Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Hello everyone,

Usually I enjoy pottering over to the LM Classic but this year I have a dose of covid to contend with...As a keyboard warrior I did follow the event as 6 Elans took part!

Simon Evans (I believe in his yellow 1965 S2 with a green stripe) put up some very consistent performances in the 3 x 40' sprints that constitute the modern 24H race.

Overall, he finished 16th (behind 5 Ford GTs, 7 AC/Shelby Cobras, a 250 LM and a 250GT0...) and 1st overall in the Index of Performance.


This is an impressive result as it was a grid with 60 working cars (a few did not need seem to make the track even). Also of note were the very credible performances by Montgomery/Sleep, Bourdin/Bourdin, Brajeux/Gay, Duhamel / Van de Kove, Gutzwiller/Gutzwiller.

The obvious anorak question what is the top speed of a sixties Elan? Gutzwiller managed 239.1 kmh (148.6 mph (GB version)) just a fraction faster than Evans.

The organisers so not communicate where this is measured and my understanding is that the fastest point on the track is now "Indianapolis" rather than Hunaudières (chicanes).

The fastest car of Grid 4 was the 250 GTO (Pastorelli) at 265.2 km/h so we will need to find an extra 26 kmh...

I went this year, so I’ll post up some of the photos from the paddock for you.

Cheers

It looks like the FIA is pretty loose on allowed Elan front body modifications

cheers
Rohan

What exactly do you mean, Rohan?

Frogelan wrote:The obvious anorak question what is the top speed of a sixties Elan? Gutzwiller managed 239.1 kmh (148.6 mph (GB version)) just a fraction faster than Evans.

Thank you for that glimpse, must have been a gorgeous event...

as for elan top speed, I noted one was even clocked above 241 kph (150mph)...

http://peterautoracing.alkamelsystems.com/

rgh0 wrote:It looks like the FIA is pretty loose on allowed Elan front body modifications

cheers
Rohan

The arches on both green ones look non OEM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wFWzLLq52A

&

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5983PUS1Ao

Fun racing I would love to have a go on that track. Holding it in 4th with the shift light on is interesting. We are not allowed electronic aids like shift lights in historic here in Australia :

cheers
Rohan

Rohan,
National authorities are allowed quirky interpretations of FIA rules. Australia and GB are no exceptions [eg; in GB the "MSA" love to insist on having a rain light for GTS cars which is not necessary under FIA rules (but if the event is run in GB under FIA rules, scrutineers will agree these lights are surplus to requirements).

With respect to electronic trickery, it is interesting to see how the rules have evolved.

Some of these seemed pasted in as for "technical regulations for non-homologated cars". This title might suggests that it is for some sort of "GTP" class cars (such as the Ford GTs which run in Feb '66 homologation format) but from what I can see from the following rules, it seems to be more widely applied than the title suggests.

Examples include rev limiters (one race series actually obliges their use to put a stop to "qualifying engines" ) and "Electronic instrumentation must be period specification, however data acquisition system which provides the following functions: engine RPM, engine oil pressure, engine oil temperature, engine
water temperature and fuel pressure may be used."

I believe this means that competitors should be historic in the spirit of the competition, but can collect data for various uses (it is mainly used to improve the pilote, but that is another story).

What was surprising from the videos is that the competitor did not do the gearing calculations before attending the race meeting as the LMC entry fee for just 3 hours of track time is the equivalent of a brand new race engine...

Le Mans Classic 2022, a lot of Elan's !

See also my reportage on :

https://www.oldtimerweb.be/foto.../le-m ... _8642.aspx

Greetz,

Michel

Le Mans Classic 2022

My reportage :

https://www.oldtimerweb.be/fotos-oldtim ... _8642.aspx

Greetz,

Michel

With regards to Rohan's comment on the red light on the dash, I utilized the light to indicate the optimum point to shift with regards to the maximum torque. The engine would safely rev to far higher rpm, it just would't pull as strong,