Audi complains again
09-29-2006, 11:29 PM
#1
Melting Slicks
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Audi complains again
Performance Adjustments "... from my point of view will be the end of ALMS..." Audi's Dr Wolfgang Ullrich
http://www.racingfanatics.com/2006%2...sonpodcast.htm
http://www.racingfanatics.com/2006%2...sonpodcast.htm
Last edited by micro; 09-29-2006 at 11:35 PM.
09-30-2006, 07:28 AM
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Dr U is just POed that the Audis did not get the Pole I bet.
Sounds like Dr U wants to win when all the rules are in HIS favor not from competitive racing.
Millions and Millions of marketing dollars it is easery to complain then to drive faster. They will do just fine. and I bet the Audi will still win today
Sounds like Dr U wants to win when all the rules are in HIS favor not from competitive racing.
Millions and Millions of marketing dollars it is easery to complain then to drive faster. They will do just fine. and I bet the Audi will still win today
09-30-2006, 03:40 PM
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I think Audi could care less about qualifying.
They'll win and hope that Acura will bring some competition to them when they arrive.
They all started with the same rulebook, so i'd bitch too if the rules changes started flying fast and furiously.
Audi kicks ***.
RB
They'll win and hope that Acura will bring some competition to them when they arrive.
They all started with the same rulebook, so i'd bitch too if the rules changes started flying fast and furiously.
Audi kicks ***.
RB
09-30-2006, 04:11 PM
#4
Melting Slicks
Perhaps Acura could bring the fight to Audi. My feeling is that they could change the rules as they please, everyone else is fighting for second place. Audi is just too good; the drivers, the car, the team, the technology.
09-30-2006, 04:40 PM
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CI 5-6-7-8-9-10 Veteran
St. Jude Donor '07-'08
What a BULL **** responce. Open Fair racing!?! MY *** restrictor plates and weights being changed from race to race, is not open or fair!
09-30-2006, 04:45 PM
#6
Le Mans Master
I'm with Audi on this one. I've always thought that the idea was to read the rulebook and build the best car you could within those rules. How are you suposed to do that if they change it all the time??
Personal opinion: Publish any changes in the rules shortly after the end of each season and give teams a chance to adapt to those rules. During the season, NO CHANGES. Everyone has access to the same rules, if one team figures out a way to be faster or more reliable
to them and the deserve to win every race. During the season if they determine the need for adjustments to make the racing better, those changes could be made effective the following season.
Personal opinion: Publish any changes in the rules shortly after the end of each season and give teams a chance to adapt to those rules. During the season, NO CHANGES. Everyone has access to the same rules, if one team figures out a way to be faster or more reliable
to them and the deserve to win every race. During the season if they determine the need for adjustments to make the racing better, those changes could be made effective the following season.
09-30-2006, 07:19 PM
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Originally Posted by Stangkiller
What a BULL **** responce. Open Fair racing!?! MY *** restrictor plates and weights being changed from race to race, is not open or fair!
09-30-2006, 08:41 PM
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Originally Posted by johnei
I agree, I was pissed when I was reading about all the recent success of the Astons in ALMS in some British magazine (I know I should never read such trash). No mention of all the weight and the equalizers that have been added to the C6Rs.
Looks like AM may have been sandbagging! Ran faster times in the race than qualifying.
09-30-2006, 09:58 PM
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St. Jude Donor '08-'09-'10
Originally Posted by johnei
I agree, I was pissed when I was reading about all the recent success of the Astons in ALMS in some British magazine (I know I should never read such trash). No mention of all the weight and the equalizers that have been added to the C6Rs.
Who enjoys watching an AM run down a C6 @ LeMans on the backs straight because of a damn restrictor.
10-01-2006, 01:00 AM
#10
Originally Posted by johnodrake
Looks like AM may have been sandbagging! Ran faster times in the race than qualifying.PS.. I was just looking at your C6 Vert with the top up and thinking how sweet an FRC bodied C6 would look. Damn....
10-01-2006, 01:48 AM
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Originally Posted by xsiveone
What killed the Corvette was having to change the front brakes because of the extra weight. IMO, AM should have to build a faster car instead of having Corvette add weight. The car wasn't designed to handle the extra weight.
IMSA has no intentions of changing anything for the last race at Laguna.
10-01-2006, 02:06 AM
#12
Originally Posted by Jeffvette
The extra weight isn't making that big of a difference (even though they had a brake problem on 1 car)
10-01-2006, 12:01 PM
#13
Le Mans Master
Dr Ulrich is right.
