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| Pic: Stefan Ruitenberg |
Hello there!
This year, just before my exams, I went off to Silverstone for the 1st round of the WEC season. And as the title shows, this feature looks at the brand-new Ligier JSP2 17 race car.
I was lucky enough to have been given a full tour of the car in the ELMS paddock, so here is some pictures and some text which explains what I learned from speaking to the team engineering at the event.
One thing which did stick out though is that these P2 prototype cars are cheaper to run and buy than GT LM cars, which really did shock me. I think this is one of the reasons we only see one team outfit in the pack, which is utterly dominated by manufacturers. Now, let's take a closer look!
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| Pic: Stefan Ruitenberg |
Starting with the braking system, we can see the installation of the front mounted brakes, uprights and wishbones.
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| Pic: Stefan Ruitenberg |
Then here we can see the rear brakes. Note that they use less cooling holes here, as the brake bias is more towards the front on the Ligiers, thus seeing a bigger temperature on the front setup to the rear.
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| Pic: Stefan Ruitenberg |
Moving onto some rear aero, the car use's swan neck pylons mounted to two aerofoils which make up the rear wing. Its is fully made from carbon fibre.
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| Pic: Stefan Ruitenberg |
On the side of the car, we can see the intricate details of the side pod turning vanes and flaps. These are placed to control the flow that enters under the nose. This air is then moved to the back of the car, i.e. rear wing and the diffuser.
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| Pic: Stefan Ruitenberg |
The power train is nothing too special. The regulations dictate all LMP2 teams must run the GK428 4.2 V8 engine, as shown here. It is a 90 degree V which is naturally aspirated.
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| Pic: Stefan Ruitenberg |
I was able to get a closer look at the engine, shown above. Here we can see the rather small carbon plenum and oil cooler. The engine is a stressed member, so extra rigidity is added via the steel tubes connecting to the tub to the bell housing.
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| Pic: Stefan Ruitenberg |
Above shows the rear brake cooling tube, which is fed air by the outer bodywork of the car. Also note the small nature of the manifold.
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| Pic: Stefan Ruitenberg |
When deep in the rear engine bay, we can see the alternator, which is supplied by Mclaren Technologies. Also note the driveshaft and double upper and lower wishbones, which are made from steel.
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| Pic: Stefan Ruitenberg |
Here we can get a good look at the rear end. Note the new end plate design. This whole assembly is one piece too. So easy to swap if damaged.
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| Pic: Stefan Ruitenberg |
I was very happy to see inside the car, which is very compact! I wish I was a driver...
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| Pic: Stefan Ruitenberg |
In this image, I was able to get a closer look at the Cosworth supplied steering wheel, which is super cool!
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| Pic: Stefan Ruitenberg |
Back to the aerodynamics, the rear deck has louvres and a NACA duct to help feed air as well as bleed some away from the engine and gearbox.
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| Pic: Stefan Ruitenberg |
In this picture I tried to be arty. But, you can see the main heave springs at the back. The car also uses another spring as a third element, so I believe that would be for aero load? Also, note the exhaust positioning.
I hope you like this piece, as these LMP2 cars are quite quick, so It was good to look around the 2017 Ligier. I will try to do more car tours in the future.
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