Why the Mercedes CLRs kept taking off at Le Mans 1999 | FerrariChat

Why the Mercedes CLRs kept taking off at Le Mans 1999

Discussion in 'Other Racing' started by jgonzalesm6, Jun 18, 2019.

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  1. jgonzalesm6

    jgonzalesm6 Two Time F1 World Champ
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    Why the Mercedes CLRs kept taking off at Le Mans 1999 - Chain Bear explains





    Le Mans 1999 - Peter Dumbreck's HUGE accident! Mercedes CLR-GT1 CRASH!




    Mark Webber Mercedes Flying Crash at Le Mans 1999 Warm Up

     
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  2. Devilsolsi

    Devilsolsi F1 Veteran
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  3. LMPDesigner

    LMPDesigner F1 Rookie
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    Nov 5, 2003
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    Not a bad explanation but misses some points.

    Merc was very slow on straights, as compared to Toyota and to a degree my BMW.

    Merc wanted to blank rear wing on straights to cut frontal area.

    So changed rake angle as mentioned.

    But also (and more critical) they put super soft springs on rear and super stiff springs up front.

    So when found down straights rear end just got lower and lower while front end stayed up. This added a bunch of rake and moved CP way rearward, so car flew.
     
  4. GuyIncognito

    GuyIncognito Nine Time F1 World Champ
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    same cause for the 911 GT1 that took off at Road Atlanta?
     
  5. Jakuzzi

    Jakuzzi Formula 3

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    I WAS at that race in 1999!
    My summer of racing. I went to the Spanish GP, Le mans, the Spanish 500 cc GP [now MotoGP] race and the French GP! :)
     
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  6. BartonWorkman

    BartonWorkman F1 Veteran
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    Didn't watch the video but in each instance cars such as the Porsche GT1 and Mercedes-Benz
    CLRs launched, they were closely following another car and when they'd crest a hill as the
    famous "Hump" at Le Mans, the air would be taken off the front ends and they'd launch.

    Tom Kristensen explained how this started to happen to him at Le Mans whilst driving the BMW
    LMR V12 in 1999 but he had the presence of mind to stand on the brakes which had the effect
    of bringing the car back down a-la a Moto Cross bike at the height of a jump.

    BHW
     
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  7. BMW.SauberF1Team

    BMW.SauberF1Team F1 World Champ

    Dec 4, 2004
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    I love the CLR...one of the best looking race cars of all time imo. They made 4 and unfortunately only 2 survive. One is at AMG (wears no number and has orange mirros) and the other surprisingly is in private hands in Germany (#6 car with yellow mirrors).
     

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