Le Mans24: ACO to change rules

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ACO to change rules after accidents

Le Mans organiser the ACO has vowed to make changes to the car regulations for 2009 following the number of aerial crashes that have occurred in recent months.

Hideki Noda suffered the sixth aerial accident for a prototype car since March during Wednesday's qualifying session, and the ACO believes that reducing corner speeds will solve the problem.

"(Aerial accidents) are a new phenomenon, as the regulations have not changed for this year," said ACO sporting director Daniel Poissenot.

"But I think we will have a different position for next year given the urgency of this. We will examine it.

"We need to look at the performance of the cars. We want to reduce downforce, which in turn will reduce corner speeds. All aero devices on the bottom of the cars will be banned for 2009."

The organisers of the race also outlined more plans to reduce the speed of the cars over the next couple of years with further aerodynamics reductions for 2010.

Poissenot added: "We saw in qualifying a 3:18 lap (by Peugeot). We are going to restrict the performance of the cars, but we will take the race times into account as qualifying can be inaccurate.

"We will do a lot of work for 2010 over the winter, but we want stability of three or four years, so there are no bad surprises for anyone. Current cars will still be allowed, but we will work to balance their performance with the new ones."

Plans for the future regulations also include the use of energy recovery systems, and increased lateral protection for drivers to improve the safety of the cars.

Autosport

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ACO aims to reduce diesel advantage

The difference in performance between diesel and petrol LMP1 cars is set to be addressed by Le Mans organisers the ACO for next year.

The fastest petrol-powered car during Wednesday's qualifying sessions was 10 seconds adrift of Stephane Sarrazin's pole time in the diesel Peugeot 908, but the organisers are keen for all cars in LMP1 to have the chance to fight for victory.

The ACO's sporting director Daniel Poissenot said: "When manufacturers are involved they work very hard, but we want everyone on a level playing field.

"We do not want sub-categories in any of the classes. We will have new air restrictor regulations to balance petrol and diesel. That is what we want and we want to do that for next year."

Poissenot added that the performance difference was probably not entirely down to the type of fuel used to power the cars.

"Peugeot and Audi have put in a lot of work and we have seen the results here," he added. "They have built extraordinary cars.

"The performance of a car is based on a lot of factors, so we will need to examine all of these factors before we make any decisions."

Autosport

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Pescarolo welcomes potential changes

Henri Pescarolo welcomed Le Mans organiser the ACO's admission that the difference in performance between the petrol and diesel-powered cars needs to be addressed.

The ACO has declared its intention to equalise petrol and diesel cars to allow petrol-powered cars to fight for outright victory, and to elimante the focus on the competition in an unofficial 'petrol class'.

"They recognised for the first time that they were wrong with the equivalency," Pescarolo told autosport.com. "It's the same thing I've been saying for two years, so I'm happy. Now we have to wait and see what they decide to do, technically speaking, but I'm pleased about it.

"Unfortunately we have to fight in a category that doesn't exist. Everyone speaks about the petrol category but there isn't one. But we will still fight to be the best petrol car and in qualifying yesterday we were, which is a good start for us.

"We are trying to prove again that, with the same power, we are the best team. If we want to sell cars to customers we have to prove to them that our chassis is one of the best and is reliable, so we need to finish the race."

Pescarolo's team have been among the leading petrol-powered contenders in recent years, but have struggled to match the diesels that have dominated Le Mans since Audi introduced their R10 TDi in 2006.

Autosport

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A.C.O. annual press conference

The A.C.O. held their annual press conference today at the Muse� Automobile de La Sarthe, a few meters from the main entry to the Le Mans 24 Hours circuit. Most of the A.C.O. top led by their president Jean-Claude Plassart presented a number of news regarding the future of endurance racing and the Le Mans 24 Hours.

After an introduction by Mr. Plassart the first speech was by Director General Daniel Poissenot who presented the results of the discussions that the A.C.O. had with a number of constructors last April. The main news for the coming years were outlined even if very little detail was given on some of the key items.