His company and GM spend millions to develop a car to the specifications of the series. Then to have the winner declared by some IMSA hack in a boardroom is nothing but bs.
I'd love to see Audi and Corvette tell the ALMS to stick it and go race in Europe. Lets see how long their Porsche series would last.
World Class and "For the Fans"??? I don't think so.
His company and GM spend millions to develop a car to the specifications of the series. Then to have the winner declared by some IMSA hack in a boardroom is nothing but bs.
I'd love to see Audi and Corvette tell the ALMS to stick it and go race in Europe. Lets see how long their Porsche series would last.
World Class and "For the Fans"??? I don't think so.
10-01-2006, 07:20 PM
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A C6.R had the fastest lap during the race at Petit Le Mans.
Does anyone read the P1 rules?
http://www.lemans.org/sport/sport/re.../index_gb.html
Max displacement for turbocharged diesel engine in P1: 5.5 liters
Max displacement for turbocharged gasoline engine in P1: 4.0 liters
Max displacement for n/a gasoline engine in P1: 6.0 liters
Rob Dyson: A level playing field is needed
http://www.the-paddock.net/content/view/240615/49/
Does anyone read the P1 rules?
http://www.lemans.org/sport/sport/re.../index_gb.html
Max displacement for turbocharged diesel engine in P1: 5.5 liters
Max displacement for turbocharged gasoline engine in P1: 4.0 liters
Max displacement for n/a gasoline engine in P1: 6.0 liters
Rob Dyson: A level playing field is needed
http://www.the-paddock.net/content/view/240615/49/
10-01-2006, 09:55 PM
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Originally Posted by Rick-B
They'll win and hope that Acura will bring some competition to them when they arrive.
Andretti Green Racing and Highcroft Racing will each field Acura-Courage LC75 entries next season, with Highcroft designated as the team that will work closest with HPD in chassis development. Fernandez Racing will run an Acura-powered Lola B05/40 and will be the team most focused on ongoing engine development.
teams for 2007:
http://www.americanlemans.com/News/Article.aspx?ID=2323
"Courage Competition has unveiled early renderings of their brand new LC75 LMP2 chassis for 2006. The LC75 is the French constructor's first purpose built LMP2 machine, and it is designed to fit completely into the 2006 ACO LMP2 regulations. There has been no official word on what teams will purchase the car, but there has been interest from current Courage customers campaigning the C65 model in 2005. Stay tuned for information on this car in the coming weeks."
- the-paddock.net from December of last year
Lowe's Fernandez Racing # 15 Lola B05/40 Acura:
http://americanlemans.com/News/Article.aspx?ID=2595
P1 planned:
http://autoweek.com/apps/pbcs.dll/ar...1030/1031/FREE
Last edited by micro; 10-02-2006 at 04:42 PM.
10-02-2006, 01:00 AM
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Originally Posted by Chalky
Who enjoys watching an AM run down a C6 @ LeMans on the backs straight because of a damn restrictor.
I agree with Audi and GM, you build to the rules and that is that, no adjustments should be required.
However, there are variables going on here. In the prototype division, there is an obvious advantage to diesel cars. While I agree that its in the rules and others have the same option Audi did, I would rather see rules that have gasoline and diesel on equal ground, right now they are not. So I agree that its Audi's right to complain as its the same rules for all, but I also agree that the ALMS has the right to look at options to insure their racing series is fair.
On the GT level, its a bit different. Since you arent starting from quite the clean state that the prototypes are, there are variables in the car design that will make them all a bit different and require different rules packages to make them all equal. In this respect, giving one car a restrictor, or weight break to even up the field is not all that out of the ordinary.
The only issue in this case is that the main reason that the AMs are not as fast is due to the tires. They do not want to spend their own money for Michelins here in the states and therefore are running the inferior Pirelli, which is the main cause for their slower times. In France, on equal ground, the cars are about the same on Michelin rubber. So I wish that AM would just step up and get some real tires to do the right thing and make the racing fair. Till then, the ALMS needs AM so they will do what they can to make them competitive.
All that said, if GM and Audi dont like it, I say let them leave. They dont have anywhere to go though. GM doesnt need to race in Europe to sell Vettes, so they wont go to the LMS, and Audi want to sell their diesels in the US when they come in the next year or so, so they dont want to go to Europe either. All they can do is quite outright, which in the end might be better for the series anyway as it might allow for some other teams to come in and race rather than getting slaughtered by Audi and GM every week. I can potentially see GM giving it up, but I dont see Audi going anwhere as long as they want to race.
