Le Mans Atmosphere at the Nürburgring
From the 22nd to the 24th of July, following the dramatic scenes in the closing stages of the Le Mans 24h Race in June, the Nürburgring in the Eifel will stage the fourth of the nine World Endurance Championship (WEC) rounds.
The FIA WEC is an endurance-racing series that is held according to the FIA guidelines. It was created in 2012 in cooperation with the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) and the Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO) and is regarded as the successor of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup. The legendary endurance race at Sarthe (the Le Mans 24h race) is the highlight of the World Championship season. The Le Mans Prototype (LMP) grid features two categories – LMP1 and LMP2. The LMP1 racers are prototypes in the Formula One price range. The pinnacle of endurance racing comprises two types of cars: on the one hand, the works cars with hybrid power and ERS (Energy Recovery System) – since 2014, ERS also has been used in Formula One – and on the other, the cars of independent teams without hybrid power. According to the regulations, the minimum weight for the latter amounts to 855kg, 20kg less than the hybrid vehicles. The regulations allow for the use of different drive technologies, such as a temporary all-wheel drive.
In the LMP2 class, the cars have to be equipped with production-based Otto engines. According to the regulations for 2017, a control engine will be used next year. Furthermore, only chassis supplied by one of the following four manufacturers will be allowed: of the two French manufacturers Onroak and Oreca, their US-American-Canadian rival Riley / Multimatic and Italy’s Dallara Automobili who also supply the control chassis F 132 for the FIA Formula 3 European Championship (with RAVENOL as series partner).
Since 2016, RAVENOL has been partner of German Team ByKOLLES Racing that contests the championship in the LMP1 category and in the LMP2 class, the German lubricant manufacturer cooperates with British Team Strakka Racing.
“Our state-of-the-art additive technology allows the oil to keep its viscosity even on long periods of maximum strain,” underlines RAVENOL Motorsport Director Martin Huning. “This may look like a minor advantage but at circuits with up to 70 percent of flat-out sections where the oil is taken to its very limit, our technology can reduce the fuel dilution, thus making for a good film around the pistons and a better performance until the car has taken the chequered flag. We at RAVENOL are delighted with having the chance of cooperating with teams that offer us the possibility to keep on enhancing our products. Working on the level of the LMP1 represents an ongoing process, accompanied by tests, competitions and permanent dialogue between the technical staff of the team and our product-development engineers.”
The time schedule for the WEC round at the Nürburgring (all times CEST):
Friday, 22nd July, 2016
11:25-11:45hrs | Touring-Car Classic | practice session
12:00-13:30hrs | WEC | first practice session
14:55-15:15 hrs | Touring Car Classic | qualifying session one
15.30-16:00hrs | Porsche Super Sports Cup | Practice session
16:30-18:00hrs | WEC | second practice session
Saturday, 23rd July 2016
09:15-10:15hrs | WEC | Third practice session
10:30-11:00hrs | Porsche Sports Cup | qualifying
11:20-11:50hrs | Touring Car Classic | second qualifying session
14:15-15:05hrs | WEC | qualifying session
15:35-16:05hrs | Porsche Super Sports Cup | race one
16:35-17:15hrs | Touring Classic | race
Sunday, 24th July, 2016
09:10-09:40hrs | Porsche Super Sports Cup | race 2
13:00-19:00hrs | WEC | Race
We look forward to a unique atmosphere in summery temperatures at the tradition-rich Eifel circuit. Being a team partner, it goes without saying that RAVENOL will be on site to support the teams in the case of technical issues.