The headlines were:

For 2009:
-Reduction of engine performance (including a revised diesel-petrol equivalence)
-Authorization of hybrid engines (Mr. Poissenot mentioned many types could be admitted)
-GT1 engines will be authorized in LMP1 cars just as GT2 engines are allowed already on LMP2s (just as the current Lola-Aston Martin)
-The maximum temperature in the cockpit will be 32 degrees.

For 2010:
-Substantial aerodynamic restrictions
-Extended use of second generation bio-fuels
-Higher relevance of the Michelin Endurance Energy Challenge
-No pre-heating of tyres will be allowed
-Only one �gun� will be allowed during tyre changes
-Open and closed prototypes will still be homologated
-A new bodywork set of rules will be introduced (to be announced at the end of 2008)
-Side protections on prototypes will be reinforced
-There�s still a will to evolve GT rules and align with the FIA for a common set of regulations

Patrick Chaillou (Communication Director) shared the results of a survey that the A.C.O. did in 6 countries (France, UK, USA, Germany, Japan) on the visibility/relevance of the Le Mans name and R�my Brouard (Director General) shared an initiative called �Le Mans Planet� introducing the Asian Le Mans Series as of 2009.

The new series will initially consist of two races (Fuji and Shanghai) in October-November 2009. The top cars on each class of the 2-race series will get an automatic entry for the 2010 Le Mans 24 Hours so it is expected that teams from both sides of the Atlantic will be interested in participating as it does not collide with LMS and/or ALMS races.

On the media side Commercial Director Fabrice Bourrigard explained the new TV deals A.C.O. had signed for 2008 with clear expansions in Europe and Japan as well as the fact that the circuit will be fully �fibered� for HDTV is 2009. That and car cameras on all 55 participants should make the race of races even more attractive for those at home while the Kangaroo TVs will enhance the experience for those at the circuit.

Finally Pierre Fillon (A.C.O. Vice President) introduced a new Racing school as part of the A.C.O. proposal together with the three continental series and original merchandising. A new series will also emerge next year in partnership with Oreca: The Formula Le Mans. This will
Be a 7-weekend, 14-race series with open prototypes which will be support race for the LMS on their 5 races and have 2 extra race weekends.

The new cars will be a sort of �LMP3� carbon fiber open prototypes intended for junior and gentleman drivers alike.

Planetlemans

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Audi unconcerned by '09 rule changes

Audi Sport boss Dr Wolfgang Ullrich says his team are not concerned about the ACO's bid to narrow the performance gap between diesel and petrol-powered cars.

Diesels have dominated the Le Mans 24 Hours since Audi introduced the R10 TDi in 2006. This year the fastest petrol car in qualifying was 10 seconds slower than the diesel Peugeot's pole time.

The race organisers have now announced that air restrictors will be used to try and equalise diesel and petrol performance from 2009, removing some of Audi and Peugeot's advantage, but Ullrich played down the significance of the change.

"It has to be done every year. This is nothing new," he said. "They did it in the years before, recalibrate, even if all have been running [petrol] fuel engines. There have been years where they have attempted to give the turbo engine a little bit more than the aspirated, so this is what the ACO is regularly doing.

"They look at the race result and try to make something proper for the next season. The idea is to give all interested competitors that want to go in on the same level a very similar chance, with whatever they come [with]."

When announcing the rule tweak, ACO sporting director Daniel Poissenot conceded that part of Audi and Peugeot's advantage came not from the use of diesel, but because they had built "extraordinary cars" - a point that Ullrich agreed with.

"We discussed already last year that if somebody decides to come with a diesel, he is taking a big challenge," he said. "This is something people need to know. You have to look in the whole rulebook and see the advantages and disadvantages.

"Most people only see more power and less fuel consumption, but they don't look at all the other stuff that is behind. You have to do a car completely differently."

