THE LE MANS EXPERIENCE
What’s it like to witness the greatest race on earth?
I’VE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING like itI and f’ve been privileged enough to attend manyI many motorsport events over my NS years as an automotive journalist. ft was 2W5Tpm on the punday of gune N9I three minutes left for the culmination of the 84th runningoftheiejans24hours.lnmyphone f’dalreadytypedout‘Congratulations#Toyota! A well deserved and hugely popular win here at #iejans’. bverybody f knew at Toyota had been tagged in the tweet and f was all set to
hit the send button the second the #5 Toyota crossed the chequered flag. It really was going to be a very popular victory – Toyota had been trying for the past 31 years, had scored three second place finishes, yet that elusive first win had remained, well, elusive. But in 2016, with an all-new car, and against all expectations or even form running up to the race, Toyota had led the race right from the beginning. They deserved to win and then Ad it ya Pa tel, standing next to me in the Audi hospitality lounge overlooking the Ford Curves, noticed the gap to the second-placed Porsche closing. Impossible I said, this isn’t cricket, but Toyota’s worst nightmare was just beginning to unfold. Before the lead Toyota hit the main straight for the final lap of the World’ s Greatest Motor Race, the #02 Porsche had caught and passed it. The live feed on the screens in the Audi lounge beamed incredulous looks from the Toyota garage, mad joy from the Porsche pits and Nakajima stranded on the main straight radioing his pits “I have no power”. Staring at my phone I couldn’t think of anything intelligent to tweet; not even Brad Pitt holding the chequered flag could have cooked up such a dramatic twist to the plot. The 2016 Le Mans 24 Hours will not be remembered for Porsche’ s second win on the trot but for the fact that Toyota lost ito nth every last lap. When they needed it the most, Toyota’s reliability vanished.
The most advanced race cars in the world
That tag belongs not to Formula 1 but the prototypes racing at Le Mans and the World Endurance Championship. If you haven’t, you really must read the brilliantly insightful piece on the Porsche 919 Hybrid in the last issue ( evo India, July 2016). These prototypes make a total of over 1000bhp using a combustion engine backed up by a hybrid powertrain that harvests energy to almost double the power output. And
they’re built like tanks to withstand the beating racecars take over 24 hours on the parthe circuit.
lur ie jans experience begins with a tech briefing by Audi Sport’s head of aerodynamics, gan jonchaux. Turns out the Audi oN8 is completelynewfor2MNSwithanewchassisand that bluff front end compensates for the holes abovethefronttyresthatare45percentlarger. These holes are mandated by rules to reduce the possibility of the car taking off in case of an accident; even the huge horizontal fin on the engine cover Ebehind the driver’s canopyF is there for stability when the car is out of control.
that’s even more exciting is the powertrain. ie jans regulations place an emphasis on energy efficiency rather than outright performance – there are no air restrictors or capacity limits on engines which has led to fantastic variety – diesel vs petrolI turbo vs naturalJaspirationI sS vs s8 vs s4I one or two energy recovery systems.
This year Audi stepped up from the 4jg to Sjgclassandtherecoveredenergyisnolonger stored in a flywheel but in batteries located next to the driver. pince the diesel engine is heavier than the petrols Audi haven’t been able to move to the maximum 8jg class Ethe hybrid hardware adds weightF. po what is this megajoule business? Basically S megajoules is the maximum ErecoveredF energy that can be deployed per lapI sort of like a boost button that momentarily makes the Audi oN8 a quattro. But since it is all about efficient performance, the higher the megajoule class the less fuel you can use per lapI for instance in the 2jg class P.T litres of diesel Eor 4.T litres of petrolF is permitted per lapI which drops to P.4T litres E4.P8 litres of petrolF in the Sjg class.
A decade after Audi took the first win for a diesel engine at ie jans they still stick with diesel but the motor is now a sS that displaces four litres and is fed by a single turbochargerI compared to 2MMS’s sN2 displacing 5.5Jlitres. The 2MNS unit makes 5N4bhp and 85Mkm of torque Ethe sN2 made S5MbhpF and has almost
THE AUDI R18 MAKES A TOTAL OF 1000BHP FROM THE DIESEL AND HYBRID COMBO
half the fuel consumption E4S.4 per cent to be preciseF yet lap times are NM to N5 seconds quicker.bnergyisrecoveredunderbrakingand then deploys P5Mbhp to the front wheels. That’s atotalofnearlyNMMMbhp–andcanyouimagine the complexity of managing all that energy flow!
that’s even more incredible is the variety on display. there cN cars all have the same sS N.SJlitre engine Ein different power outputsI admittedlyFI and they all look the sameI at ie jans the top three manufacturers all follow widely different paths. cor 2MNSI morsche continuedwiththe2Jlitres4singleJturbopetrol motor but with new restrictions on energy Eamountoffuelallowedperlapdropsfrom4.S4 litres to 4.PNFI power from the lighterJweight motor dropped from ‘well above 5MMbhp’ to 48MJ495bhp. bnergy is harvested not only under braking like the systems in the Audi and ToyotaI but also from the innovative exhaust gas energy recovery system that allows energy recovery at all times that the engine is running. As for ToyotaI they ditched the naturallyJ aspirated s8 for a twinJturbo 2.4Jlitre sSI still a petrolI and bumped up to the 8jg energy recovery class. cN should be keeping an eye on whatishappeningatiejansIyetBerniefound theiejansweekendtorunaprocessionalrace round the streets of Baku.
