The Greatest Race"
The 1999 Le Mans 24 hours has to be considered one of the strongest ever to have taken place. Full factory teams from Mercedes, BMW, Audi, Toyota and Nissan all took to the track in a bid for overall victory. Racecar Engineering was there with its team of writers to record the variety, while also painting a picture of splendour of the race itself. We look back through our archives to look at Racecar Engineering?s technical analysis of the cars.
Toyota, BMW, Mercedes, Nissan and Audi start their warm up lap at Le Mans in 1999. Pic credit Toyota Gazoo Racing Europe (TGR-E)
The 67th Le Mans 24 Hours was the strongest ever in terms of factory parÂticipation. Five of the world’s biggest automoÂbile manufacturers – BMW, DaimlerChrysler, Nissan, Toyota and VAG – entered powerful works teams. Mercedes-Benz wanted to steal the limelight. But not like this. After the race, the world’s media focused not on the exceptional performance that had brought a first Le Mans victory for a BMW racecar, nor even on the dreadful luck that had befallen Toyota. They were transfixed by the lamentable performance that had extended the generally disastrous relationship between Mercedes and the world’s most famous motor race.
In three separate incidents – during the first qualifying session, during the race morning warmup, and during the race itself – AMG’s purpose-designed Mercedes CLR racecars underwent terrifying backwards somersaults after cresting...
Source:
racecar-engineering
URL:
http://www.racecar-engineering.com/
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