The ACO is also planning aerodynamic changes to reduce the chances of cars flipping after a spate of aerial accidents in recent months.

Ullrich welcomed this move, but warned that it could be impossible to completely prevent all such accidents.

"We never ignore these things. We always sit together and look at the data on it," he said. "If we think that we can make this better and we can avoid things like this happening, we'll work on it, that's for sure.

"I feel myself responsible for my drivers and Audi feels responsible to make the best solution possible. But you will never be able to avoid an incident or an accident if there is racing going on.

"If you look at the accidents that we had this year, they have been in most cases caused by strong competition and having cars close together, or even touching each other.

"You cannot avoid that (when) a car gets too much air under it that it starts to move, but the speed where it happens we have increased tremendously so we have improved the margin of safety.

"We have now seen some accidents this year, but it is very important to go into the detail of every accident and not put them all together and say these car suddenly start to fly. That's not true.

"We have been working for three years, with the FIA and ACO, to make a rulebook for sports-prototypes that improves their safety. I think these cars are really on a good level, which does not mean we do not continuously work on it."

Autosport

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The good and great of the sportscar technical scene turned out in a sweaty Silverstone press room to find out the future direction of Le Mans.

It looks like the ACO are hoping for a quieter, safer and greener future. Noise levels have come under the microscope and will be cut gradually from next year until the new rules come into force in 2011. But the French body insists that "the most important thing is to have good racing and good fights, great duels in all categories, as well as keeping innovation and technology in the sport".

But recent events have shown that the cars are possibly too fast "Safety is important, we have invested a lot in the track, but cars are going faster and faster, and this has created accident and has concerned us, we have to reduce the speed of the cars. And reduce costs, cars should be cheaper to build and cheaper to race."

The ACO tasked Gordon Murray and Bernard Dudot with developing the new regs. Pierre Fillon went on to reveal more detail "with equivalency, the diesels need to be closer to petrol, restrictors and turbo pressure changed. All categories will be slowed but the cars will not change, costs will be cut, tire changes will be made longer with only two pit crew allowed with one wheel gun. LMP1 chassis and engine rules are stable for '09/'10, two race engines for all LMS races."

The new LMP regulations have been delayed until 2011, as the results of the ongoing aerodynamic study started in the wake of the accidents at Le Mans and Monza. These regulations will be revealed on November 15th. Meanwhile Daniel Poissenot has revealed hybrids will be able to race from 2010. Any hybrid that starts an ACO race in 2009 will not be eligible for points and will not feature in the overall classification.

LMP2 cars will only be allowed GT2 engines from 2011 and the ACO will push LMP1 into using the current LMP2 engines.

Crucially, between now and 2011, the chassis regulations will be little changed with some minoraero tweaks (such as new rear wings and mandatory gurney flap sizes).

Whether the American Le Mans Series will adopt all of the 2009 rules, or apply them in stages, as was done in 2008, remains to be seen.

2009

All classes

- Tyre warmers banned

- 1 engine must last two 1000km races

- noise reduction from 113db to 110db

LMP

- LMP1 Restrictor size reduced by 10%

- For Diesels 6.5% reduction of forced induction pressure and a total performance reduction of 10.5%

- LMP1 production engines will have a 3% restrictor cut

- LMP1 5.5 liter diesels will have two 37.9mm restrictors and a max forced induction pressure of 2.750 mbar

- LMP2 restrictor size reduced by 10%

- for cars with air conditioners will be increased 0.3mm

Aero

Rear wing must fit into a box with a volume of 150mm vertical x 250mm horizontal x 1600mm long and has to be fitted with a 20mm Gurney

GT

- GT1 weight increase of 25kg

- GT2 weight increase of 20kg

- restrictor size cut by 2% in GT1

- restrictor size cut by 5% in GT2

- ride height raised by 5mm in GT2

Hybrids

- Electrical systems must be already fitted or likely fitted to production cars

- the total power of the electric engines and the storage capacity of energy and the quantity of energy used over a lap will be defined and controlled.

