[s-cars] Re: NAC LAF Weakend Theater -- Flippin' Mercs

[William Noland]

For the record, it was not the CLK-GTR (from 1997), the LM (from 1998),
but the Merc CLR in 1999, which flipped both in practice and the race at
LeMans. After the practice flip Mercedes hastily added some front
winglets, but this didn't exactly solve the problem.

Why did the CLR flip? Couple of possibilities were offered. Mercedes
designed the car with a rock hard front suspension and a relatively soft
rear. When the car was at speed on the Mulsanne, the rear would sag down
a bit, which would take the large rear wing out of the airflow a bit for
top speed. When braking/slowing into a corner, the rear would come up a
bit, putting the wing into play. Clever, no? History says not too
clever, as it allowed air under the car at the slight rise in the straight.

Secondly, if you look at that era of prototype, including the Merc,
you'll notice the front fenders were not vented. This is required on all
LMP cars these days. Why? To relieve the air pressure under the front of
the car. Merc was not the only flyer -- there was the Yannick Dalmas
Porsche GT1 in the video that started all this (1999 Road Atlanta Petite
LeMans) and the 2000 BMW V12 LMR, which Bill Auberlin flipped at the
2000 Petite LeMans.

Bill Noland
Flippin' out in Oakland

>the cause of the CLK-LM (not the CLK-GTR) flight is still open to
>debate.  mercedes attributed it to the rise in the pavement on the
>mulsanne straight.
>
>the car in the video is the #26 911 GT1.  yes, porsche.
>