LMS Rnd 4: Donington 25-27 Aug 2006

[dazbaz_99]

Does anyone know whether this will be an 'into the night' race like Silverstone last year, or if it will be run during the afternoon?

[zac510]

I was looking at the timetable recently and I am quite sure it is during the Sunday afternoon. Have you checked the Donnington and LMES websites for the timetable?

[dazbaz_99]

Originally Posted by zac510

I was looking at the timetable recently and I am quite sure it is during the Sunday afternoon. Have you checked the Donnington and LMES websites for the timetable?

Yes I have and neither have a timetable yet, I guess its a bit early.

[brielga]

I thought there was a request or some feedback about not wanting to race at night (caused by the rainy conditions in combination with dusk, etc.) that made the LMS guys to decide against it. Maybe someone remembers better but this came out last year already.

[JAG]

It is a bank holiday weekend so it's not out of the question to run into the late evening/dusk, which I guess wouldn't be on if it was a regular Sunday with fans etc. working the next day.

[Sideways-Fast]

Doesn't Donington Park have a 6.30 pm deadline for racing though? It'll still be pretty light then, in August!

Shame though, as i thoroughly enjoyed the BritCar night race a couple of years back. Cars seem even faster down Craner when all you can see is lights and glowing brake discs!!

Would be awesome watching LMS at night there!

Sid

[TheNewBob]

It's still pretty light at 6:30pm NOW nevermind in August!

LMS at night is a great experience and would be a shame not to be able to see that again, but it's not a huge loss if that doesn't happen - I'm just pleased that the series is going within an hour or so of me

[Flat12-Aircool]

Originally Posted by dazbaz_99

Does anyone know whether this will be an 'into the night' race like Silverstone last year, or if it will be run during the afternoon?

Good question, I've been wondering that myself.

If there really is a 18:30 deadline I hope for just one day they can make an exeption. I would imagine that 18:30 is stated just so on a day-to-day basis circuit staff etc can go home at a resonable hour. I can't imagine it being "environmental" in any way as the circuit is right next door to a major Airport!

[Adam43]

A fairly major airport. There is a curfew and it isn't just to let the staff get home! I've seen races there cancelled because of it.

[LC2guy]

And yet Britcar race at night there, with a huge firework display afterwards .................. Surely LMS can do the same.

[Audi R8R]

There'll definately be fireworks. I'm still waiting for the LMP teams to get there and try to refuel on that wonderful new pit-lane they've put in.

I can hear the scraping of floors, undertrays and the grounding out of cars now...

[jc_nl]

Is it realy that bad, how much is the difference between the boxes then?

Between races at Spa some guys had a chat with Stephane Ortelli about the track. He did seem a bit worried about going their. His mean worrie seemd to be weather the track was long enough to accomodate all the cars. Someone did mention to pit, seemd like that bit was new to him (and didn't make him look happier about going their).

[Sideways-Fast]

Originally Posted by LC2guy

And yet Britcar race at night there, with a huge firework display afterwards .................. Surely LMS can do the same.

This was in November though. Was dark around 4.30pm and fireworks were held at around 6.30 - 6.45 IIRC!!

A wee bit more difficult in August!

Sid

[zac510]

Fireworks - seen one, seen 'em all..

I'm still looking forward to the race though

[eddsc]

When announcing the calendar for 2006, the Le Mans Series organisers stated that there would be no evening racing this year. Ortelli ought to be more concerned about Jarama, if a full field heads there.

[canam]

Originally Posted by jc_nl

Is it realy that bad, how much is the difference between the boxes then?

Between races at Spa some guys had a chat with Stephane Ortelli about the track. He did seem a bit worried about going their. His mean worrie seemd to be weather the track was long enough to accomodate all the cars. Someone did mention to pit, seemd like that bit was new to him (and didn't make him look happier about going their).

Don't know how the new pit boxes will be as they are being rebuilt.

Overall, however, Donington (in its current form) is a wonderfully flowing National track. In order to provide adequate length for International racing, they had to add the Melbourne loop--two 'mickey mouse' straights ending in a haripin. Very hard on brakes and, like the Nurburgrin,g good for cars with torque and traction.

