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A Bentley Speed 8, winner of 2003 Le Mans 24 Hours. The car as well as Bentley quickly retired from international sports car racing after the victory. In fact, it is widely believed that the teams running the Audi R8 yielded the victory to Bentley because of Bentley's recent addition to the Volkswagen Group, of which Audi is a member. The Speed 8's engine was heavily derived from the Audi R8's, and the car was driven by Tom Kristensen, who won the three previous Le Mans (2000-02) in an R8

The Le Mans Prototype (abbreviated to LMP), is a class of vehicles that were made specifically for high-speed circuit racing in endurance races such as the Le Mans 24 Hours. These cars rely heavily on aerodynamic devices such as diffusers and rear wings to achieve their intended corner speeds. Except for Formula One, these cars themselves are considered to be the most expensive in the world as they incorporate an array of cutting-edge technology. Estimates of the cost to design, develop and manufacturer these cars have run into millions of dollars. Only a very small number of them or their road-going variants are built, usually for homologation. However, the Porsche 962 was sold in dozens. However, these cars are not without their dangers. In Le Mans 1999, three Mercedes-Benz CLR "took off" and crashed in three separate accidents due to aerodynamic flaws, and the front wheels of a Porsche 911 GT1-98 and a BMW V12 came off the ground at Road Atlanta. February 2006 : ← - January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December- → 28 February 2006 (Tuesday) Al Askari Mosque bombing: Sixty-eight people have been killed so far today in Baghdad, Iraq. ... Image File history File links Atom2. ... Look up Fact in Wiktionary, the free dictionary For other uses, see Fact (disambiguation). ... In science, engineering, industry and statistics, accuracy is the degree of conformity of a measured or calculated quantity to its actual, nominal, or some other reference, value. ... Opinion is a persons ideas and thoughts towards something. ... ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (1280x1024, 190 KB) http://www. ... ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (1280x1024, 190 KB) http://www. ... The Bentley Speed 8 is a LMP class race car that competed in the Le Mans series from 2001-2003. ... Bentleys winged B badge and hood ornament Bentley Motors Limited is a British based manufacturer of luxury automobiles and Grand Tourers. ... GTP sports cars racing at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in 1991 Sportscar racing is a form of circuit racing, with cars that have two seats and enclosed wheel wells. ... Audi will use the R8 name on two different automobiles, a racing car and a sports car. ... Volkswagen AG (Xetra: DE0007664005) is a German automobile manufacturer founded in 1937 as a public concern by the then Nazi government to sell the Volkswagen Beetle. ... Tom Kristensen can refer to two different people. ... 24 hours of Le Mans (24 heures du Mans) is a famous sports car endurance race held at Circuit de la Sarthe near Le Mans, France, near river La Sarthe. ... Formula One - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... Homologation is a technical term, derived from the Greek homologos for agree, which is generally used in English to signify the granting of approval by an official authority. ... The Porsche 956 was a sports car built by Porsche. ... The Mercedes-Benz CLR was a Le Mans Prototype racing car created for the 1999 race. ... The Porsche 911 GT1 was a racing car designed for competition in the GT1 class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and sold as a road car for homologation purposes. ... The BMW V12 LMR was entered in Sports car racing from 1998 to 2000. ... Road Atlanta is a 2. ...

History of the LMP Class

The LMP class was introduced in 1995 as the successor to the Group C class from the 1980s. Group C could also mean "Group Consumption", as the car performance was primarily regulated by the fuel consumption. The method used was to limit onboard fuel capacity to 100 liters and restrict cars to 5 pitstops for 1000 kilometer events and 25 pitstops for 24 hour events. Unlike the LMP cars, Group C cars are less heavily regulated and thus, more engine tuning was allowed, such as the use of turbocharged engines. Group C cars are even faster than Prototype cars but their extreme high-speeds became dangerous for drivers as developments continued. The 1989 Sauber-Mercedes C9 reached a top speed of about 400 km/h (250 mph), prompting ACO to add two chicanes on the Le Mans straight to lower top speed and subsequently replacing the Group C class with World Sports Cars. A former Group C car could win in Le Mans in 1994 again, with victory going to a Dauer-Porsche 962LM with was modified for road use and entered as a GT. As of 2005, no international races allow Group C cars although some private races are dedicated to Group C cars. Group C was a category of auto racing, and was introduced into sports car racing by the FIA (the governing body of World motor racing) during the early 1980s. ... The 1980s decade refers to the years from 1980 to 1989, inclusive. ... This article describes the internal combustion engine component often known as a turbo. ... Sauber was a swiss constructor of racing cars. ... This page is about the Mercedes-Benz brand of automobiles and trucks from the DaimlerChrysler automobile manufacturer. ... The Ford chicane on Le Mans A chicane is a sequence of tight serpentine curves (usually an S-shape curve) in a roadway, used in auto racing and on city streets to slow cars. ... Dauer is a biological term used to describe a stage in the development of larvae. ... The Porsche 956 was a sports car built by Porsche. ...

Top speed plays an important, but not decisive role in victory at Le Mans. Through out Le Man's long history, the winners were usually not the fastest machines. In the 1960s, the first Ford GT40s were designed to be fast but soon after, Ford realized that speed could not compensate for a lack of reliability. These cars were forced to retire after just 3 hours of racing. The revised Le Mans-winning Ford GT40s were built for reliability and speed. GT40 Mk II front. ...

