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Le Mans Scrutineering Tuesday 9 - Dome S102 Programme Scrutineering in the Place des Jacobins gave dsc the ideal opportunity to catch up with the ‘father’ of the new Dome S102 Hiroshi Yuchi as his head-turning LMP1 Coupe made its way through the formal process of acceptance into the Le Mans 24 Hours.
“Of course we know that the ACO are planning an Asian Le Mans Series from next season and we would hope to compete there with the car in perhaps 2 or 3 races.” Would it therefore be safe to assume that the car is essentially a technology demonstrator for Dome? “Yes it would. This car represents a very big investment for Dome in resources. We are of course doing that to show what we are capable of producing in very many ways. “If this was a pure racing project then of course we would be looking to go head to head with the Audis and Peugeots but the reality is that their budgets are far in excess of what we have available in-house. But we will be looking to finish this race and in qualifying we hope to be in amongst the diesels. I would be happy with 4th to 6th position on this grid. “What we have brought here is I believe a good performing, good looking car, a big effort from us but one which can prove what we are capable of doing.” It’s very clear indeed that Mr Yuchi and Dome intend to catch the eye of one or other of the Asian major manufacturers, several of whom are known to be considering a return to top line sportscar action. Here’s hoping that a good run from the new Japanese coupe might seal at least one of those deals.
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“At this moment the only firm plans we have to race the car are for this
season’s Le Mans 24 Hours with no further European races planned at the
moment.