We broke down the most telling areas of the track (red dots) and captured radar and sector time data to reveal how cars in the four different classes compare. (Photo: Courtesy of Sebring Int'l Raceway)
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Finally we decided to take a look at the car's apex speeds on the critical Le Mans Curve, turn 16, which leads onto the long straight into the final corner, turn 17. Fastest here at the turn 16 apex was AGR Acura which peaked at 75.5mph and averaged around 70mph, while the Zytek showed good pace at 71.5mph and averaging around 69.5mph.
The Spyders were unexpectedly slow here only managing a max of 67mph and averaging 66. But the really telling figures are the LMP1 speeds, Peugeot was again fastest in class with a peak apex speed of 65.2mph and an average of 63mph; Audi's R10 was close but slower at 64.8mph peak and 62mph average.
Great lessons are learned in pouring over this data. Audi hit turn 16 10mph down to Acura, but by the end of the straight, recovered that 10mph and added 17mph more. That’s 27mph the R10 found in pure acceleration over the ARX-01b between turn 16 and 17. Just staggering.
Beyond the numbers, comparative damping and springing between the Audi’s, Peugeot, and AGR Acura told very different tales of chassis setup philosophies.
Over the harsh bumps at the exit of turn 1, the Peugeot barely moved and kept a stable and supple ride platform over the ragged track surface. This speaks to a near perfect balance of reduced springing (torsion bars, actually) and damper tuning to cope with the wavy track without resorting to a soft, wallowing car. Audi appeared to be in search of better balance, with both cars bouncing and digging hard into the uneven track. Their inability to deal with the undulations as well as the Peugeot also showed up on the stopwatch.
At the extreme end, Andretti-Green had a car that looked overly stiff, twitchy, and unforgiving over the bumps. This stiffness
can help with the turning of impressive qualifying laps as we saw Marco Andretti putting on a high flying show in turn 1 with this setup, but over the course of a 12 hour race, it would be impossible to keep the car on the track for more than a few laps without being bitten.
Three cars, three brutally fast times, and three different ways of setting up those cars to achieve those speeds.
LMP2 cars like the Porsche and Acura make a tremendous amount of downforce but have far less power than their LMP1 cousins. As a result, they’re fifteen mph or more slower at the end of the long straights to a P1 car, but unlike the faster but heavier P1’s, they don’t have as much speed to shed when they arrive at a corner like turn 1 and retain much of that top end through the corner.
It’s the reason why the AGR Acura is king of the turn 1 sector time but firmly behind the Peugeot and Audis over a complete lap. It’s the reason the brute power of an Audi allows them to easily pass cars at the end of a long straight while an LMP2 Porsche looks to pass at the apex or exit of a corner while using its wicked cornering speeds.
Sebring has a number of medium speed corners, but ultimately, LMP1 cars distinguish themselves over their lighter and less powerful LMP2 combatants on the many long straights.
It’s also the reason 2007 was the most classic season in Series history and why 2008 should be even better. Wait until we get to St. Pete and add trap speeds and sector times for the Acura Sportscar Challenge. The balance is expected to tip towards the LMP2 category, but the tale of the stop watch and radar gun will help to reveal how different teams and ‘Series divisions are advantaged and disadvantaged.
