Most liked posts in thread: DeltaWing in 2012 LeMans

I read yesterday that at some point in the process the DeltaWing folks learned from the ACO that their car was too long and they had to shorten it by more than 30 inches (can't remember the exact number but less than 3 feet). I'm not sure I believe that given how much of a change it is for a car that relies so heavily on F/R balance, etc, and given the short development time frame. Seems like that much change should be obvious in photos so I've been trying to find older and more recent pics that work.

 

I think the top one is real. I can't find another perfect side-on shot with people in it or anything else real for reference. Here are a couple from some of their press unveiling ceremonies. The angles are wrong but you can see some of the earlier shape, particularly in the nose.

 

Qualifying is ongoing, nearly over I think. DeltaWing best time so far is 3:45:933, 30th overall.

 

No, but I did some crude mensuration. Assuming the tire diameters didn't change (big assumption) and given the current overall length of 4.65m (15' 3") the pic of the newer car comes out 30+ inches shorter.

DeltaWing tech specs

 

The DW went out in the Q1 session and ran 3:42.6 on the 3rd lap. On the 4th lap it stopped out on track. The ACO feed says the car's fire extinguisher went off and may have caused electrical problems. No mention of actual fire though...

I think the rules state every driver needs to run a minimum of 5 laps during qualifying and everyone wants to run in this session because there's a chance of rain during tomorrow's sessions.

 

Team says: "Fire extinguisher went off which tripped the master electrical kill switch."

 

DW recovered from track but taken to parc ferme so done for the day after 3 laps.

 

NISSAN DELTAWING SHOWS GREAT PACE IN LE MANS QUALIFYING (DeltaWingRacing.com)

 

There's an interesting graphic explaining the steering wheel controls here. Click the graphic at the top left of the article and when it opens click it again to get the enlarged version or you won't be able to read the descriptions.

 

Just for grins... :biggrin5:

NASCAR driver Brian Vickers is driving in the Le Mans 24h for the first time (apparently in a Ferrari). After the night time quali session he wrote "This is nuts! No track lights. Head lights suck. Driving through woods on a street road at 170MPH while racing other cars with no spotters!"

 

A little behind schedule but here's a video based on the test day. Better than most of their other development / prep videos.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8gFZCxd86c]Nissan DeltaWing: Final Preparations for the Le Mans 24 Hours - YouTube[/ame]

 

The DW team say they qualified the car yesterday and were happy with the time so they used the sessions today to work on setup for the race, etc, rather than trying to qualify further up the order. Makes sense I think given they aren't technically racing anyone on the day.

NISSAN DELTAWING PASSES MORE TESTS BEFORE DEBUT (DeltaWingRacing.com)

Snips from the full article: