Ooh I can't wait to see the Vipers take on the Corvettes, Ferraris, Porsches and BMWs
#alms
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While this year's 24 Hours of Le Mans ended up being a bit of a disappointment from a purely competitive standpoint thanks to the early retirement of the +TOYOTA s and the cancellation of the Peugeot race program earlier this year, it was not a total waste.
In fact it was quite a strong demonstration of the message that American Le Mans Series CEO Scott Atherton has been spreading since at least 2008. Ever since the launch of the ALMS Green Challenge that year, Atherton has been playing up the relevance of Le Mans-style sports car racing to manufacturers of road cars.
For five years +Audi International and later +Peugeot have been demonstrating the ability of diesel engines to provide before performance and fuel efficiency. Here in the US, a plurality of the competitors run on cellulosic E85 and the Dyson Racing team has been running biobutanol for two years.
This weekend in France, Audi and Toyota both demonstrated the performance and efficiency of hybrid power while +Highcroft Racing and the +Nissan DeltaWing showed the possibilities of light weight, low drag and downsized engines, all of which will factor into new cars in the coming years. Next year we will see the first hydrogen fuel cell car run at Le Mans.
What advancements have we ever seen from NASCAR? If we are going to race cars, the Le Mans approach is definitely the way to go.
#Lemans #fuelefficiency #americanlemansseries #alms
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Green Fuels Forecast
Green Fuels Forecast, web-based coverage of the alternative fuel automotive sector including batteries, electric and hybrid drive, diesel, hydrogen and biofuels
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The actual 24 Hours of Le Mans race might be twice around the clock, but before any of the cars take to the track for practice and qualifying they have to go through scrutineering to make sure everything is in compliance with the rule book.
Monday of race week is devoted to the technical inspections and it takes about an hour to evaluate each of the 56 cars. Today the teams hit the track in earnest. #lemans2012 #alms
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Eight and a half hours into the 12 hours of Sebring, there is a great battle raging in GT. The first four cars in the class are running practically nose to tail with Corvette, BMW, Corvette and BMW and then the fifth place Porsche 911 less than 10 seconds back from that group.
#sebring #sebring12 #alms #americanlemansseries
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Earlier this week, it was revealed that the Detroit automakers missed out on a huge opportunity to demonstrate some true innovation innovation on the race track when they took a pass on supporting +Highcroft Racing and the Deltawing project. Two of the three Detroit companies have four cylinder engines with direct injection and turbocharging that would have made a perfect basis for propelling this radical new machine.
Into the breach stepped +Nissan with a modified version of the engine from the Juke compact crossover. Autoextremist Pete De Lorenzo has a great column this week that praises Nissan and rips into the domestics for this missed opportunity. http://www.autoextremist.com/fumes1/2012/3/13/fumes.html
Meanwhile Highcroft brought the Deltawing to Sebring yesterday to run some demonstration laps in between practice sessions for the 60th annual 12 Hours tomorrow.
#sebring #sebring12 #americanlemansseries #lemans #alms #highcroftracing #nissan
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#lotus #alms #americanlemans #americanlemansseries
Lotus Evora GTE
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It's great to see another iconic performance brand hit the track in the American Le Mans Series as Lotus makes its debut this year. Alex Job Racing will move up from the GT Challenge class to return to full GT competition with a factory-backed Lotus Evora GTE.
Hopefully AJR will retain the classic Lotus black and gold livery even with its sponsorship from Battery Tender. Despite the color scheme having originated with a tobacco brand on the Lotus F1 cars of the 1970s, the combination just looks cooler than almost anything else on the track, especially on a GT machine like the Evora. Unfortunately, even the black and gold can't rescue the looks of a modern F1 car.
Hopefully, the Evora will have more success on the track the Jaguar XKRs have had for the past two years.
#alms #americanlemans #lotus #alexjobracing
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Lotus Latest Manufacturer to Join ALMS Ranks
Lotus is joining the ranks of legendary manufacturers to compete in the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón. Lotus Motorsport and Alex Job Racing announced a partnership today that wil…
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Despite the loss of Peugeot, this year's 24 Hours of Le Mans is shaping up to be a fascinating race. In addition to the new Toyota TS030 LMP1 with an ultra-capacitor hybrid drive system, Highcroft Racing is teaming up with Dan Gurney's All-American Racers and Michelin to run the new DeltaWing prototype. http://www.highcroftracing.com/
Michelin just delivered the first set of tires for this new dart-shaped race car and the fronts in particular pale next to the massive tires used by last year's winning Audi R18 TDI.
One of the coolest things about Le Mans is the willingness of the organizers to let teams try out new technology. For the past half dozen years, Audi and Peugeot have demonstrated the benefits of diesel power and the DeltaWing will run unclassified as a proof of concept for more efficient, downsized racers.
I can't wait for June!
#alms #lemans #deltawing #highcroft #michelin
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MICHELIN DELIVERS FIRST TIRES TO DELTAWING
Michelin today unveiled the first set of specially designed race tires for the 24 Hours of Le Mans-bound Project 56 DeltaWing team. One look at the unique sizes of the tires makes the radical nature o…
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#plm #alms #peugeot #enduranceracing
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It's a sad sign of continuing tough economic times that Peugeot is shuttering its Le Mans race program.
Over the past five years, the ongoing battle between the diesel powered Peugeot 908s and Audi R10s, R15s and R18s has provided some of the best competition anywhere. Seeing these prototypes running flat-out for 10, 12 and 24 hours warms the heart of any race fan.
Perhaps the biggest disappointment is that we won't get to see the hybrid version of the 908 run in competition. Hopefully Peugeot will at least keep some of the engineering team together so that they are ready to comeback when things pick up.
#peugeot #lemans #alms #enduranceracing
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Peugeot brings down the curtain on its endurance programme so as to ensure the success of its numerous launches in 2012
After 14 victories in the last 16 races, including a double at the Le Mans 24 Hours 2009 as part of the ILMC championship won by Peugeot two years running, in 2010 and 2011, the Brand has decided to c…
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