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Lexus 2010 Nürburgring 24h Race Open Thread

Posted by Kevin on May 15th, 2010

Two Lexus LFAs (#50 & #51) and one IS F will be competing in this weekend’s Nürburgring 24h race, so I thought we should have some place to discuss the race as it happens.

In two rounds of qualifying, the #50 LFA finished p25 & the #51 LFA is p28, and sit first and second in the SP8 category. Both LFAs took some damage, with #50 hitting a sidewall and the #51 clipping a side rail, but both are scheduled to race in the big event.

(So far, I’ve been unable to find the IS F position.)

The 24h race starts tomorrow at 3PM UTC +2, so that’s 9AM EST/6AM PST (I think). Live results can be viewed at the ADAC website, and Lexus Europe will be updating both their Facebook & Twitter accounts.

Hour 2: #51 LFA is running p17, #50 LFA is p24. The Team COTY IS F is well back at p161 after needing a new fuel pump. Here’s a photo from right before the race started:

Another great shot of the LFA pre-race:

Lexus LFA @ Nürburgring 24h Race

More updates to come.

Hour 4: After fueling up and a driver change, #50 LFA is back at p35 and #51 LFA is p48. #72 IS F is climbing up the standing, jumping to p139.

Toyota President Akio Toyoda is in attendance:

Akio Toyoda @ Nürburgring 24h Race

There was some difficulty in finding a live stream of the race, but I discovered a feed — open http://24h-rennen.de/livecast/live_01.asx in Windows Media player or VLC to watch the German broadcast.

Hour 6: After running into some aero problems, the #51 LFA has fallen back to p124. The #50 LFA is running in p51, and the #72 IS F continues its climb and now sits at p120.

It’s starting to get dark:

Lexus LFA @ Nürburgring 24 Hour Race

Hour 10: #51 LFA has been taken out of the race due to a bearing failure, and the #50 LFA is running at p40. The #72 IS F keeps climbing, and is now at p85:

Lexus IS F @ Nürburgring 24h race

Hour 14: The #50 LFA is going strong, and is now in p33, but the big story is the IS F — after being as low as p161, it’s now climbed almost 100 positions and sits at p68.

Here’s a top-notch photo of the #50 LFA leaving the pits:

Lexus LFA @ Nürburgring Pic 4

This will be my last update tonight, check back tomorrow for the final hours!

Hour 20: The #51 LFA is back on the track after 11 hours in the pits, and the #50 LFA is now in p26:

Lexus LFA front shot

The #72 IS-F is running in p72.

Hour 23: The #50 LFA is now in the top 20 and currently running at p19. The #72 IS F is at p 61, and the #51 LFA is way back at p160. Only one hour to go!

Lexus LFA #50 at Nürburgring 24h Race

Hour 24: The #50 LFA finished the race in p18 and first in the SP 8 Class — the #51 LFA managed to hit p156 after an eleven hour pitstop — here’s the two of them post-race:

Even after the fuel pump problem that prevented the IS F from taking part in the qualifying round, the #72 IS F finished at p60.

Congratulations to all the teams!

