ALMS: EXCLUSIVE! Acura's secret revealed

MotorsTV.co.uk can exclusively reveal the surprise lurking beneath Acura’s new LMP1 racer.

During an exclusive interview with John Hindhaugh, chief designer of the new ARX-02a Nick Wirth revealed that the prototype will have the same sized wheels fitted to the front as the back in an attempt to minimise the understeer which was a common complaint of the marque’s former LMP2 machine.

Highcroft Racing driver David Brabham, who will spearhead the team’s attack on outright ALMS glory alongside Scott Sharp this year, alluded to secret developments on-stage at the Autosport International show this January but initial images of the car testing revealed little.

Details have now come to light though which suggest Acura’s latest trick is a great deal simpler than first believed.

Another reason for the unorthodox decision could lie in the new ACO rules for 2009 which demand a 20% decrease in the rear wing area in a move designed to cut downforce and cornering speeds. A greater contact patch at the front could go some way to cancelling out this measure and therefore provide a key area of advantage over rivals.

Wirth however remained sceptical at such suggestions.  

“To be honest, I don’t think it is an advantage with the regulations,” he said. “At the end of the day, when you put (them) on it kills downforce and puts on drag.

“You have a race car, it has a certain balance and no matter what the configuration of the car is I think it’s pretty much the same for everyone and what we’ve tried to do is come up with a solution which is as good as we can under those regulations. I think we’ve done a pretty good job but at the end of the day we’ll find out on the race track.”

Along with changes to the rear wing, the new car is all-but entirely compliant with current rules that govern entries to Le Mans. That detail could be critical in deciding whether the team will indeed travel to La Sarthe this June, as has been rumoured, to take on Audi, Peugeot and
Aston Martin works outfits.

And Wirth only added to those whisperings when asked whether such a move was likely.

“We were set the challenge of winning the P1 championship this year and I don’t care whose running,” he added. “We want to win Sebring, we want to win everything with this car.

"I think it’s been made clear that Le Mans is not currently on our radar but I would be lying if I said everyone involved on this program from top to bottom cannot wait to go to Le Mans because there, the technical challenge is even greater when you’re dealing with cars with even more power. I just can’t wait. We are desperate to go to Le Mans with this car! We’d love to go this year, we’d love to go next year. We’d just love to go.”

Catch John Hindhaugh’s interview with Nick Wirth in full, tonight from 8pm GMT only on RadioLeMans.com


Tom Hornsby