally posted by rdjones
Now that is good news and really the news that a lot of people have been waiting for, if of course it is ture. If it is ture I expect to see them back on the grid in 2006.

Since I don't want to put words in the mouth of anyone, here is where you can read that item:

www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com

when the page comes up, click on local sports


when it goes into the sports index, there should be a calendar on the right side of the screen...

Click on the June 27 date on that calendar.....

Within the story on "ALMS Track Records Broken" is the item about a possible Porsche LMP program....


Hope that helps....

[Tim Northcutt]

This is excerpted from the Mansfield News Journal's item that Ran Sunday:

PROTOTYPE PORSCHE: Uwe Brettel of Porsche Motorsports didn't rule out a Porsche-backed effort in the thinning prototype ranks of ALMS. He didn't confirm it either.

"We're investing massive, but we're not there yet with a decision," he said.

While it doesn't field cars for LMP1, LMP2 or GTS, Porsche dominates the GT class. Of the 13 cars in it, 11 are Porsche 911 GT3 RSRs.

"It's a car you have fun with. It's fun to drive. It's sexy. Racing is our roots and we haven't forgotten about our roots," Brettel said, adding that there are 150 customer teams for Porsche across North America.

[sportscarsRULE]

If Caddie wins SWC championships this year and they brag about beatng Audi...I'm gonna LMAO!

[Chevyguy]

LMPs are on the table for both Porsche and Audi right now, but they have both released a supercar. Brings me back to that GTS pathway of thought again. Speaking of, anyone got a pic of the A8?

[RM40]

Audi has a supercar?

[jhansen]

News to me.

[kdr]

Originally posted by RM40
Audi has a supercar?

as mentioned in another thread i believe chevyguy means the audi le mans concept car, which was on display outside the aco museum on race friday.

as a daily commuter thru londons more affluent areas, in my mind (probably alone)- porsche have a lot of backtracking to do to regain their racing heritage...as the cayenne seems to be exclusively driven by chelsea mums dropping their kids off at school. michael delaney would be spinning in his grave..

[Pilgrimage]

ahhh.... Michael Delaney.... [:fondly reminises about the good ol' days:]

[Pilgrimage]

...or was that just a film???

[kdr]

i think it was a documentary pilgrimage...one that the porsche board should be made to sit thru on regular occasions...

[Pilgrimage]

They could call it "Mission Statement Seminar: I want Porsche to Win Le Mans"

[Chevyguy]

Cadete or ktr, do you know where I get see a pic of the "Le Mans Concept". Like I've said in other threads, I'm thinking it would be a potential GTS car. Maybe the concept behind it is to win Le Mans production style.