The race is just starting on FS1 channel. Maybe the Toyotas will actually compete this time, the Porsche and Audi hybrids have just been competing against each other.
Crossposting my post from your thread on TDIClub... So, Audi #8 is the only LMP1-H running well right now, as I understand. Porsche #1 had punctures and the resulting damage has taken it out of the possibility of completing minimum distance (but it's running), Porsche #2 has a crippled hybrid system. Toyota #5 is in the garage after dominating the race, after starting to smoke badly. Toyota #6 retired due to an electronics failure causing engine damage. Audi #7 is smoking I thought I saw. And then there's the Rebellions, which are ahead of Audi #7. Edit: #5 retired too, so Toyota's a DNF.
Looks like the #5 car wasn't officially retired, they've got it on pit lane, probably to get ready for one lap, to take the checkered flag, because they did enough laps to get 70% complete. (They've completed 113 laps so far, we're looking at 160 laps for the leading Audi, and 112 laps is 70%.) The #1 Porsche is cutting it damn close, at 110 laps complete. Edit: Radio Le Mans is saying the #5 is doing a lap on battery alone. Edit 2: #5 completed its (slow) lap and took the flag, so 7th place in class, versus 8th in class for the #1 Porsche. Rebellion got themselves a podium!
The results were pre-determined. porsche spyder already beat a mclaren's time on a laguna seca, even though the mclaren has what, a couple HUNDRED more horse power? Porsche 918 vs McLaren P1 Race on Laguna Seca | Video | Digital Trends you can't beat a great awd hybrid on a curvy track - that's why they dominate formula 1 now days .
All of the LMP1-H cars are AWD hybrids with lithium-ion batteries. The Audi has a 6-speed single-clutch sequential gearbox, whereas the Porsche and Toyota have 7-speed single-clutch sequential gearboxes. Audi has a 4.0 V6 turbodiesel with a front electric motor, and is in a class that allows harvesting and releasing 6 MJ of energy in one lap of Le Mans. Porsche has a 2.0 V4 (yes, V4, not inline 4) turbocharged gasoline engine with a front electric motor and a turbine generator (harvesting excess exhaust energy), and is in a 8 MJ class (the most allowed, but with less fuel flow allowed than in the 6 MJ class). Toyota has a 2.4 V6 turbocharged gasoline engine with front and rear electric motors, and is also in a 8 MJ class. Edit: And Formula 1 is exclusively RWD - rear electric motor and a turbine generator. Not sure how much energy storage they have, and any numbers (other than actual electric storage capacity) wouldn't be comparable to LMP1-H.
