Three of the planned four 2016 LMP1 factory teams have been out testing in recent days.
Porsche
Porsche tested at Motorland Aragon last week with five of their 2016 LMP1 drivers present, Timo Bernhard otherwise engaged, plus Earl bamber and Nick Tandy, including we believe, at least one that is not currently slated to drive in the 919 Hybrid this year.
A tired looking Mark Webber tweeted as he weighed in post session that he had completed 1060km in the day.
That was part of a 5800km total over the three days though the test was disrupted by overnight and early morning fog. The team test next in February.
Audi
The new 2016 Audi R18 tested at Sebring with both full season crews taking turns at the wheel of a single car, the Florida circuit providing its usual useful pounding to the mechanical package.
“We have been able to gather a lot of findings,” said Chris Reinke, Head of LMP at Audi Sport. “The suspension, the chassis structure, and particularly the powertrain components, were subjected to an endurance test at Sebring. We checked off a large number of tasks on our list and are now going to tackle our next goals.”
There’s analysis of the new Audi over on ‘Mulsanne’ Mike Fuller’s www.mulsannescorner.com
One further additional note to add on the new car, a shot taken as the car pitted shows that the doors on the car are of the ‘gullwing’ variety, hinged at the top.
Nissan
The planned two day test at NOLA Motorsports Park in Louisiana with a pair of Nissan’s revised GTR-LMs went well we believe.
No confirmation of reports elsewhere that new drivers (including Nelson Piquet Jr, Bruno Junquiera and Memo Rojas) tested, though Rojas at least was in New Orleans close to the circuit during the test, but at least three of the 2015 driver roster were present: Harry Tincknell, Jann Mardenborough and Tsugio Matsuda.
The test, still without the new hybrid system installed, was principally to test new tyre compounds and constructions from Michelin with the picture below indicating that the rear wheel size is likely to be larger on the full 2016 evolution of the car (likely to be same size tyres all round).
