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Le Mans Scrutineering Tuesday 10 – Henri
Pescarolo After 33 race appearances as a driver, and a further 9 (including this year) as a team owner, Henri Pescarolo has earned, probably more than any other man alive, a right to be heard by the powers that be on issues regarding the state and the shape of sportscar racing. His very public calls for a levelling of the playing field in LMP1 though have remained unanswered in the past two seasons with the big budgets and high tech of the factory diesels widening the gap between the Peugeots and Audies and the rest to previously unknown levels. Does he feel that the battle is lost and if so what is the future for the petrol-fuelled privateer effort? “The reality is that it gets more and more difficult to continue. I am not here to start races, I am here to fight. “I still hope that the ACO will understand that there is a really bad situation at the moment for all but the diesel teams. I have been here for more than 40 years and there has never been a time when there has been a 150 bhp difference between the lead cars and the rest in the same class. “That level of difference is simply unfair and it translates to lap times that are ridiculously different. We already know that an additional 20 bhp translates to a second quicker around this track and now we have cars that are 10 seconds quicker – It’s too much and it has to change. “In 2005 I proved with the hybrid Pescarolo that with a bigger restrictor I was 5 seconds a lap faster than the Audi R8 that was heavier and with less power. Things can be done to level the playing field and something needs to be done to rebalance this.
“I am convinced that it is a very good thing to be allowed to use different fuels but that should not come with an unfair advantage, particularly when those cars have around double the torque of ours. That, remember, means that they have something like 40% more time at full power around here. “For five years we fought against the Audis when we were growing and they had a proven package. They won but there was hope. Now though they have a car that can stop for 6 laps for a repair and still beat us – That must change if private teams are to continue at the level we see now.” The press conference tomorrow may well see the ACO’s latest response to Henri’s calls (and those from others in a similar position). With the privateer grid in LMS at an all time high will the ACO move to protect their grid sizes, or will 2009 and 2010 see further concessions to secure more factory incvolvement? |