Therain
Audi had great form going in to ie jans. They won but were later excluded from the pilverstone round of the tbC Efor excessive wear on the front skid blockF and won a race of attrition at the next round at ppa. fn qualifying though it was the morsche’s at the front of the gridI NJ2I followed by the two Toyotas and then the two Audis. bverybody expected it to be a fight between the two Volkswagen Group cousins, despite the qualifying results. bverybodywasgoingtobeprovedverywrong.
ft rained just before at the startI so heavily that the race started behind the Audi o8 safety
AUDI HAD GREAT FORM GOING IN TO LE MANS BUT QUALIFYING WAS A DIFFERENT MATTER
car.Andthat’showtheyranforthefirsthourtill theo8peeledintothepitsandthenitwaspedal to metal with the Toyotas storming in to the lead. rnlike endurance races in the past where drivers would conserve carsI cook up strategies et al, these days the ie jans 24 eours is a 24 hour sprint race. tith Toyota pitting in late for aswitchtoslicktyresonadryingtrackImorsche movedintotheleadandatthethirdhourmark Brendon eartley in the #N morsche led the #S ToyotaofjikeConwaywiththe#8Audiofioic auval just behindI all three cars covered by less than three seconds – that’s how close they were racing.
ThereturnofFord
ft was not just the Audi vs morsche battle Eand ToyotaI how everybody ignored the gapanese entryF that everybody had their eyes on; in fact more eyes were on the cord vs cerrari Ealso morscheI Aston jartin and CorvetteF battle in the GT class. Fifty years after they clinched a famous NJ2JP at ie jans with the legendary GT40 (in the overall standings, mind you) Ford were back at Le Mans with their new GT supercar. Run by the American Chip Ganassi racing teamI the blueJwhiteJandJred cords running turboJcharged bcoBoost engines marked a welcome return to oldJschool racingW cars that look like road cars racing each other. FordGTvsFerrari488GTB.WouldFordrepeat the defeat Henry Ford Junior inflicted on Enzo Ferrari fifty years ago? Or would Porsche with their new 9NN steal the thunder? lr the CorvetteI that actually made thunder out of its exhaustI spring a surprise?
TurnsoutcordhadtheupperhandIshocking the rest of the grid with their qualifying pace. The race was much closer but eventually the cord triumphed to take a famous victory Eprompting rumours of cerrari returning properly to ie jansI maybe even in the ijmN classF.
Onelapmore
As the hours wore on and dusk began to fallI
FIFTY YEARS AFTER THEIR FAMOUS
1-2-3 IN THE GT40, FORD WERE BACK AT
LE MANS
fuel efficiency emerged as Toyota’s trump card. there the Audis and morsches had to come in to the pits every NP lapsI the Toyota’s better fuel efficiency meant it could stay out for one lap more. By the fifth hour, to everyone’s amazementI the #S Toyota was in the leadI taking over from morsche. fn the Audi pitsI meanwhileI the troubles were only beginning. The #T Audi required a turbo change and the #8 car had a lengthy pitstop to sort out a brake disc problem. The #T was then brought back in foraprecautionarybrakechangeofitsown.kot that the others had a trouble free run. The #N morsche was plagued by a faulty water pumpI skyJrocketing the engine temperatures. The #S Toyota had a gravelJtrap excursion and a minor incident with a backmarker forced the team to pit to check the condition of the cooling system.
cact though was Audi just didn’t have the pace to cut it at the front.
263,500fans
The atmosphere at ie jans is incredible. ko matter how hardcore a race fan you areI there’s nowayyoucanwatchthecarsgoingroundand round for 24 hours straightI but ie jans has an absolutely ridiculous amount of things to keepyouoccupied.fnthemainAudihospitality lounge half our group had repaired to the
ground floor to watch the Euro Cup games; f found a pinball machine to relive my youth and then dipped my feet into a tank of water full of fish (this fish spa business is just a fad to be honestF. gust before sunset we hopped into a helicopter for a N5Jminute ride chasing race cars round the NP.S29km ie jans track and it’s from the air that you really get a sense of how long the old julsanne straight was ES km!FI which is now punctuated by two chicanes. ft is also a testament to the rate of progress that despite the chicanes the ijmN cars still hit over PP5kmph before braking for the chicane. Back inthedaythemorsche9NTusedtohit4N4kmphI which was the target that VW Group’s former overlord cerdinand miech gave his engineers whentheystartedworkontheBugattiseyron.
Back in the Audi lounge f signed up for a haircut (am now sporting a German fastback hairdoFI spoke with engineers who were rebuildingthefirstV12dieselLeMansmotorin front of us Ea treat!FI raced each other in a kart race EAditya matel obviously beat us but also beat ie jans legend bmmanuel mirroF and in between it allI stuffed our faces and matched whiskeys with cigars. f’ve been for manyI many racesbutnobodydoesracehospitalitylikeAudi atiejans.
Threeminutestogo
And so the last lap. The #2 morsche went past the stricken #5 Toyota that came to a halt after the start-finish line; if it had stopped a few metres before and then rolled over the line it might have classified second. The #6 Toyota, which was leading the race till the NTth hourI got promoted to second. And the #8 Audi bagged the final podium position. Victory was morsche’s N8th at ie jans – the most wins by any manufacturer. Audi’s podium also meant the German brand has finished on the podium for every single race since their debut in N999. But there’s one statistic that everybody will remember this race byI and that’s how Toyota lost it with one hand on the trophy.