Note the four horizontal louvres on the side panel of the car (below) Work on the car seemed not to have been fully finalised when the ‘dazzleship’ shakedown pictures were taken of the Cadillac DPi-V.R. The headlamps have been restyled again for brand identity reasons and the leading edges of the front wheelpods appear to have been reshaped with the leading edge of the bodywork on the DPi version (Above) slightly more pronounced compared to the LMP2 version (below)
The ducting in the nose is reshaped for brand identity/styling reasons but serves the same brake cooling role. In some areas the bodywork is far more angular, partly for styling reasons and partly for aerodynamic performance.Ī clearer look could be had when the Action Express and Wayne Taylor Racing teams ran thier new cars in testing at Daytona. This version of the design made its track debut in private testing in late 2016.ĭespite the dazzle ship wrap on the car it is possible to discern some of the differences between the Gibson V8 powered P217. The social media account of Racing Team Netherlands has given a good overview of the Dallara LMP2 design including this look inside the cockpit (below) all 2017 specifcation LMP2 cars use identical electronic equipment supplied by Cosworth, the only realy variance is how the various components are mounted.ĭallara collaborated with General Motors throughout the development to create a Daytona Prototype International (DPi) specification variant of the car. Rear brake cooling is via ducts on the leading edge of the rear wheel pods (below) The front suspension features pushrod actuated torsion bars mounted in the front bulkhead (below).
The car features a raised nose in common with a number of other LMP designs including the ORECA 05, though it is not as extreme as that used on the rival Ligier JS P217.įront brake cooling is via oval slots on the leading edge of the front bodywork these feed ducts mounted inside the nose of the car leading to the disc and uprights. The overall design of the P217 appears fairly conventional as is expected from Dallara, which had a reputation for making conventional, but well executed and fast racecars.Ī better look at the P217 came when the Racing Team Netherlands car took part in a number of test sessions including a Dunlop tyre test at Sebring. Pictures of it testing in Italy had already leaked in the print media. At a motor show in Bologna a P217 was briefly shown off with very little fanfare. The official reveal of the car did not come until late 2016 and then with very little fanfare indeed. In the background of this picture of senior Dallara Manager Andrea Pontremoli the early wind tunnel model of the P217 is seen in the working section of Dallara’s own wind tunnel. The first sighting of the new design came unexpectedly via a press release on a completely unrelated project. However with that partnership coming to an amicable end (another Italian firm, YCOM, was responsible for the final generation Audi R18s) Dallara set out to develop an all new design for the new LMP2 technical regulations. Its last LMP was of course the early generation Audi R18, and its deal with the German marque meant that it could not build Le Mans cars under its own brand during the whole R8-R10-R15 programme.
The Dallara P217 is the first Le Mans Prototype for a few years to be built by the famous Italian constructor.
0 kommentar(er)