10-02-2006, 01:59 AM
#17
Le Mans Master
actually, I think racing the Vettes in Europe would help GM alot, they don't need to race in the states to sell the cars because Americans already love Corvettes. In Europe, people think they're just plastic American junk. If the Corvette privateer teams can do as well as they have against european factory teams over here, then I'd like to see what a factory backed Corvette team could do. People see vettes winning races, overseas sales would likely increase.
10-02-2006, 02:40 AM
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Originally Posted by xsiveone
Both cars. They might've had a chance if they didn't have to swap the brakes out on both cars because of the added weight. Even Olivier Berretta said that the problem was the extra weight in the interview at the end of the race.
Didn't see the second car in the pits, not all spots on the track had "TV coverage". I'll watch the race tomorrow. To exhausted now after the flight.
10-02-2006, 01:30 PM
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St. Jude Donor '08-'09-'10
Originally Posted by Jimmy@MV
The Vettes arent restricted at Le Mans, the AMs are just faster. The weight and restrictions are only an IMSA thing in order to make the racing more interesting.
I agree with Audi and GM, you build to the rules and that is that, no adjustments should be required.
However, there are variables going on here. In the prototype division, there is an obvious advantage to diesel cars. While I agree that its in the rules and others have the same option Audi did, I would rather see rules that have gasoline and diesel on equal ground, right now they are not. So I agree that its Audi's right to complain as its the same rules for all, but I also agree that the ALMS has the right to look at options to insure their racing series is fair.
On the GT level, its a bit different. Since you arent starting from quite the clean state that the prototypes are, there are variables in the car design that will make them all a bit different and require different rules packages to make them all equal. In this respect, giving one car a restrictor, or weight break to even up the field is not all that out of the ordinary.
The only issue in this case is that the main reason that the AMs are not as fast is due to the tires. They do not want to spend their own money for Michelins here in the states and therefore are running the inferior Pirelli, which is the main cause for their slower times. In France, on equal ground, the cars are about the same on Michelin rubber. So I wish that AM would just step up and get some real tires to do the right thing and make the racing fair. Till then, the ALMS needs AM so they will do what they can to make them competitive.
All that said, if GM and Audi dont like it, I say let them leave. They dont have anywhere to go though. GM doesnt need to race in Europe to sell Vettes, so they wont go to the LMS, and Audi want to sell their diesels in the US when they come in the next year or so, so they dont want to go to Europe either. All they can do is quite outright, which in the end might be better for the series anyway as it might allow for some other teams to come in and race rather than getting slaughtered by Audi and GM every week. I can potentially see GM giving it up, but I dont see Audi going anwhere as long as they want to race.
I agree with Audi and GM, you build to the rules and that is that, no adjustments should be required.
However, there are variables going on here. In the prototype division, there is an obvious advantage to diesel cars. While I agree that its in the rules and others have the same option Audi did, I would rather see rules that have gasoline and diesel on equal ground, right now they are not. So I agree that its Audi's right to complain as its the same rules for all, but I also agree that the ALMS has the right to look at options to insure their racing series is fair.
On the GT level, its a bit different. Since you arent starting from quite the clean state that the prototypes are, there are variables in the car design that will make them all a bit different and require different rules packages to make them all equal. In this respect, giving one car a restrictor, or weight break to even up the field is not all that out of the ordinary.
The only issue in this case is that the main reason that the AMs are not as fast is due to the tires. They do not want to spend their own money for Michelins here in the states and therefore are running the inferior Pirelli, which is the main cause for their slower times. In France, on equal ground, the cars are about the same on Michelin rubber. So I wish that AM would just step up and get some real tires to do the right thing and make the racing fair. Till then, the ALMS needs AM so they will do what they can to make them competitive.
All that said, if GM and Audi dont like it, I say let them leave. They dont have anywhere to go though. GM doesnt need to race in Europe to sell Vettes, so they wont go to the LMS, and Audi want to sell their diesels in the US when they come in the next year or so, so they dont want to go to Europe either. All they can do is quite outright, which in the end might be better for the series anyway as it might allow for some other teams to come in and race rather than getting slaughtered by Audi and GM every week. I can potentially see GM giving it up, but I dont see Audi going anwhere as long as they want to race.
"I expect another great race," O'Connell predicted. "The Aston Martin team has strong credentials and an experienced driver lineup. The Saleen is going to be tough, and there is a Corvette C5-R that we'll have to worry about because it is allowed to run a larger intake air restrictor than our Corvette C6.Rs. I also see competition from the independent Aston Martins and Ferraris. If we are fortunate enough to win, we'll be able to say that we beat one of the strongest GT1 fields in history."