[LM24] Le Mans 24 hours - cost

[Monstrobolaxa]

Well we're all aware that the costs of competing in F1 are more or less public domain and all of us have an idea of the total cost of running a F1 team and the cost of some individual parts.

Now I've been searching for information on the cost of competing at Le Mans.

So if anyone has any info on the costs, not just the total cost of what Peugeot or Audi spend...but the cost of a costumer car...or a Lola monocoque...the cost of tires...basically the diferent costs associated, not just the total cost of a team.

[rcarr]

The figure of £5 million was banded about last year (I think) by Hugh Chamberlain for the yellow Lola that he was running.

[rcarr]

Its also hit and miss about attempting to get an entry! The ACO are supposedly very hard to please. If you are a small Scottish team like Ecurie Ecosse they will see you as alright to gain an entry especially if you ply them with Whisky or "the brown wine". But if you are a big arrogant team that are not from France, you may have problems!

[paul-collins]

Originally Posted by rcarr

The figure of £5 million was banded about last year (I think) by Hugh Chamberlain for the yellow Lola that he was running.

That strikes me as high.

I've heard from NA teams to expect $1-2m to run the race, exclusive of equipment but inclusive of shipping. Say the Porsche Spyder is $1.5m all in? And assume you'd need another $500k to $1m in Porsche support and spares? That's a maximum of $4.5m, which is more like £2.3m.

I'm assuming that we're talking about privateers here, of course, and I don't believe that the existing P1 customer solutions would be more expensive than the Porsche Spyder package (unless, say, you wanted the Judd diesel or the Cossie V8TT ).

[Aysedasi]

[quote=Monstrobolaxa]....but the cost of a costumer car...quote]


Is that a bit like one of those old Fiat X19s? They used to call them hairdressers cars, didn't they?

[AU N EGL]

Originally Posted by Monstrobolaxa

Well we're all aware that the costs of competing in F1 are more or less public domain and all of us have an idea of the total cost of running a F1 team and the cost of some individual parts.

Now I've been searching for information on the cost of competing at Le Mans.

So if anyone has any info on the costs, not just the total cost of what Peugeot or Audi spend...but the cost of a costumer car...or a Lola monocoque...the cost of tires...basically the diferent costs associated, not just the total cost of a team.

The combined Kron / Perterson White Lightnig Porsche in GT2 last years budget was $960,000 for ONE car and this did not enclude drivers saleries.

to bring the car, associated parts and the team members to and from The US to compete in the LM 24.

GT2 years budget about $2,00,000 per year PLUS the cost of car and haulers.

[AU N EGL]

2002 Lola EX257 Complete


Condition: Excellent
Price: US $350,000 Currency_Convert Location: San Diego, CA USA

Description Current LMP1 competitor with rich history in ALMS and LeMans. This car has gained championships in ALMS as well as overall pole positions and numerous podium finishes including two as recent as 2006. The car was formerly in the Dyson stable (#20) and is currently being raced by Autocon Motorsports. This is an extraordinary and most complete package including two fully updated AER 2.0L turbo powerplants, complete spare body kit and a full array of spares including suspension pieces and wheels. The package offers a complete turn- key operation and the current team will offer support for team orientation at testing and/or first race event. The Lola EX 257 was first introduced to the American Le Mans Series in 2002, and the following year, at Sears Point Raceway, became the first and only LMP675 to beat an LMP 900 in series history. In 2004 the car was moved to the P1 class (formerly the LMP 900 class), where it scored four class and overall race wins via Dyson Racing's two entries during the two-year span.

Autocon Lola EX257 2002
http://www.race-cars.com/carsales/lo...75105712ss.htm

That is a USED race car.

[The Badger]

[QUOTE=Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by Monstrobolaxa

....but the cost of a costumer car...quote]


Is that a bit like one of those old Fiat X19s? They used to call them hairdressers cars, didn't they?

Oohhh yeah , glad you mentioned that , my "big" bro had one of them .

It didnt start unless it was parked on a hill . His never started , when i was a kid , he worked 2 hours drive from home , so when he came home , for the return trip , he used to get me outta bed at 5am so i could help him push the bloody thing . When it started he would just blast off up the road and leave me walk home in my pyjamas and slippers !!!

Hope to never see one of those evil little cars again ..... and it was a green one too !!!

[ss_collins]

a new pesca LMP1 is 600,000 euro, less engine.

[Austinspace75]

This is a not a simple question to answer as its entirely dependant on so many things.... infact... everything!

If the question is simply regarding the cost of entering, arriving and running an average car in any of the classes, then yes you might be able to come to a ball park figure. (and sorry, no I don't have that figure)

But, this business is horrendously complicated and is never as simple as it might be nice to imagine it to be. Personally, for me, its this incredible complication that helps makes it such a fascinating life long interest. And its really cool aswell of course!
Regarding costs, for a start the amount a team spends is usually in direct proportion to the amount that is available to them. In this respect, sports cars is no different from F1. Its just that the amounts available are generally much smaller! As a side note, the recent attempts at rule changes that could lower the costs of F1 are generally considered a misnomer by industry experts as teams will find other ways to spend their budget that might give them an advantage. I don't suppose sportscars is any different.

