# Arena International Zytek Might Run Audi Next Season in ALMS



## [email protected] (Apr 9, 2004)

*Arena International Zytek Might Run Audi Engine Next Season in ALMS*









If you watched the SPEED Coverage of the ALMS season-ending race this weekend at Laguna Seca, you might have caught the briefest of mentions by one of the commentators - a rumor about the Arena International Zytek LMP1 entrant.
The LMP1 field has been thin this year, no doubt, but Arena's been plugging away at trying to compete with Audi. According to the commentator, there's a rumor floating around that the team might switch to Audi power next year, specifically with an "Audi Engine in the back of the the Arena International car". 
We've seen the Swiss Spirit team in the European Le Mans Endurance Series this season running a petrol-based Audi FSI V8 in a Lola chassis this season and it seems Arena might make a similar move if the SPEED reporter was correct.
Arena isn't new to Audi. The team operated as Audi Sport UK in 2003 at the 12 Hours of Sebring and at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and fielded an R8 in those two outings. Whether the team might pick up any current or former Audi drivers to help field their cars remains to be seen, though currently inactive Frank Biela also raced for the team in 2003.
More info:
Arena International Motorsport - http://www.arenamotorsport.com/
Zytek Group Ltd - http://www.zytekgroup.co.uk/Default.aspx?tid=160



_Modified by .:RDriver at 1:39 AM 10/23/2007_


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## heel_toe (Apr 27, 2007)

Another Audi engine on the field...interesting.
When Dr. U was asked if ASNA was coming back last year he skirted around the question and never answered it. He gave nothing away in his face either. What's the deal???? No Audi and I'm not going to Sebring.


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## [email protected] (Apr 9, 2004)

*Re: (heel_toe)*

Audi hasn't been happy with LMP2 being allowed to win outright so much. The argument is that manufacturers don't have to invest as much to do LMP2, and the ACO would never let LMP2 out perform LMP1 with their rules. That's the main rub.
They may return, but they're leaving their options open. Even if they don't come back for a full season, you can expect to see them at Sebring and at Petit Le Mans because the former is a good shakedown for Le Mans and the latter is there for nailing down your invite to Le Mans the following year.


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## .:RDriver (Oct 4, 1999)

*Re: ([email protected])*


_Quote, originally posted by *[email protected]* »_Audi hasn't been happy with LMP2 being allowed to win outright so much. The argument is that manufacturers don't have to invest as much to do LMP2, and the ACO would never let LMP2 out perform LMP1 with their rules. That's the main rub.

That is a bad and wrong statement. The P2 cars are not being _allowed_ to do anything. I'll say it again, they are competing under the current ACO MANDATED RULES....PERIOD.
There is nothing special being given to the P2 cars, they are running the ACO rules. Audi just needs to build a faster car. If they arent happy with the P1 rules, they should build a P2 car then and show they can beat Porsche that way.
Also, I can just about guarantee you that Porsche is not spending that much less money on their P2 campaign. No one said Audi had to build a diesel and put that kind of money into it.
I like Audi as much as the next guy and hope they return, but I do get sick of hearing all this conspiracy stuff about how its not fair to Audi. They are getting beat fair and square and its as simple as that. Next year the ACO will slow down the P2 cars, we'll see if Porsche comes to the table and ups the ante again and if Audi can improve their car to stay ahead.


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## chernaudi (Oct 6, 2006)