- Equivalencies to be announced

- Cars can race in 2009 but will not be classified.

2011

Full regs out on November 15th

- LMP1 engine power cut by 150bhp

- Current LMP2 engines for LMP1

- No major chassis changes

Move the following pages for the content from the ACO's official rules announcements

SPIRIT OF THE 2009 RULES
The 2009 endurance season will be marked by the application of new equivalence that prefigure the new regulations for the years 2010 and 2011.

The Sports Committee was charged by the ACO President, Jean‐Claude Plassart, to propose the regulations to the ACO Director Committee. The Sports Committee made up of Mrs Remy Brouard, Pierre Fillon, Jacques Leseur and Daniel Poissenot.

This committee has benefited from the recommendations of the work‐study group, and well‐known motor sport engineers like Gordon Murray and, since the start of this year, Bernard Dudot (engines).
The basic guidelines of these regulations are as follows:

SPORTING EQUITY
‐ Restore the PETROL‐DIESEL balance in LM P1
‐ Restore the balance between the Prototypes
‐ Maintain difference in performance between LM P1 and LM P2
‐ Make the GT2 and the LM P2 more accessible to private teams

SAFETY
‐ Reduce performances in all the Prototypes and GT categories

REDUCE COSTS
‐ Significant increase in time of tire change [intervals] in all categories (reduce tire budget)
‐ Continuation of present Prototype rules (chassis � body � engines) in 2009 and

2010
‐ Introduction of �production� engines in LM P2
‐ Use of engines in several races in all categories (reduce engines budget)

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
‐ Second‐generation, eco‐friendly fuel for diesel and petrol engines, as was introduced by the ACO already 2 years ago
‐ Reduce the use and consumption of tires
‐ Reduce the noise level

2010‐2011 Objectives

- Postpone to 2011 the �new rules� planned in 2010, because of the time required to analyze and to adjust the cars to the new rules

- Ongoing study on the Prototypes aerodynamics, in collaboration with the FIA and manufacturers

- For the future rules to be enforced in 2011, we wanted to add two very important aspects for the ACO and the automobile industry: 1) New technologies 2) Reduce CO2 emissions and fuel consumption

- The broad technical lines of the 2011 rules will be communicated around 15th November 2008

- Slight changes concerning the current LM P1 and LM P2 chassis

- Free choice between open and closed cars in Prototype

- �Important� reduction of LM P1 engine capacity on the current basis of LM P2 engines

- LM P2 only in �production� engines

- 2010 FIA GT in agreement with the ACO

- New reduction of noise level

One particularity: the Hybrid LM P1

- The 24 Heures du Mans remains one of the major conveyors of automobile technical innovation. The ACO will enable teams to participate with hybrid cars as from 2009, upon invitation, but without being classified.

Evolution of the Regulations for 2009

LM Prototypes

Engines

The aim of these modifications is:
‐ To cap the performance of LM P1 prototypes, which, this year, broke the 3m 30s barrier per lap on the Le Mans circuit.
‐ To create a level playing field in terms of performance between the petrol engines designed specifically for racing, production, petrol engines, and diesels.
‐ To maintain the gap between LM P1 and LM P2.

To achieve this aim the following measures have been taken:
‐ Reduction of the air restrictors by 10% and reduction of the supercharger pressure by 6.5% on LM P1 and LM P2 diesel engines: total performance reduction is 10.5%
‐ In LM P1, a 5.5‐litre diesel engine will have two 37.9mm diameter air restrictors and a maximum supercharger pressure of 2.750 mbar.
‐ LM P1 production engines� air restrictors will be reduced by 3%.
‐ LM P2 engines� air restrictors will be reduced by 10%.
‐ Air restrictors will be increased by 0.3mm for cars with air conditioning.

