Le Mans 2008 Blog
Are the speeds too high at Le Mans?
There have already been a number of spectacular crashes before the race have even started. First was the Peugeot which we saw flying off the track, and this evening the Lola Mazda disintegrated itself when it became airborne (see video).
The question is, are the Le Mans cars being pushed too close to the limits of aerodynamics? It only takes a small bump or a spoiler coming lose to drastically change their airflow - and the result is rather dangerous.
What do you think? Should A.C.O. put a speed limit on the different classes of cars? Mind you, that they are already going faster than formula one.
Videos:
The Peugeot crash during testing
The Lola Mazda crash during qualifying
...and, of course, the very spectacular crash of the Mercedes cars in 1999.
Comments
Yves Roumazeilles - Jun. 12, 2008
It happens that I was just shooting yesterday evening during qualifications. I got an image of the accident on my web site at:
Stew - Jun. 13, 2008
The speeds aren't really the issue, although they do need to be reigned in a bit.
What seems to be happening is that when the car gets to a certain angle the aero balance changes massively and one or both of the wings generate lift which then gets the car airborn and rolling.
The Merc incident was down to poor design, the profile of the car is very similar to that of an airplanes wing, theres a good page on it over on MulsanneCorner.com
Thomas Baekdal - Jun. 13, 2008
Yves, Nice image - a good example of being at the right place at the right time :)
Stew, I agree with you on the Mercedes incident. But I do not agree that the speeds are not the issue. The problem would not exists if they were going slower.
Yves Roumazeilles - Jun. 13, 2008
About the speed issue, I would add that -of course- if the cars were driving at 100km/h there would be nearly no problem. But more importantly, at very high speeds, there is an enormous sensitivity to external events.
For example, if you use part of the car to exploit the ground effect, when you loose that effect (e.g. a wing is lost), the consequence is not only proportional to speed. Below some speed, you loose adherence and stability; Above some high speed, you tend to loose so much adherence that literally you start flying. There speed is really a central issue.
For sure, ACO cannot set a speed limit (say: "nobody over 250km/h" ;-)
This would be bordering on silliness (let alone the lack of fun for cars that are inherently more able than the common BMW or Mercedes): Nobody would expect a speed limiter like in some trucks (or on some of the high end Mercedes and BMW, by the way).
However, it is possible to impose some technical constraints that would limit the actual top speed. Remember that this is what they did when they broke the "ligne droite des Hunaudières" in short parts: They cut the speed down in an indirect way and they ensured that this was still ensuring a fair competition.
There is room for ideas and intelligent solutions.
Thomas Baekdal - Jun. 13, 2008
Yves, you are right about the "speed limit", that would make for a boring race. Bad example... :)
Joel - Jun. 12, 2008
The ACO has already mandated aero changes for bext year due to the incidents this year.
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/68235