With the Le Mans and Nurburgring 24 Hours back to back there’s plenty to catch up on from both events.
First up there’s the controversy courted, initially by Porsche, and later by Toyota on aerodynamic advantages taken with deformable bodywork (Porsche) and rear wing assemblies (Toyota)
Check out www.racecarengineering.com and www.mulsannescorner.com for the story here. http://www.mulsannescorner.com/RCELeMans2014.html
Video evidence seems to point clearly to the TS040 having a rear wing that deflects at speed, something that should not be possible within the rules. The cars though evidently cleared scrutineering with the assembly fitted.
Also on the Toyota TS040, it was confirmed post-race that the electrical fire that finished the race of the dominant race leading #7 car originated around the connectors for the FIA/ ACO data logger.
This would therefore have been the second in-car fire in that area, the other hitting the #52 Ram Racing GTE Pro Ferrari earlier in the week.
A Toyota Racing source confirmed the location of the fire but made it clear that it was the team that was responsible for ensuring that the installation of the logger was secure and safe.
AF Corse man James Calado confirmed by Twitter that the Qualifying accident at the entry of the Porsche Curves that ended his hopes of a debut in the Le Mans 24 Hours had left him with a brain haemorrhage, the Briton was though released from hospital in Le Mans on 17 June.
Both the #14 Porsche and #50 Larbre Morgan were reclassified as race finishers after initially being unclassified, this after both teams ran a single lap at the end of the race after lengthy pitstops, thus posting lap-times over the prescribed maximum, post race appeals were, perhaps surprisingly, accepted. That means that the Porsche drivers receive WEC Championship points, putting them again ahead of the #12 Rebellion crew
The official race week attendance for the 2014 Le Mans 24 Hours was a massive 263,300
There have been a number of post Le Mans mini-films released to the now traditional high standards
It was an honour from Audi Sport on Vimeo.
GG
