Tyler and Matt are back to bring you Episode 74 of the podcast which has a very strong motorsport theme… News from WEC as Audi, Toyota and Porsche get ready to do battle in the world of endurance racing. An interesting start to the 2014 Formula One championship is discussed. Peugeot have announced that they will re-enter the legendary Dakar rally. All of that as well as the latest from the world of WRC.
Enjoy!
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It is very much part of the unpredictable ebb and flow of motorsports that most racing series go through periods of dominance at some time or another, where one team or one particular driver seems to be constantly a step or two ahead of the completion. On two wheels, Giacomo Agostini staked his claim to being the greatest motorcycle rider of all time by winning seven back to back world championships from 1966 to 1972. Sébastien Loeb and Citroën’s nine year stranglehold over the WRC is a feat that will probably never be surpassed, whilst in Formula 1 Michael Schumacher led Ferrari through an era of such dominance in the early 2000’s that fans actually started to accuse the sport of becoming ‘too boring’.
And so the same has come to pass in the oldest race of them all, the 24 hours of Le Mans. Audi, thanks largely to a perfect recipe of revolutionary diesel engineering combined with the unparalleled talents of Danish racing mastermind Tom Kristensen, have reigned supreme over the endurance classic for the best part of a decade. However, rule changes for 2014 will test their resolve to the maximum as other manufacturers grow ever hungrier to topple them from their perch.
This season, Toyota will be one of the teams in pole position to do just that. The car on which they will be pinning their hopes will be named the TS040 Hybrid and has been unveiled to the public in the South of France ahead of the official championship testing season. In order to take the fight to Audi’s recently released R18 WEC, Toyota’s new machine can call on a total of 986bhp via the combined 513bhp 3.7 litre V8 petrol engine and a 473bhp all-wheel drive hybrid motor. This represents a significant evolution from last year’s 3.4 litre TS030 Hybrid which managed second place. New regulations limit teams to using 25 per cent less fuel than in 2013 and therefore place greater emphasis on hybrid power and energy recovery systems. Indeed, Porsche’s claim that they will be able to harvest up to 8 megajoules per lap through a two-pronged kinetic and thermal energy recovery system has already laid down a significant marker to the rest of the field.
The Japanese outfit retains the same squad of drivers for 2014, with Alex Wurz, Stéphane Sarrazin and Kazuki Nakajima sharing the No7 car and Anthony Davidson, Nicolas Lapierre and Sébastien Buemi piloting the No8 machine.
The TS040 Hybrid has already completed 12 days of testing across Europe and will now enter the final few weeks of preparation in the run-up to the start of the 2014 World Endurance Championship season on 20 April at Silverstone. The main event itself at Le Mans gets underway on 14 June.
Audi have dominated the world of endurance racing for over a decade. The Germans have won the famous Le Mans 24 hour 12 times and it would have been 9 times in a row if it were not for pesky Peugeot in 2009. Audi want to retain their Le Mans crown but with strong competition from Toyota and now Porsche, their 2014 Audi R18 WEC has to be one of the most capable cars racing has ever seen.
Audi revealed to the world their new car in race trim complete with updated livery. However, they have decided to backtrack on a technology that regenerates energy lost through heat. The system, MGU-H, is just like that found on the 2014 specification Formula One cars, but the team will not use it as planned due to reliability issues. Instead they will stick with their tried and tested kinetic energy recovery system that can harvest 2 megajoules over a lap. Their competitors, and in particular Porsche, are expected to be recapturing 6 to 8MJ per lap. This potentially puts Audi at a disadvantage but they say that the increased reliability and fuel efficiency of their new turbocharged 4.0 litre V6 diesel engine will prevail.
The 2014 Audi R18 WEC reignited tradition as it was driven through the streets of Le Mans before being shown to the media.
Endurance racing is the ultimate test for any piece of engineering. Every component from things as big as a pistons to as small as a wheel nut has to function without failing under extreme load for prolonged periods. The Le Mans 24 Hour is arguable the worlds most famous race and this year Porsche return to an event they once dominated. Today it is Audi who rule the World Endurance Championship, but the Porsche 919 Hybrid LMP1 hopes to upset that.
The Porsche 919 Hybrid LMP1 racer complies with the latest regulations that will see this class of car utilise their hybrid systems to a much higher level. The engine in the 919 is a direct injection 2.0 litre turbocharge V4 petrol engine. Revving to 9,000rpm one of the two cars will be piloted by ex-Red Bull Formula One pilot Mark Webber. The new Porsche 919 Hybrid LMP1 is rear driven by the combustion engine, but has temporary all wheel drive when the electric motor is activated to drive the front wheels.
Racing drivers are very much in it to win it. Not a single one of them turns up to a race aiming for second place and so to be at the top of your game is as rewarding as an ice cold drink on a hot day. Allan McNish is one of Audi’s star drivers for their LMP1 campaign in the World Endurance Championship, but he has recently announced his retirement despite masses of success.
