Why In The World Of Endurance Motorsport Having A Wiper Blades That Can Work What Ever The Conditions, Can Be Essential For Finishing First
The world of racing is extremely glamorous and extremely rich and is the pinnacle of the sport; this is extremely evident in the Le Mans 24-hour race and its complimentary championship the American Le Mans championship. The motorcars that compete in these events are very different as there are two distinct classifications of automobiles, and within these classifications of automobiles there are several subcategories, all of which are based on the same track at the same time, for victory in their own type and over all victory. These events vary in length from the shorter ten-hour events to the longer 24-hour events, and in the world of racing, events of this length are known as endurance racing. The money required to compete in even the lower classifications of automobiles can run in to millions of Euros, and typically these race prepared vehicles are over £1 Euros. Once you have the automobile, you need the money to run a team and transport the automobile and team around the world to compete in all the events that make up the America Le Mans championship, and the Le Mans 24 hour race in France. In the top formula the generally team will have a budget of tens of millions of Euros to run the automobile, cover the events and develop the automobile to have a chance of being successful.
As mentioned before, the championship is made up of two distinct classifications. These are Le Mans prototype and Grand Tourer or LMP and GT. The sub-class’s in someone’s prototype classification are LMP1 and LMP2, and in the Grand Tourer classifications they are GT1, GT2, and GT3. In this article we will just look at the LMP classes of automobiles.
Le Mans prototype one or LMP1, are custom-built race vehicles with the most powerful engines. There’s a range of engine types around, from larger naturally aspirated engines to smaller engines that have a supercharger or turbocharger, and they can also be fuelled by petrol or diesel. Their minimum weight is set at 900 kg and the maximum size of their fuel tank is set in the design specifications. These automobiles can be covered or open top, this class is designed for manufacturers to compete in.
Le Mans prototype two or LMP2 are custom-built race vehicles with slightly less powerful engines, they also have a range of engine types to choose from but they are all designed with less powerful than the ones used in LMP1, but they can also be fuelled by petrol or diesel. Their minimum weight is set to 825 kg and their fuel tank size is also set in the design specifications. These automobiles can be covered or open top, this class is designed for private teams to compete in.
The thinking behind these two classes is that the LMP1 will be the fastest automobiles down a straight, but due to their higher power to weight ratio be slower round the corners. This should make for close racing between the two categories, and most circuits the LMP1 automobiles are the fastest due to their straight-line speed advantage, but in the American Le mans series LMP2 automobiles have been victorious on some of the twisty circuits.
When the designers choose a cover design, it can be as essential for winning as the right type of wiper blades, as these events do not stop for bad weather. In the Le mans 24 hour race in France, one year recently it rained for most of the 24 hours, this made it necessary for replacement wiper blades to be changed during a event. Due to the regulations only a certain number of people can work on the automobile at any time while it is in the pit lane, so the task of changing wiper blades costs essential seconds. This is why a lot of teams looked into different types of replacement wiper blades after this race. Most the teams switched their wiper blades from traditional rubber ones to what is known as a flat wiper blades made from silicone. The flat wiper blades made from silicone lasted 3 to 5 times longer than traditional rubber blades, also due to their frameless design they aided in the aerodynamic performance of the automobile.
Post a comment