To even consider entering Le Mans, you have to be an active, prominent, successful competitor in a high profile sportscar series or event, which usually takes a fantastic budget to acheive in itself.... and you haven't even packed the truck for Le Mans yet!
You can be granted an entry by running something very different and/or innovative and/or eccentric (a bit like the ACO infact), but I don't think that is what this question is about.

The over-riding influence on total cost will be the availability of budget. Everything else is secondary in my view. Those with a huge budget spend it on everything they can think of and those without a big enough budget (and/or the skills/team/drivers/car/preparation/experience... its a long list) don't make it to Le weekend. Most teams budgets will lie somewhere in between the two extremes and vary depending on who's backing them, running them, driving the cars, what they want to acheive and the luck that god affords them trying to do it.

However, there have been many examples over the years in all forms of motor racing (but less so more recently) of teams being successful on relatively small budgets. But this is often the result of the application of some very valuable expertise and experience from an 'old hand' or two.... who've probably been part of the budget of countless teams over a long career to enable that experience to be built up.... would we count that in the true cost?

I know this doesn't really answer the question but there it is anyway. I'm just trying to demonstrate some of the influences that could affect the answer to this question.

[Monstrobolaxa]

Originally Posted by Austinspace75

If the question is simply regarding the cost of entering, arriving and running an average car in any of the classes, then yes you might be able to come to a ball park figure. (and sorry, no I don't have that figure)

Well this is what I'm looking for...

[Austinspace75]

Originally Posted by Monstrobolaxa

Well this is what I'm looking for...

Indeed, again I apologise for not being able to answer your question, even with the figures regarding the items you are identifying.

But my point is that given the constraints that the question is imposing, the answer would be pretty meaningless and would only paint a little part of a much bigger, much more complicated picture.... but maybe that's exactly why you've asked it!

[AU N EGL]

Originally Posted by Monstrobolaxa

Well this is what I'm looking for...

Plus support for the whole team. $800,000 to $1,000,000 per car is a very close figure.

[AU N EGL]

Of course there is the other aspect, " If you have to ask . . . .. ..."

[archibold]

At the other end of the spectrum a "gentleman" driver in GT2 (not as many around this year due to the size of other classes) may pay as (relatively) little amount as £60k for the drive (based upon a Porsche last year).

So you could multiply that by 3 to guesstimate £180k for the weekend + any team sponsors.

GT2 is a magnitude cheaper than any other class though.

Archibold

[Osella]

[QUOTE=Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by Monstrobolaxa

....but the cost of a costumer car...quote]


Is that a bit like one of those old Fiat X19s? They used to call them hairdressers cars, didn't they?

hehehe... it took me a while to spot that... surely it's costumier??

surely MX-5 would be the hairdresser's weapon of choice...? Or pretty much any German car (runs for cover....)

[AU N EGL]

Originally Posted by Monstrobolaxa

but the cost of a costumer car...or a Lola monocoque...the cost of tires...basically the diferent costs associated, not just the total cost of a team.

Was doing some caculating on this.

Lola B06/10 or B2K/10B cassie $600,000
Spare parts for cassie $300,000
AER engine $100,000
Two spare AER engines $200,000
Hewland transmission & Diff $100,000
Two spare Hewlands $200,000
Mich tires $500 each
4 tires per change $2,000
set of tires last 2 stints,~ 2hours
12 sets, figure 20 sets of tires @ $2,000 per set
$40,000 for tires
10 sets of BBS wheels at $4000 / set = $40,000
Spare Hitco Carbon Brake rotors $1,000 each
Fuel Shell 98 Octane race fuel
( Wild guess here $3.00 / liter ) so $300 / 100 liters
Each team has 2500 liter allocation $7500
ect
ect
ect

Adds uo Very Fast.

[bil588]

Hospitality for the Hundreds

By Travis Braun

An army of people will be looking after
Jo Pinkstone of Britain orchestrates a team of three chefs and many other employees at Freeman and Edwards Hospitality Services Limited. A better name for the company would be "unlimited," as this bunch will cook 2000-2500 meals in the event's one week period. But with the guest load at up to 150 per day, that amount of food is necessary.

speedtv.com

[rcarr]

I asked the RLM lot and they didn't give an answer but they referred to Martin Short aka Rollcentre racing and they said that he has been able to buy LMPs more easily than GT1s because of the standard of the potential rivals, ie Corvettes and Aston Martins.

He was able to buy old ORECA Dallaras since then he has owned Radicals and now running a Pescarolo for this weekend's race. Apparently he did buy them through the business/team but he is in no means rich, he is a successful business owner.