LMP Subclasses

There are, today, two subclasses within the LMP class:

• LMP1: Large, open and closed prototypes with room for two seats and a minimum weight of 900 kg (1982 lb); engine displacement is limited to 6000 cc for naturally aspirated engines and 4000 cc for supercharged or turbo-charged engines. The number of cylinders in the engine is not governed. Vehicles in this class are considered the most advanced in Le Mans, and thus in the world of sport cars. Every overall Le Mans winner since the introduction of the LMP class has been a member of this class.
• LMP2: This class shares many specifications with the LMP1 class. However, the minimum weight allowed is 750 kg (1652 lb), (the previous minimum was 675 kg (1487 lbs)), and the engine displacement is limited to 3400 cc for naturally aspirated and 2000 cc for turbocharged engines. The number of cylinders are limited to 8. Theoretically, the lower power of the LMP2 cars is negated by the lower weight minimum and they can therefore perform, depending on the circuit, similarly to LMP1 cars. This however has not been the case in recent years due to reliability issues from nearly all LMP2 entries.

Former LMP subclasses included LMP900, LMP675 and LMGTP.

Future developments

Audi will enter the Diesel-powered Audi R10 in 2006. Peugeot will follow in 2007. Audi R10 racing car, static, from the front right Audi V12 TDI turbo diesel engine The Audi R10 is a sports-racing car prepared for sports car racing in the LMP1 class of the Le Mans 24 Hours. ... Peugeot is a major French car brand which is today part of PSA Peugeot Citroën. ...

List of Le Mans Prototypes

• LMP1/LMP900
  • Audi R8R (1999)
  • Audi R8 (2000-2005)
  • Audi R10 Diesel for 2006
  • 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 and Scott MkIIIC
  • Zytek 04S
• LMP2/LMP675
  • Courage C65
  • Lola B2K/40
  • Lola B01/60 (also MG Lola EX257)
  • Lola B05/40
  • Pilbeam MP91
  • Porsche RS Spyder
  • WR LM2003
  • Zytek 04S
• LMGTP
  • Audi R8C (1999)
  • Bentley Speed 8
  • Mercedes-Benz CLK-GTR (1998)
  • Mercedes-Benz CLR (1999)
  • Porsche 911 GT1
  • Toyota GT-one (1997-1999)

The Audi R8 was introduced in 1999 as the sports car racing versions Audi R8R (roadster) and Audi R8C (coupé). The 2000 and later version Audi R8 was very successful, winning many races and championships until it was retired after the 2005 season. ... The Audi R8 was introduced in 1999 as the sports car racing versions Audi R8R (roadster) and Audi R8C (coupé). The 2000 and later version Audi R8 was very successful, winning many races and championships until it was retired after the 2005 season. ... Audi R10 racing car, static, from the front right Audi V12 TDI turbo diesel engine The Audi R10 is a sports-racing car prepared for sports car racing in the LMP1 class of the Le Mans 24 Hours. ... BMW AG (an abbreviation of Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, or in English, Bavarian Motor Works), is a German company and manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles. ... Cadillac is a brand of luxury automobile, part of the General Motors corporation, produced and mostly sold in the United States; outside of North America, they have been less successful. ... Dallara was a Formula One constructor from 1988 through 1992. ... The current Ferrari logo Ferrari is an Italian constructor in the Formula One World Championship, as well as a manufacturer of high-end race cars, exotic cars and high-performance sports cars formed by Enzo Ferrari in 1929. ... Binomial name Pueraria lobata (Willd. ... Lister Cars was a manufacturer of sports cars in the United Kingdom. ... Lola Racing Cars (also Lola Cars International) is a racing car engineering company founded in 1961 by Eric Broadley and based in Huntingdon, United Kingdom. ... The Panoz Motor Sports Group is an entity made up of the many motorsports holdings of Don Panoz. ... Reynard Motorsport was at one time the worlds largest racing car manufacturer. ... Zytek is a british engineering company in automotive control systems, powertrain management and hybrid-electric vehicles. ... MG is a British marque that traditionally has produced sports cars from 1924 to 2005. ... Porsche (), properly pronounced as a two syllable word (porsh-eh, IPA: ) , is a German manufacturer of sports cars, founded in 1931 by Ferdinand Porsche, the engineer who created the first Volkswagen. ... The Porsche RS Spyder (type 9R6) is a LMP2 class race car set to debut in the 2006 American Le Mans Series. ... WR can stand for: Wolfs Rain, a popular anime and manga in Japan. ... The Audi R8 was introduced in 1999 as the sports car racing versions Audi R8R (roadster) and Audi R8C (coupé). The 2000 and later version Audi R8 was very successful, winning many races and championships until it was retired after the 2005 season. ... The Bentley Speed 8 is a LMP class race car that competed in the Le Mans series from 2001-2003. ... Mercedes-Benz CLK-GTR Mercedes-Benz CLK-GTR, recorded as the most expensive production car ever built, with a price of £1,100,000 it certainly deserved its title. ... The Mercedes-Benz CLR was a Le Mans Prototype racing car created for the 1999 race. ... The Porsche 911 GT1 was a racing car designed for competition in the GT1 class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and sold as a road car for homologation purposes. ...

Additional Links

The "flying" Mercedes CLR in Le Mans 1999

• The flip of Mercedes-Benz CLR 1999, Mulsanne's Corner
  • David Hansen's analysis of the flip
• Group C/GTP Racing