A new LMP ladder series

[cameraman]

"Formula Le Mans"

A 400 hp Ford V8 in a Oreca/Courage LMP2 chassis
One hour races, two driver teams
14 races on 7 weekends. All the LMS dates plus 2

Races in Europe next year
Races in the US in 2010 or 2011

I wonder if it will actually happen in the good ole US of A. it would be nice if kids that are not interested in cabs had a place to go that didn't suck.

[extramundane]

I thought that's what LMP3/IMSA Lites was supposed to be for.

Funny how they settled on a French chassis manufacturer. :gomer::rolleyes:

[cameraman]

We can’t call this LMP3 but the concept is very much like that of an LMP2 with a monocoque chassis but at much reduced cost.

Sounds like the ACO wants it in house.

[pchall]

And this doesn't suck?

Why not a 2.0l NA sports car with a lower weight limit than P2 and an open engine and chassis specification that would encourage P2 engine and chassis suppliers to offer smaller displacement or lightweight versions of their P2 product?

Two one hour races each race meeting? Does each driver get to go 60 minutes alone or is there a mandatory driver change in each race to mess things up?


"Formula Le Mans"

A 400 hp Ford V8 in a Oreca/Courage LMP2 chassis
One hour races, two driver teams
14 races on 7 weekends. All the LMS dates plus 2

Races in Europe next year
Races in the US in 2010 or 2011

I wonder if it will actually happen in the good ole US of A. it would be nice if kids that are not interested in cabs had a place to go that didn't suck.

[cameraman]

And this doesn't suck?

Why not a 2.0l NA sports car with a lower weight limit than P2 and an open engine and chassis specification that would encourage P2 engine and chassis suppliers to offer smaller displacement or lightweight versions of their P2 product?

How many manufacturers are going to design a new lighter tub and all the other chassis bits and keep it a very low cost for a ladder series when they might end up supplying three or four teams at best? Show me a LADDER series with open chassis and engine specs. The goal here is to find the best young drivers not the richest. Who the hell is going to be able to afford a limited edition porsche engine dropped into a short run Lola chassis?

[Sean O'Gorman]

The goal here is to find the best young drivers not the richest.

No its not. This is racing, not a charity.

[opinionated ow]

How many manufacturers are going to design a new lighter tub and all the other chassis bits and keep it a very low cost for a ladder series when they might end up supplying three or four teams at best? Show me a LADDER series with open chassis and engine specs. The goal here is to find the best young drivers not the richest. Who the hell is going to be able to afford a limited edition porsche engine dropped into a short run Lola chassis?

Formula 3...Dallara, Lola, Mygale, SLC, Dome. Neil Brown Mugen Honda, Mercedes-HWA, Volkswagen-Spiess, Toms Toyota, Tomei Nissan

[cameraman]

Exactly and the whole idea is to avoid half million pound rides.

[opinionated ow]

Exactly and the whole idea is to avoid half million pound rides.

top series=expensive ride.

[cameraman]

Where did they claim that Formula Le Mans was going to be the top series?

[FCYTravis]

Formula 3...Dallara, Lola, Mygale, SLC, Dome. Neil Brown Mugen Honda, Mercedes-HWA, Volkswagen-Spiess, Toms Toyota, Tomei Nissan

Dallara chassis essentially completely dominate the big F3 series - every team in F3 Euroseries is campaigning Dallaras, while only five out of 35 British F3 entries are non-Dallaras. There are four Mygales and a lone SLC. The engine choices aren't much broader - in the Euroseries you can pick from Mercedes or VW, in British F3 from Mercedes or Honda.

A competitive season in British F3 costs over $800,000 these days.

[opinionated ow]

Dallara chassis essentially completely dominate the big F3 series - every team in F3 Euroseries is campaigning Dallaras, while only five out of 35 British F3 entries are non-Dallaras. There are four Mygales and a lone SLC. The engine choices aren't much broader - in the Euroseries you can pick from Mercedes or VW, in British F3 from Mercedes or Honda.

A competitive season in British F3 costs over $800,000 these days.

A crap load more variety than say Formula Atlantic or whatever its called this year. The Mygale is proving itself to be a very quick car-expect to see more in future years as they develop it further. None of the Dallaras are the same either. Many of the teams develop their own parts; its the last frontier in open wheel racing this side of Formula One and is realistically pretty similar in cost to Formula Atlantic, with the added advantage of being under the noses of the international talent scouts.

The best openwheel racing of any category too. This past weekend at Phillip Island, both the outright and the national class in Aussie F3 came down to a fraction of a second and side by side to boot.

Oh-if you want choice, check out the German Formel 3 Cup. Just about anything you can imagine in that series!

[cameraman]

And the point is nobody is going to shell out $4-800,000 or more on a baby-lmp2 ladder ride when that kind of coin would buy you a real ALMS/LMS/Grand Am ride.

A sports car ladder series has to be inexpensive and inexpensive is spelled spec chassis & single sealed crate engine.

[extramundane]

And the point is nobody is going to shell out $4-800,000 or more on a baby-lmp2 ladder ride when that kind of coin would buy you a real ALMS/LMS/Grand Am ride.

A sports car ladder series has to be inexpensive and inexpensive is spelled spec chassis & single sealed crate engine.

Agreed on that point. I just kinda figured they'd try to develop one of the existing spec prototype-lite series (VdeV, Radical series, etc) as the ladder, rather than create a new series. But then, this is the ACO we're talking about...

[pchall]

I still think this low rent "P3" should be open source for chassis and engines. If the ACO is serious about putting enough cars on the track for two P3 only sprint races each race weekend then several manufacturers could supply chassis and make a few € on them.

The Team Oreca/Courage tie-in for the chassis does smack of an ACO subsidy to a French team and a French manufacturer. I suppose sourcing the engine from Renault would have been toooo obvious.


Agreed on that point. I just kinda figured they'd try to develop one of the existing spec prototype-lite series (VdeV, Radical series, etc) as the ladder, rather than create a new series. But then, this is the ACO we're talking about...