Porsche LMP2 proto racer for 2006 Options

[Jeroen]

3.4 90 deg V8 - 480bhp (with ALMS restrictor)
sequencial 6 box
since this is a customer car, they kept the exotic materials to a minimum to reduce the cost of the car
750kg (appr. 1650#)

Penske will run it for the 2006 ALMS season but the first outings will be on Road Atlanta (oct 1st) and Laguna Seca (Oct. 16th)

I hope they made the right choice, cause LMP2 didn't look even close to being competible at LeMans last weekend...

Sure looks nice
I wouldn't mind having one (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/laugh.gif)

There's a link on the porsche site...
http://www3.us.porsche.com/usa/

[VegasRacer]

Will Porsche go beyond the ALMS?
2005-04-27 ALMS LEMANS BUSINESS
Bill Oursler

When Porsche announced that it would not only build its first prototype of the 21st century, but had hired Roger Penske to oversee and run it, many within the racing community asked the same question that once was asked by the great singer Peggy Lee: "Is that all there is?"

In fact, the press release issued by the German manufacturer revealing its new LM Prototype category 2 spyder for the American Le Mans Series left more questions unanswered than it answered. While most companies would have at least held a press conference in similar circumstances, Porsche almost seemed to want to hide the fact that it had gone back into the prototype business after an absence stretching back to its last Le Mans 24-Hour triumph in 1998 with its carbon fiber chassis 911GT1 LM98 coupe.

Throughout the winter and into the early spring rumors had been circulating that the Zuffenhausen-based firm would build a LMP2 spyder. The natural follow-on rumor was of a more potent LMP1 version to compete against the reported 2006 diesel entries from both Audi and Peugeot, which are expected to battle it out at the Sarthe a year from now. What was a shock was Penske Racing's role in the mix.

Indeed, there were many within the Porsche universe itself, as well as those connected to Penske, who did not know of the agreement between the two until it was made public just prior to the ALMS Road Atlanta weekend. So tightlipped has Porsche been about the project that sources have said the company only announced it when it did because it wanted to contain the rumors and regain some control over the information making it to the public forum.

That fact was clearly evident in that Porsche only said the LMP2 entry was a 2006 effort on behalf of the North American market, declining to reveal further specifics such as the engine to be used, the drivers and the location where the program will be based. Since Road Atlanta, it has become known that the effort, after a brief initial stay at Penske's Reading, PA, Indy Car shops, will move to Penske South in Moorseville, NC, where Penske's NASCAR operations are housed in a splendid new facility.

In addition, it has been learned that the first car will arrive in June for testing in preparation for an expected debut at Road Atlanta in September for the ALMS' signature Petit Le Mans. The drivers for this effort are expected to be former Porsche ALMS GT class titlists Sascha Maassen and Lucas Luhr. Still, perhaps the most important revelation is the configuration of its engine, which will be a purpose-built 3.4-liter V8 that has been two years in the making.

And why is that important?

Two reasons. First, ever since it quit racing as a factory after the 1998 season, Porsche's top management has made little secret of the fact that it believes motorsport to be "a black hole" in terms of the financial investment needed to support it. Only because it can sell between 200 and 300 units a year has the factory supported the customer-driven 911 GT3 coupes upon which have rested its recent competition fortunes. Given the fact that for LMP2 it would have been more than adequate and far less expensive to utilize a destroked version of the 4.5-liter V8 currently used in its Cayenne SUV, one must ask why the approval to spend money on a new "for-racing-only" unit to do the same job.

Second, and more to the point, "Why Penske?" The Captain historically has not involved himself in "Second Cabin" projects, which the Porsche LMP2 most definitely is. So now comes the Peggy Lee part. What is it that has brought both Porsche and Penske to this point? What more can we expect?

One obvious possibility is the development of a LMP1 spyder. Clearly that would be an attractive proposition for Penske who has only once seriously attacked Le Mans, and who many think is a road racer at heart. If Penske were to win at the Sarthe it would mean that he has won not only in Formula One, Indianapolis and NASCAR, but also the most important event on the sportscar calendar. Still, there are no guarantees that Porsche, even though the bulk of the engineering for a LMP1 spyder exists in the LMP2 car, will actually commit to such a project. In fact, insiders have said that the company most likely will eschew entering the premier prototype division of the Sarthe and the ALMS in the near future, preferring to sell customer versions of its LMP2 entry instead in 2007.

Thus, if the LMP1 avenue is closed to Penske, what's left? The answer is intriguing, for about the only place left is the IRL, which in 2007 is expected to change its engine regulations, or at least implement a new version of its current powerplant rules. Further, there are strong suggestions that Toyota, which presently supplies Penske with his IRL V8s, may quit Tony George's single-seat series for a full-time NASCAR Nextel Cup effort. Moreover, even though some insiders have said that George and the IRL are considering including NASCAR-type stock blocks in the new '07 scriptures, most believe that there will still be a place for 3.0-liter non-turbo V8s now in use.

If that happens, it is not a far leap in logic to think that the 3.4-liter LMP2 Porsche V8 could well undergo a transformation into an IRL contender, giving Porsche the best shot it has ever had of winning North America's most prestigious motorsports race.

Will that become reality? Could it become reality? The answer to the second question is a definite yes. The answer to the first is a definite maybe. In the meantime, we all will be waiting for the response to Ms. Lee's plaintive inquiry.