After multiple team meetings there have been a number of interesting developments.
Firstly, the team will be using a brand new PC which should have the graphics power and memory to cope with 24hrs of racing. This also gives us the ability to use a larger TV screen which can be positioned directly in front of the driver.
Another decision, and one which may puzzle a lot of people. After putting in laps of 3min 30sec, the team has elected to try and reduce the performance of the car. This decision has been made following a practise session in which the Doodleco LMP2 Lola was beating LMP1 cars and with some setup work we wouldn't be far off from finishing on the overall podium.
For a real team, this would be a dream come true however it was discovered that the car being used by Doodleco is in fact set to LMP1 specification. This supports our decision to scrap the current data and start fresh by decreasing the performance of the car. The goal is to achieve a fastest lap no faster than 3:35, a time which is still too quick for an LMP2 but much better than potentially lapping 3:25 and winning the race.
Discussions on this topic bounced back and forth with a variety of ideas. The first was to leave the car alone and upgrade the team to LMP1, allowing us to go for the overall win. Another idea was to reformat the race completely and run LMP1 and 2 as a single LMP class. Finally though, it was decided that we wanted to keep things realistic by driving in LMP2 and our focus is to win the class before looking at a future in LMP1.
After all this, it's time to go back to the drawing board and test track.
Monday 23 July 2012
Monday 16 July 2012
Post Test Statement
Two weeks ago, the team's leading driver took part in two 3 hour long practise sessions.
We started the first session at 1400 and generally it was pretty smooth. Lap times were consistently around the 3:30 area and there was only a slight mistake caused by trying to run the tyres a little longer than was planned, all things which will ironed out ready for the race.
After the session we looked at the condition of the driver and conclude that he could easily complete a fourth hour.
To simulate the conditions of Le Mans, we waited 6 hours before starting the second session at 2100. Like before, we wanted to see how the driver performed during his second driver shift. The darkness was not really an issue and for the first half of the session everything was as smooth as before. After an hour and a half the driver started to report some level of fatigue, mainly mental. Concentration slipped slightly approaching two hours and a mistake was made at the Forza Chicane after the driver missed his braking point forcing him to quickly divert through the gaps in the tyre walls covering the main road.
After the 2 hour mark, the driver was starting to feel pain in his arms and general tiredness was setting in. Another error at Mulsanne damage the front of the car and repairs were required. Finally the session was completed and it was clear that our strategy of having a 4 hour stint through the middle of the night would be out of the question, at least for now.
The plan is now to correct some of the errors that were made, improve general fitness and practise three hour shifts until they become easy. Then, perhaps we may come back to the idea of having one driver in the car from midnight to 4am.
We started the first session at 1400 and generally it was pretty smooth. Lap times were consistently around the 3:30 area and there was only a slight mistake caused by trying to run the tyres a little longer than was planned, all things which will ironed out ready for the race.
After the session we looked at the condition of the driver and conclude that he could easily complete a fourth hour.
To simulate the conditions of Le Mans, we waited 6 hours before starting the second session at 2100. Like before, we wanted to see how the driver performed during his second driver shift. The darkness was not really an issue and for the first half of the session everything was as smooth as before. After an hour and a half the driver started to report some level of fatigue, mainly mental. Concentration slipped slightly approaching two hours and a mistake was made at the Forza Chicane after the driver missed his braking point forcing him to quickly divert through the gaps in the tyre walls covering the main road.
After the 2 hour mark, the driver was starting to feel pain in his arms and general tiredness was setting in. Another error at Mulsanne damage the front of the car and repairs were required. Finally the session was completed and it was clear that our strategy of having a 4 hour stint through the middle of the night would be out of the question, at least for now.
The plan is now to correct some of the errors that were made, improve general fitness and practise three hour shifts until they become easy. Then, perhaps we may come back to the idea of having one driver in the car from midnight to 4am.
Friday 6 July 2012
Pit Strategy Practice
This weekend is going to be busy. The team has started discussing strategy and the big question marks lie over tyre wear and driver fatigue. Testing shows that there is the chance to triple stint a set of tyres however there are problems with the rear set so more work will need to be done.
None of the drivers have ever raced for longer than 3hrs and only one has raced in the dark for a considerable amount of time. Initial thoughts are to try and keep two of the drivers in as much daylight as possible. One driver will be in the car leading up to midnight, from there the plan is to use the most experienced driver for 4 stints.
Because this is unknown territory, a non-stop test session will be run on Saturday for 3hrs. From there the team can look at the option for a 4th hour with a single driver. This test will prove useful at gathering data for different pit strategies and hopefully give us a better insight to how long a driver can stay out on track without making a mistake.
None of the drivers have ever raced for longer than 3hrs and only one has raced in the dark for a considerable amount of time. Initial thoughts are to try and keep two of the drivers in as much daylight as possible. One driver will be in the car leading up to midnight, from there the plan is to use the most experienced driver for 4 stints.
Because this is unknown territory, a non-stop test session will be run on Saturday for 3hrs. From there the team can look at the option for a 4th hour with a single driver. This test will prove useful at gathering data for different pit strategies and hopefully give us a better insight to how long a driver can stay out on track without making a mistake.
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