McNish is a true racer through and through starting out in karts and even having a spell in Formula One. A Le Mans veteran, Allan has won the prestigious race twice and finished on the podium many times. His most recent victory this year has elevated him to the pinnacle of his career. So why is he leaving? “I’ve always said I wanted to stop at the right time, when it was right for me and also when I was still fast and capable to do the job. This year was a mega successful one, it ticked all of the boxes” says McNish. It takes a lot of guts to leave the sport you love at the “right” time and I think everyone can respect his decision. McNish is looking for new challenges and it may well be the case that we see him in something else four wheeled and fast soon!
Something that really does get the environmentalist rattled is motorsport. “Cars hurtling around race tracks polluting the air for no good reason? Not in my back yard!” Regardless if they understand the concept of the competition in the sport or see how much of the technology developed benefits areas outside of the track, they are here to stay. I am all for making racing “greener” but it still has to have the values that it does today.
Drive’s Chris Harris explores what a potentially electrified future Le Mans racing car has to offer. The results, some would say, are shocking…
This series of “greatest cars of all-time” has taken us on a journey through some of the biggest icons the automotive world has ever produced. Each machine a fine specimen of four wheeled engineering that is great in every sense of the word. Today our countdown comes to close as we revel what we think is the greatest car of all-time…
This is a true example of pedigree in both road and racing. It is a testament to science and engineering. Its very existence was determined by the latest technologies the world had to offer. It is the McLaren F1.
The McLaren F1 is one of the finest examples of human design on the planet. Formula One design legend Gordon Murry created a concept car that pulled together all of McLaren’s Formula One knowledge in aerodynamics and race car packaging to produce a machine so inspiring that it just had to make production. In 1992 the motoring landscape changed forever.
Powered by a 6.1 litre V12 engine producing 627HP, the F1 remained purposely naturally aspirated in order for the driver to maintain maximum control over the engine. This engine came from BMW, though originally Murry wanted it to be from Honda and based upon an F1 unit. When Honda refused the BMW option was taken. The chassis is a carbon fibre reinforced monocoque, very similar to that of a racing car. Its brakes were made by Brembo and were unassisted and along with a manual transmission it meant that if you wanted the F1 to perform at its best you needed to be a good driver (something that is missing from modern supercars.) A unique feature of the F1 is its three abreast seating allowing for the driver to sit centrally much like in a single seater.
The McLaren F1 became the worlds fastest car, a record it held for over a decade. With a 243MPH top speed and a 0-62MPH time of just 3.2 seconds, this car was lightyears ahead of its time. Active aerodynamics, a gold lined engine bay and advanced crash structures all factored into the building of this astonishing car. It corners like a race car and cruses like a GT, this British icon was a hero for children and adults alike certainly finding its way onto many bedroom walls. It even won Le Man!
The F1 is still regarded as one of the best supercars even today 21 years on from its inception. Truly the greatest car of all-time.
Welcome to another episode of Inside Lane “the podcast.” Though this week Steve has gone missing whilst mountaineering, presumed eaten by the Scottish, Tyler and Matt bring you the latest news. Lamborghini show off their very angry Veneno Roadster, Nissan unveils one of the most radical racing cars of all time in the ZEOD RC, as well as that we have the latest from the world of Formula One and WRC.
The Le Mans 24 Hour race is one of the worlds most gruelling and dangerous motorsport events. A true test of both man and machine, pushing on through the darkness until dawn. Endurance can be seen as one of the most relevant forms of racing to the development of road car technologies. The never ending quest for reliability and fuel efficiency is what gives one car an edge over another. Looking like something Batman would bring to the track, the Nissan ZEOD RC is one of the most technologically advanced cars in the world.
ZEOD stands for Zero Emissions On Demand meaning that this spaceship is a hybrid. Powered by a 1.6 litre turbocharged petrol engine and two electric motors, the ZEOD puts out 300BHP. Over 11 laps during the race this car can collect enough energy through braking to complete a lap on electric power alone, thus spending less time in the pits refuelling overall. Nissan say that the ZEOD RC is faster over one lap than LMGTE class cars.
We look forward to seeing this racer roll out of the famous garage 56.
If you are an endurance racing fan you will know all about Peugeots exit from the series. The team that took on Audi and won were literally at the airport to go racing when Peugeot big-wigs pulled the plug on the program in an effort to save money in troubled times for the manufacturer. That left Peugeot with a fully developed racing car loaded with cutting edge technology that no longer had a purpose. Some of it found its way into the impressive Onyx concept car, however, the real world feasibility of such a machine was next to zero. So how do Peugeot make the most out of all the R&D data the defunct 908 racer gathered? The answer is the 208 Hybrid FE.
Utilising the engineers from the racing program Peugeot have created a plausible road car that produces some biblical figures. This 208 can achieve 141.2MPG and emit less than 50g/km of CO2! That is a real milestone in terms of efficiency and it is possible through the use of the racers hybrid system and a reworked 68BHP 1.0 litre engine. You might think that with that little engine this car will bit a tad on the weedy side, but you would be wrong. 0-62MPH is completed in 8 seconds which almost halves the 14 seconds of the standard car. Aerodynamics are key to the FE’s efficiency with a redesigned rear end and a completely flat floor. Bespoke tyres, suspension, transmission, extensive uses of carbon fibre and a narrower rear track all play a part in this concept.
