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Le Mans Prototype (LMP)

A Bentley Speed 8. Winner of the 24 hour race at Le Mans in 2003.

For the 2005 wooden track season, the MGPMRC is racing Le Mans Prototype (LMP) cars on a 1:32nd scale routed wooden road course. The cars are scale models of cars competing in the Le Mans Prototype races in recent years.

The sources for this article are wikipedia and the official LMP website, at www.wrc.com, .

Le Mans Prototype

The Le Mans Prototype, or LMP, comprises a premiere class of cars that were made specifically for the high-speeds of racing in the 24 hours of Le Mans 24. Due to their high-speeds, these care rely on aerodynamics to keep them stable, with the help of front fenders and rear tails. Various design elements (such as air intake, ground effect, front/rear disfuser...) also contribute to the success or failure of the car. In the 1999 Le Mans, three Mercedes CLRs "took-off" in three separate accidents attributed to the car's aerodynamics. (See below.)

Because they feature cutting-edge technology, LMP car are considered the most expensive in the world. Some estimates place the cost at $5M - from designing to testing to production - for a manufacturer to build an LMP car. Production numbers are, therefore, limited.

LMP History

The LMP class was introduced in 1995 as the successor to the Group C class from the 1980s. Group C stands for Group Consumption, meaning the cars are very fuel-efficient. Unlike the LMP cars, Group C cars are less heavily regulated. More engine tuning was allowed, such as the use of turbo-charged engines. Group C cars are even faster than Prototype cars but their extreme high-speeds bacome dangerous for drivers as developments continued. The 1989 Mercedes Sauber C9 reached a top speed of about 400km/h (240 mph). This prompted the addition of two chicanes on the Le Mans straight to lower top speed. Subsequently the Group C class was. The last Group C race on Le Mans was held in 1994, with victory belonging to a Dauer Porsche 962LM. As of 2005, no international races allow Group C cars, although some private races are dedicated to Group C cars.

Top speed is important, but it's not the entire story in achieving victory at Le Mans. Throughout Le Man's history, the winners have usually not been the fastest machines. In the 1960s, the first Ford GT40s were designed to be fast, but soon after Ford realized that compromises made for speed could not make up for the loss of reliability. These first cars were forced to retire after just three hours of racing. The Le Mans winning Ford GT40s were a revised version of the original, built for reliability, at the sacrifice of speed.

LMP Class

Currently there are two LLMP subclasses:

LMP1: Large, open seater with a maximum weight of 900 kg; engine displacement is limited to 6,000 cc for naturally aspirated engines and 4,000 cc for supercharged or turbo-charged engines. The number of cylinders in the engine is not governed. Vehicles in this class are extremely advanced. Almost all of the recent Le Mans overall winners have been from this class.
LMP2: This class shares many specifications with the LMP-900 class. However, maximum weight allowed is 700 kg and engine displacement is limited to 3, 400 cc. Cylinders are limited to 8.

Before the current arrangement, the LMP subclasses were:

LMP-900: Supplanted by the new LMP1 class.
LMP-675: Supplanted by the new LMP2 class.
LM GTP

Representative LMP1 Class Cars

Audi R8
BMW V12 LMR
Cadillac LMP01
Courage C60
Crawford SSC2K
Dallara LMP
Dome S101
Ferrari 333SP
Kudzu DLY
Lister Storm LMP
Lola B98/10
Lola B2K/10
Lola B01/60
Panoz LMP-1
Panoz LMP07
Reynard 2KQ
Riley-Scott MkIIIC
Zytek 04S

Representative LMP2 Class Cars

Courage C65
Lola B2K/40
Lola B01/60
Lola B05/40
Pilbeam MP91
WR LM2003
Zytek 04S

Representative GTP Class Cars
GTP cars are sometimes also referred to as Group C.

AMR-1
EMKA Aston-Martin
Ford Mustang GTP
Harrier LR-9
IMSA Intrepid Chevrolet GTP
Jaguar XJR 8/9
Jaguar XJR 10
Lancia-Ferrari LC2
March 84G
Nissan R90 CK
Porsche 908
Porsche 962/962 CK 6
Sauber C5
Tiga Rover GC286

Mercedes-Benz CLR Flip

See more images of the Mercedes-Benz CLR 1999 "flip" at the Mulsanne Corner at Le Mans.

Read an article. Why did the Mercedes-Benz CLR flip?

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