*Re: (.:RDriver)*

Well, Audi was kinda getting shafted on the refueling rig deal until IMSA raised its height. But has anyone thought about this: Audi hasn't been able to double stint tires at a lot of races this year like they could with the R8 and even last year, Audi could double stint the tires that the R10 used in '06.
I think Michelin screwed themselves on this one. In '06, Michelin had dedicated LMP1 gas and diesel tires. And both tires were equally as fast, and both types could be double stinted on their respective cars. I think that Michelin tried to design a tire to suit all commers in '07, and sort of failed-the R10 can't double stint in a sprint race, and the tires don't work as well on a gas LMP1 car.
Maybe Michelin should sort out their LMP tire situaltion, and go back to the way it was in '06, where the diesel and gas guys had their own tires.
Also, if Audi had any luck, we wouldn't even be taking about this. Audi should've won Houston, SLC, Mid-Ohio, Road America, and Mosport, but something went wrong in those races(usually tire problems and the refueling time). I agree with the assessment of many here that Porsche and Acura should butt out of LMP2, but the ACO screwed up on their LMP2 rules as far as what's a factory team, and left that loophole. So blame the ACO on that one. And notice how only when Porsche started dominating LMP2 and started to contend for overall wins that the ACO got high up on banning factory teams in LMP2? A coincidence surely(note the sarcasm)!
Even IMSA has recently admitted that they don't particulary like having Porsche and Acura in LMP2 right now(link: http://www.sportscarpros.com/c...t.htm read under "Run with the Big Dogs), but what are they gonna do. Even enforcing all of the ACO's revised rules probably won't do anything, as said in that article. 
And who knows, maybe Audi, Porsche, and Acura have their LMP1 projects for post 2010 on the drawing boards, maybe they don't. But IMSA(like the ACO, or even maybe even the FIA) can't bully Porsche and Acura into LMP1 when where 2-3 years away from a major regulations change. So I guess we'll have to live with this in one form of another until 2011.



_Modified by chernaudi at 2:15 AM 10-23-2007_


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## [email protected] (Apr 9, 2004)

*Re: (.:RDriver)*


_Quote, originally posted by *.:RDriver* »_
That is a bad and wrong statement. The P2 cars are not being _allowed_ to do anything. I'll say it again, they are competing under the current ACO MANDATED RULES....PERIOD.
There is nothing special being given to the P2 cars, they are running the ACO rules. Audi just needs to build a faster car. If they arent happy with the P1 rules, they should build a P2 car then and show they can beat Porsche that way.
Also, I can just about guarantee you that Porsche is not spending that much less money on their P2 campaign. No one said Audi had to build a diesel and put that kind of money into it.
I like Audi as much as the next guy and hope they return, but I do get sick of hearing all this conspiracy stuff about how its not fair to Audi. They are getting beat fair and square and its as simple as that. Next year the ACO will slow down the P2 cars, we'll see if Porsche comes to the table and ups the ante again and if Audi can improve their car to stay ahead.

Most of this season Jimmy, the LMP2s were not running in accordance with ACO rules no? 
ACO tailors their rules so that LMP2 won't do an outright win. With short races and tracks like America, maybe this might be different, but I know that the ACO is all about class hierarchy. If GT1 gets too fast, they slow it down, etc. etc. If Audi wants an outright win at Le Mans, they need to build an LMP1. That's also the reason Pennske hasn't gone to Le Mans because they want to shoot for the outright win.
I don't think that's a conspiracy. It's just the playing field that's there to play on.
Second, much of the decision is up to the Audi AG board and Audi of America. If they decide they don't want to make the expenditure for a full season, they may not. In as much, that much is out of Ullrich's hands.
One of the reasons I think we'll see a proliferation of current LMP1 chassis (like the Swiss Spirit Lola) running the 4.2 FSI is because of the cost. The R10 program is too expensive for privateers like Arena International or Swiss Spirit. How much Audi supports this program remains to be seen. We know there were plenty of privateer R8s back in the day, but no privateer R10s today due primarily to costs according to my sources at Audi Sport NA.


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## .:RDriver (Oct 4, 1999)

*Re: ([email protected])*


_Quote, originally posted by *[email protected]* »_
Most of this season Jimmy, the LMP2s were not running in accordance with ACO rules no? 


