The Night and the Glory

Team AMG Mercedes has entered three new Mercedes CLRs in the Le Mans long distance classic on June 12/13th, but the preparations for this famous endurance race began much earlier than 24 weeks before the event.

The performance requirements for a super sports car as raced victoriously by AMG in the 1998 FIA GT Championship and the standards demanded by the Le Mans 24-hour race, where the cars have to survive for 5000km - ten times as long as a GT event - is as different as day from night.

For the 1999 edition of the Le Mans 24-hours the AMG Mercedes team has built a completely new GT prototype - the Mercedes CLR - which is based on the CLK-LM.

The CLR has a smaller frontal area than its predecessor. It is more than ten centimetres lower than the CLK-LM and also has a more slippery profile, increasing the aerodynamic efficiency of the car. These qualities will be particularly highlighted along the high-speed «Les Hunaudieres» straight at the Le Mans circuit.

The proven engineering of the CLK-LM is retained beneath the aerodynamic bodywork of the CLR. Every component has been further developed along similar lines and constructed to deal with the very specific demands of a 24-hour race.

The AMG Mercedes design engineers had the exacting task of making the car considerably lighter and they achieved this by altering its construction. This was done without compromising the need for the car to be very strong indeed, the first priority in a marathon race such as the Le Mans 24-hours.

Unlike the situation last year, French regulations governing homologation do not require the car to be based on a road-going vehicle.

However, the strong relationship between the new GT racing car and the Mercedes-Benz production road car family has been maintained. The CLR has inherited the distinctive frontal identity of the Mercedes CL, its V8 engine has been developed from its road going relations and even the crankshaft basically comes from the production line.

Sleight of hand

The Le Mans regulations stipulate that each car's engine must be fitted with air restrictors as a method of evening out the power-to-weight ratio of the different vehicle concepts and thus ensuring a balanced and competitive field. The diameter of the air restrictors is determined according to the weight of the vehicle and its engine displacement.

The AMG Mercedes engineers were able to optimise the all-round efficiency of the power train by incorporating specific improvements to its mechanics, combustion and electronics. This was not a straightforward task as the priority to further developing the Mercedes V8 was directed towards increasing its reliability.

A series production assembly provided the basis for the engine block of the eight-cylinder power unit fitted in the CLR. Up to 1998 the M119 unit was used to power S, SL,and E-class cars. A turbocharged five-litre version of the M119 had previously been used successfully in competitive racing.

In 1989 this engine powered the Mercedes C9 Group C sports prototype to a one-two finish at Le Mans where Jochen Mass, Manuel Reuter and Stanley Dickens took the victory ahead of their team-mates Mauro Baldi, Kenneth Acheson and Gianfranco Brancatelli.

Mercedes-Benz had already celebrated the first ever one-two victory in Le Mans in 1952 with the 300 SL gullwing some 22 years after the Stuttgart-based car manufacturer first took part in the classic endurance race which takes place in the Sarthe region of France.

In familiar hands

The AMG Mercedes Team is aiming to have three Mercedes CLRs on the starting grid at Le Mans. Two cars have to earn their place in the line-up for the race at the traditional pre-qualifying which takes place on May 2nd. As a privilege granted for winning the FIA GT Championship the previous year, the event organiser has already stated that one AMG Mercedes CLR will be guaranteed a start.

The driving team at Le Mans includes five contenders who competed in Mercedes cars during last seasons FIA GT Championship, Germany's Bernd Schneider (35) and Marcel Tiemann (25), Australian Mark Webber (22) and the French drivers Jean-Marc Gounon (36) and Christophe Bouchut (32). They have been joined by four new additions including Germany's Nick Heidfeld (22), Pedro Lamy (27) from Portugal, Franck Lagorce (31) from France and Scottish driver Peter Dumbreck (25).

Heidfeld is not new to the Mercedes racing family. He has been a test driver for the West McLaren Mercedes team since 1998 and will again compete in the European Formula 3000 Championship during 1999 with West Competition, the McLaren and Mercedes-Benz junior team.

The nine driver squad comprises no fewer than seven former national Formula 3 Champions, two Formula 3 Monaco winners and one Formula 3 race winner. Commented Norbert Haug, the Mercedes-Benz Motorsport manager; «This shows how good the training and the competitive basis of our Le Mans driver line-up really is. Someone who has managed to win a title in one of the most important Formula 3 Championships is a constant potential winner. They should not only have speed but also discipline, a crucial combination required at Le Mans.»