If only tom wheatcroft di not have to fight so any local councils to get the thig rebuilt, he may have been able to rebuild the old GP Circuit (where, I am told, speeds of nearly 200mph were achieved in the late 30s).

It will be a tight circuit and torque will be king as it will be difficult to get a number of clear laps.

[LC2guy]

Que !!!!!!!!!!!

[jc_nl]

I thought the new pitcomplex was finished already, my mistake.

Anyway I supose I will see it for myself in due time since I will be their for the race.

[Suze]

It is....I was there last weekend, working with the Vees. We had the garages, and for us it was no problem - some were even driving straight down the stepped pit lane boxes! However, for the LMS in Donington it could prove interesting, and I look forward to seeing how it works! My worry is how they will pull into the pitboxes - presuming here they use them.

There are now effectively three lanes in the pit lane - the left hand one, which is stepped with the pit boxes, the middle one, which I didn't see used last weekend (750MC meeting, slightly different to LMS!) and the right hand one, I'll call it the running lane because I can't remember the actual name! However, that is lane the drivers will "drive in" on.

The pit boxes themselves are fine, and the garages weren't as small as I'd been led to believe, though still could prove interesting. With the pit boxes and the steps, the outer side (ie nearest the pit wall) is the shallowest. However, based on the width of the cars and the height of the bodywork, I struggle to see how they will pull in.

The second option some of us stood and discussed, with our cups of tea at 8 in the morning, was using the middle lane as the pit box. However, the people standing on the outside of the car (again, nearest the pit wall) would, in my opinion, be too close to the running lane in terms of safety.

Another option is to use half of the middle lane, and half of the pit box (ie with the shallow side of the step). This could prove to be the solution.

How any of the above will work I'm not sure, I'm just speculating based on what I saw...

The other thing I could see to be affected would be where to place the fuel rigs. Where they previously stood, ie between the garages against the small amount of wall, is not feasible as this is now sloped because of the steps. This leaves the option of placing them in front of the doors which are in front of each garage, presuming of course this is ok as they are fire doors (however when the shutters from the garages are raised I don't see a problem).

I hope the above hopes to explain a little more of how things have changed, seeing as I've seen it once....and I'll sit and wait with everyone else to see how it works out in August!

[roys1]

www.marshalspost.com/images/tmp/bigDBaihd.jpg try this link for a photo of the donington pit lane, It might enlarge a touch more if you try.

[Suze]

Yep, that's the one

I'd seen quite a few pictures, but to "understand" the steps found it a lot easier to see them, to figure out how steep they actually are...

[falcons707]

does anybody know if the donington race is going to be live on the web like the spa race was

[Audi R8R]

The problem they'll have at Donington with the new pitlane will come from the steps and where the fuel rigs will be placed.

The pits have been designed with the MotoGP purely at the forefront of the designers mind (brief?). I can see why, its the biggest event the track has, but...

The LMS cars will ground out on the steps, no questions, a GT1 car does, so an LMP certainly will. So, you'd think you'd move the whole lot further out into the pitlane, but then, as Suze has already pointed out, you have to think about the safety aspect for the rest of the team.
Also, I've noticed at Donington, the new garage have no 'gap' between them, where a fuel rig/air system trolley can be placed. There's is little more than a doors width between the following pair of garages, so even if the steps didn't cause the rigs to be further into the pitlane, the teams would be blocking each others garage entrances up...

From a racing point of view, the race will be mega, the circuit is fab. But the chaos in the pit-lane... hmmm.

[jc_nl]

Well the pitlane certainly looks,uuhhmm, interesting. Close to the garage the step indeed seems to be rather big.

As for refueling, from what I seem to remember teams put the rig in front of the door opening in Spa, I assume that will also work here.

[Suze]

I think Audi, as jc_nl mentioned, the teams will have to place the rigs in front of the door. Although these are fire escape doors I can't see this being a problem as the shutters for the garages will presumably be open, certainly at the front. However, knowing English law....let's just hope it's ok!

The biggest concern, in my opinion, is grounding over the steps. However watching how the British GTs cope with it this weekend could prove to be interesting - and may potentially help with knowledge for the LMS event in August.