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Comments
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    tilps
  • May 15, 2010
Gazoo racing homepage is best way to get update.
W
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    WorldofLuxury
  • May 15, 2010
Hopefully it'll be easier to find the live streaming of the event once the racing begins. Too bad those videos are usually pretty boring, but it just sucks how America is so isolated from such events. If only Laguna Seca added on to its stands and had more hotels nearby... Anyways, the IS F is definitely not listed under the rankings... Boy those LFA twins make me smile. :-)
T
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    tilps
  • May 15, 2010
http://gazoo.com/racing/top/2010NUR24/EN/CircuitLive.aspx here u see all sp8 class car rankings. live comments and so on.
N
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    Nataraj
  • May 15, 2010
Aero Problems??
krew
Nataraj wrote:Aero Problems??
That's what the Lexus Europe Twitter account says -- not too sure what it means either. ;-)
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    WorldofLuxury
  • May 16, 2010
Wow Pretty dramatic, eh? lol This is what endurance racing is all about! Boy those LFA twins are a thing of beauty. And that IS F is impressive too. For comparison sake, the IS F with its technology and immense torque helps it go around the Nurburgring as quickly as the the NSX-R. We really need a Stig for the Nordschleife to give us reliable times for comparison! Sabine Schmitz perhaps? I'd love to see the LFA at Laguna Seca!
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    WorldofLuxury
  • May 16, 2010
Iida is amazing! I'm staying up all night watching the rankings - finally doing something abnormal this year although I sort of expected such behavior. Anyways, Go #50!!!
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    RDS
  • May 16, 2010
I Get Something From Here (They Said The Race Ended) : http://adac.24h-rennen.de/Live-Ranking.4243.0.html LIVE RANKING Pos. Nr. Marke Runde Zeit 19 50 Lexus LF-A 142 13:47.310 60 72 Lexus IS F 127 10:35.443 156 51 Lexus LF-A 67 13:47.145
W
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    WorldofLuxury
  • May 16, 2010
LEXUS!!!
A
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    Apples
  • May 16, 2010
Can someone explain the significance of that finish? I can't find any good explanations of the different classes. Finishing 1st in SP8(what is this?) sounds good, but it's 20th overall, how is that good? Why does a BMW M3 beat Ferrari's and Aston's and Porche's??? Someone help me to understand this race please.........
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    Nataraj
  • May 16, 2010
Im glad the LFA was able to crack the top 20, but part of me was wishing it would get in the top 10 :-)
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    DeTomaso
  • May 16, 2010
@Apples: The 24 hours race is, just like the Le Mans 24H race, divided into categories of cars. This is done cause of the many differences in HP/weight/size etc of the participating cars, for instance as a Renault Clio aint as powerful as a Dodge Viper while they participate in the same race. To make it more balanced and give slower cars a chance to win as well you get overall standings as well as class standings, so you arent comparing apples to oranges, but lets say, a Renault Clio to a Mini Cooper S and a Dodge Viper to an Audi R8 (both of top GT3 class). Of course there are about a dozen more classes, and you should keep in mind that most of the powerful cars arent stock but heavily modified for track use, with lower weight and more powerful engines. That is the reason a BMW M3 can win, cause it isnt the stock M you buy at your local dealer but a car with a 500 hp engine and race suspension/gearshift, unsuitable for road use. If you keep all that in mind the LFA nr.50 actually did very well, as the Lexus runs in the SP8 class which means it is close to production and thus resembles the stock/road LFA much more than cars from GT3 class. Hope that answers your question Apples, for your interest you can find more info on it all on Your text to link here...
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    pg
  • May 16, 2010
@Apples: The M3 GT2 you mentioned is in the E1-XP2 class, which means it is heavily modified from the stock M3 you can buy. The cars in the SP classes (Ferraris, Porsches, etc.) are less heavily modified from their stock versions. The number after SP refers to the engine displacement of the car, the higher the number the bigger the engine. Therefore a Lexus LFA is in class SP 8 (4.0 to 6.25 liters), whereas a Honda S2000 is in SP 3 (1.75 to 2 liters). Hope you can now understand the race better ;) Now, finishing 20th isn't bad at all considering the Lexus team was mostly beaten by teams with lots more experience on the 'ring. Nonetheless there were some cars like the Audi TTS (SP 3 T) or the natural gas-powered VW Scirocco that beat the LFA. But I appreciate the commitment Lexus has shown to endurance racing and i'm glad they managed a top 20 position.
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    FreeSpirit
  • May 16, 2010
people just imagine if the 3 cars didn't face any proplem as a lot of other cars where their rank may be LFA#51 got problems after just 3 hours and it was in 14 over all 8-) really that make me nervous but hey the pilots were fighter from damned down ranked to much much beter again i saw the history of that lap wrote again today
F
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    FreeSpirit
  • May 16, 2010
all media 'll talk about both the #50LFA & the#72IS-F the IS-F finish 60 from 169 the LFA finish 19 from 89
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    Apples
  • May 16, 2010
Thanks DeTomaso and pg for the info!
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    WorldofLuxury
  • May 16, 2010
@FreeSpirit: That's the spirit of endurance racing! That's why Lexus needed dry ice for their GSh's first endurance race!
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    FreeSpirit
  • May 17, 2010
@WorldofLuxury: hope the next year they upgrade the Spirit of Endurance to Spirit of Win
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    TF109B
  • May 17, 2010
SP8 is close to production, SP9 is FIA GT3. The E1-XP2 class is a special class for the M3GT2 racer. You see the Audi R8 LMS and Porsche GT3 RSR in GT3 class in FIA GT. And at LeMans and ALMS you get same Porsche with M3 in GT2 class. Same with the the Ferrari F430. The only difference is the engine size in this racing. The M3 has engine restriction or added weight because it should be faster than GT3, but gets better fuel mileage because of restriction. LFA is SP9, close to prodcution, not modified GT race cars like the other vehicles.
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    TF109B
  • May 17, 2010
SP8 is close to production, SP9 is FIA GT3. The E1-XP2 class is a special class for the M3GT2 racer. You see the Audi R8 LMS and Porsche GT3 RSR in GT3 class in FIA GT. And at LeMans and ALMS you get same Porsche with M3 in GT2 class. Same with the the Ferrari F430. The only difference is the engine size in this racing. The M3 has engine restriction or added weight because it should be faster than GT3, but gets better fuel mileage because of restriction. LFA is SP8, close to prodcution, not modified GT race cars like the other vehicles.
krew
Thanks @DeTomaso @TF109B & @pg -- I'm a newbie to these races myself and it's nice to have some knowledgeable posters around. :)

K