That is true, there was a larger restrictor allowed on P2 cars prior to half way through the season.
However, as chernaudi pointed out, Audi probably still should have won SLC and Houston..and probably Long Beach as well if I remember right... and those were all in the first half of the season.
For a few races Audi had their fueling issue and I'm not sure if that was as a result of IMSA or ACO rules, but the bottom line is Audi should have won a lot more races than they did this year and I think you can only blame a couple of those losses at best on some sort of rules issue.
However, we have seen quite clearly that the second half of the year, even with the smaller restrictor on the P2 cars, that they are still almost as fast and still challenge Audi at every turn. So how big a deal was it at the beginning of the year? What difference would it have likely made?
Hard to say.
Bottom line is Porsche/Penske is an anomaly in the rules package right now. Nowhere else under these rules are P2 cars even close to the P1 cars. Hell, even the Acuras and Dyson Porsches havent really shown they can keep up under race conditions with the Audi. It comes down to the power of Porsche and Penske to blow open the class. Without them, I dont think anyone would be complaining at all because without them, P2 would still be the obviously slower class.
Forget about all the rules issues this year. The last two races have been fully under ACO rules for the cars and supposedly the refueling thing is now figured out as well. 
What have we had?
The two closest races of the year with the Audi a gnats hair in front of a Penske Porsche. Maybe that is how it should stay or does Audi not even want to be challenged for their victories?


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## [email protected] (Apr 9, 2004)

*Re: (.:RDriver)*

I like the racing. I think it's great to watch. I don't speak for Audi, but I can tell you what Audi of America chief Johan de Nysschen told me. "We'd like to lose. We just want to lose to someone who steps up to P1 and challenges us on equal footing." 
I agree with you Jim. I think half of it is Pennske. They've shown they can run much harder than the Dyson team.


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## chernaudi (Oct 6, 2006)

*Re: ([email protected])*

I agree with George that someone should step up like Panoz did early in the ALMS' life and challenge Audi in Audi's class. I also agree with Jimmy that Penske is the common deominator as far as Porsche's dominance. Penske is a factor team, where as Dyson is a privateer team.
As I've mentioned, the ACO has said since '06 that they don't support the idea that there should be full factory teams in LMP2. What they probably had in mind was probably what Porsche has done with Dyson or what Acura has done with Highcroft, Fernandez and AGR. Which is field semi-factory(Dyson) or factory teams with backing kept to IMSA privateer's cup levels(Acura).
Whether or not(or how) IMSA wants to deal with this is up to IMSA. Maybe allowing the Audi R10s to run at 900kgs(which Audi claims that the '07 spec R10 can easily make that weight) will solve a lot of the problems. Or partial enforcement of the ACO's 825 kgs limit(about 790-800kgs) may do the same. Acura has said that against Porsche that the 825kg limit is OK, as the Courage based ARX01 is much more over the current 775kg limit than the RS Spyder is. 
But as I've said also, if Audi had any good luck at all between St. Pete and PLM(not including Le Mans, although it would've helped to have had more than they did there), they would've lost only two of those races(Long Beach, and Lime Rock), and they could've won Long Beach too, if not for the final hairpin turn taking the Audis' lap times down to Porsche levels(the R10s were quite a bit faster elsewhere at Long Beach), and collisions and pit strategy backfiring on the #1 car.
Part of it is the difference between LMP1 and LMP2 weights. The R10 in '07 was ballasted to 925kgs(particulary true of the '07 spec cars), the RS Spyders were close to 775kgs. The terminal lowest speeds in corners are gonna be about the same in most corners(as the Porsches smaller tires will give up grip faster than the R10's), and the Audi is generally faster off of corners(power and torque). But the LMP2 cars have the advantage in to slower corners as far as braking is concerned due to the lighter weight. But the Porsches(and LMP2s in general) are far inferior to the R10 in traffic.
Also, if Michelin made dedicated tires for the Audi R10 and the Peugeot 908, and dedicated gasoline LMP1 tires like in '06, that would probably help Audi's left side tirewear problems.
The Penske Porsche team was/is an abnormality that the ACO and IMSA didn't plan on being so dominant-even IMSA, the biggest benefactor in this deal, has said recently that Porsche need reeled in somewhat.
I could also go into how other situlations like this as far as class setup went(Group 4 Sports prototypes and Group 5 prototypes-early '70s, Group 6 >2.0 and 2.0+ prototypes and Group 5 GT-70's, and Group C/C1and Group C jr./C2-'80's) but it would make a fairly long post longer.
Bottom line, if the rules appeal to Audi(ie, LMP2 cars can't win as much as they did this year), they'll be back. Only time will tell though.


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