Dan Gurney's Delta Wing 24 hrs of Le Mans car

[Darren M]

Audi > * cars with fenders

Fixed.

And, to be honest, I hope Gurney's car does very well. Would be awesome to see some major changes in the sport. Just look at all the folks who question the design just in this thread alone. Would be cool to see a major transformation in auto racing.

[mardyn]

As fugly as it appears, it does have a few advantages.... it's pretty light weight and hence easy on the tires and chassis overall, smaller engine goes further on less fuel, hence fewer pit stops.

I'm not sure how fast it is, certainly not up there with the Audis, but it might be a tortoise and hare scenario... a slightly slower car, but with fewer stops might travel farther over the course of a 24 hour race.

I' guess we'll see.

mardyn

[Darren M]

Just around the corner!

[WesB]

I watch most of the coverage of that just about every year

[Samhain]

[Darren M]

Le Mans preview.

[Strychnine]

Here's a tidbit from the guy who used to be the crew chief for the Deltawing (the initial team was disbanded last year due to "loss of integrity").

"The car is being run by RML and Highcroft no longer exists as a team although the car is still entered under that name"

Anyway, this guy is now a chassis engineer for HPD (Honda Performance Development) doing track support and has been giving some updates from LeMans as he finds time throughout the testing and stuff.


re: Deltawing

Oh, it runs and runs respectably.

Their plan is and always has been to make it to the end in a conservative manner. I have been talking to the team all week and they will be happy if they make it to the night without too much trouble and if they get that far they may pull it in and fix a few things if they deem it necessary to get them to the end. The engine is easily capable of 450 HP but they run it pulled back to around 300 HP. The original purpose of the project was not to be quicker than anyone, but to do the same with less and that is still the goal.

Nissan seem to have the most engines here in a variety of cars, including of course, the DW.

No rain yesterday apart from a small, localized shower, I hope that continues because this place is ugly in the wet. Today sees us running until Midnight again, who thought up this crazy frickin' schedule anyway....

The Deltawing front section containing the suspension and steering:

[Darren M]

Matt, always w/ the tech. Thanks for posting that!

[4bangen]

it's already pitted in the first hour, was having issues with water in the electronics. seems to be running okay now. so strange to see it turn.

[Darren M]

In the garage. Shifting issues. Really being conservative. Close call though, almost rear-ended while coming in.

Edit: dang, seems to be an "off the shelf" part too.... That really sucks.

[4bangen]

well shit, nascar kicked the 24 off the air. And for nascar practice at that!

[4bangen]

oops, its back on.

[Baron Von Crowder]

Team's live stream: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nissan-motorsports

[silverhatch]

And out an audi just hit him and pushed it off track into a wall.

[4bangen]

damn