Aerodynamics

- The wing must fit into a volume of 150mm (vertical) X250 mm (horizontal) x 1600mm (transversal). It must have a 20mm minimum Gurney flap.

LM GT
As the GTs� speeds have increased and taking into account the performance reduction for the prototypes, modifications will be imposed to increase their laps times by at least 4 seconds on the Le Mans circuit.
As the FIA will bring in a new set of regulations in 2010, these modifications have to be taken into account for the changes on the 2009 cars.

Our proposals take into account the joint ones from the manufacturers (Ferrari, Porsche, Aston Martin and Corvette).

To achieve this, the following measures have been taken:
‐ A weight increase of 25 kilos in LM GT1 and 20 kilos in LM GT2.
‐ A 25mm Gurney flap minimum in LM GT1, and 15mm minimum in LM GT2 will be obligatory.
‐ The air restrictors will be reduced by 2% in LM GT1 and 5% in LM GT2.
‐ The air restrictor advantage for cars fitted with air conditioning is cancelled. The temperature inside the cockpit must not exceed 32�C whatever the circumstances.
‐ Ground clearance increased by 5mm for the LM GT2s.

Common Measures for All Four Categories

The time necessary for wheel changes will be increased to encourage competitors to use harder tyres.
Wheel changes will be considered as separate from other interventions, except driver changes, and only two mechanics with a single air gun will be allowed in the work zone at the same time.
The equipment and wheels required for this intervention must be put in place and removed during this intervention only.
‐ Warming tyres is forbidden.
‐ Only a single engine can be used for 2 races (Le Mans Series. ALMS, Asia) (sealed).
‐ Noise reduction: the maximum level will be reduced from 113 dB to 110 dB.
‐ Use of second‐generation bio fuel (10% max) for petrol and diesel.

Hybrid Cars

We have received requests from manufacturers and entrants concerning energy retrieval systems.
We are in favour of them, but they will be used in LM P1 only.
They must comply with the following specifications:

‐ Electrical systems already fitted or likely to be fitted to series production cars.
‐ The total power of the electric engines, the storage capacity of energy, and the quantity of energy used over a lap of the circuit, will be defined and controlled.
‐ They must respect the safety criteria defined by the ACO with the help of manufacturers, as well as the safety criteria drawn up by the FIA for alternative energies.
‐ Equivalence rules will also be drawn up to maintain a level playing field between cars using new technologies and those using conventional ones.
- Cars equipped with such systems may be allowed to take part in some 2009 races but outside the classification.

> - They will be allowed to race with the other cars from 2010 onwards.

Evolution of the 2011 Regulations

- Reduction of the cubic capacity of engines
- As for the hybrid systems, we also have received many requests from manufacturers about the use of smaller engines.
- These smaller cubic capacity engines will, in fact, be developed for series production cars to improve fuel consumption and reduce CO2 emissions.
- In 2011, the regulations foresee the use of the present generation LM P2 engines in LM P1.
- A delay of at least 2 years between the announcement of the application date of a new set of regulations for engines is necessary. Although the engines already exist the manufacturers want to develop specific power units for these new objectives.
- These regulation changes have the following advantages:
- They follow the current evolution of the motorcar and the environment.
- They will lead to a significant reduction in the power of LM P1 engines (around 150 bhp) and their performances. This year the quickest LM P2 lapped the Le Mans circuit in 3m 35s. By keeping the LM P1�s minimum weight at 900 kilos (+3 seconds) and imposing the - 2009 wing (+4 seconds) we will achieve a lap time of 3m 35s + 3 + 4 = 3m 42s.
- The weight gain from these new smaller engines may be used by the manufacturers to install energy retrieval systems.
- Insofar as the LM P1s will use the current LM P2 race engines, we will impose from 2011 onwards (but we wish to encourage them now) the use of LM GT2 engines with the same horsepower ; namely, with the same air restrictors.
- Chassis and bodywork modifications
- No fundamental chassis modifications will be brought in.

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