By Sam Tickell
Tom Drewer in the Courage Oreca LMPC car testing around the Road Atlanta track
There has been buzz around the internet about the LMPC class that will be introduced in the ALMS in 2010. As part of a series of articles that we will be bringing you on Australian driver, Tom Drewer, we were able to get the young Australian driver’s take on these new cars.
Having race in IMSA Lites 1 in 2009 and winning the Championship in IMSA Lites 2 in 2008, Drewer certainly has a pedigree in feeder sports car series.
On the LMPC car, Drewer said “It really feels just like a big Lites 1 car! I was actually surprised how similar it was to the Élan DP-02 in terms of how it responded and reacted, and the grip vs power.”
He did mention differences in the steering and seating position of the car. His WEST IMSA Lites car has a central seating position, where the new LMPC Courage Oreca has a more traditional seating position, the right hand side. Having raced a couple of touring car races in the past, he was easily able to adjust to this.
The steering, however, provided more challenges for the native Adelaide driver.
“I’m used to using a fair bit of muscle to turn the DP-02 in, particularly as we generally run a reasonable amount of caster to cure bump-steer. The LMPC was very light on the steering and very direct. I really had to slow my hand speed down in the high-speed corners.”
Other technological advances were apparent when a driver steps up from a Lites car to the LMPC spec machine.
“Another obvious difference is the paddle shift. My West WR-1000 Lites 2 car had a Pro-Shift paddle system in it so I’m used to flat up-changes, but it really is a luxury to have the auto-blip on the downshift. It’s just like driving a go-kart- both hands on the wheel and left foot braking. In that respect it is easier to drive than the Lites 1 car that uses a sequential lever with no-lift-shift.”
The carbon brakes also offered greater stopping power than Drewer had been used to in Lites. He was able to adapt and also mentioned that the Chev V8 is a very suitable engine – if nothing more than the noise it gives!.
Drewer had only one criticism with the LMPC car – that the front and rear body work was too cumbersome and difficult to change. Other than that “It looks to be a perfect spec-racer, and in that sense it is also compares to the Élan DP-02 that is a very well sorted, very strong, reliable spec series car.”
Keep an eye out for more articles and gallaries on Tom Drewer so you can get to know the driver and why he is a star of the future!